Author: Kalashian Nyrie

OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE PLANS EXTENSIVE STUDY OF PROBLEMS OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISORDERS
YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian branch of the Open Society
Institute plans to conduct an extensive study of social, legal and
other rights of people with mental disorders within several next
years. According to Anahit Papikian, who supervises health projects
of the Institute in Armenia, no such study was conducted, though the
need for it has matured.
She said the study could be used as a basis for implementing various
mental health programs.
The Open Society Institute is already funding a Yerevan-based center
for people with mental disorders, which renders various services
to some forty such people. The center does not provide them with
medications. The goal is to help people who spent a lot of time in
mental hospitals to get integrated back into the society.
Another center in Ashtarak gives lodgings to three such people who are
actually homeless. Papikian said financial problems and the absence
of government assistance are the main obstacles to expanding the
network of such centers.

Armenia violates ceasefire in 2 directions
AssA-Irada 07/04/2005 17:37
Armenian military units, from their positions in the occupied Namirli
and Ahmadaghaly villages of Aghdam District, fired at the positions of
the Azerbaijani troops located close to the same village with machine
guns and submachine guns from 00:10 to 01:35 and from 04:00 to 04:10
respectively on Wednesday.
Armenian troops, from their positions in the occupied Tapgaragoyunlu
village of Goranboy District, fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani
military units located close to the same village with submachine guns
from 20:30 to 21:30 on Tuesday.
No casualties are reported.

ARMENIAN-BELGIAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION STILL HAS CONSIDERABLE POTENTIAL
YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia’s active participation in the
economic programs being implemented in the region under the aegis
of the European Union will have a positive effect on the settlement
of the conflicts in the region, including the Karabakh problem. The
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian stated this at the April
5 meeting with the delegation headed by Chairman of the Belgian
parliament’s House of Representatives Herman De Kroo who are on a
2-day visit to Armenia. Underling the activization of the bilateral
relations between Armenia and Belgium in recent years, especially
after the RA President’s working visit to Brussels in December, 2003,
the Prime Minister expressed confidence that this will contribute
to further development of political and economic relations between
the two countries. According to the RA Government Information and PR
Department, during the meeting, A. Margarian presented the process and
results of economic reforms in the country. Noting with satisfaction
that Belgium is Armenia’s number one trade and economic partner,
A. Margarian and Herman De Croo stated that the economic cooperation
of the two countries still has considerable potential, which can also
be promoted by activizing the parliamentary links.

AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT TO HOLD ‘WIDE DISCUSSIONS’ AROUND NAGORNO KARABAKH ISSUE
Azg/arm
7 April 05
On May 6, they are going to hold “wide discussions” around the Nagorno
Karabakh issue in the parliament of Azerbaijan. Mediamax informed
that Murtuz Aleqserov, head of the Azeri parliament, said that the
morning and the evening sittings of that day will be dedicated to the
discussion of the Nagorno Karabakh issue. He said they are going to
discuss the report of the OSCE Fact-Finding Mission, the policy of
inhabiting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenians, the facts of “planting
drugs in the occupied territories, as well as the policy of terror
conducted against the Azeris.”
It is envisaged to adopt a statement as a result of the discussions
and send it to the UN and other international organizations.
It’s worth mentioning that on May 29-30 hearings on the Nagorno
Karabakh issue were held at RA National Assembly.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA WANTS TO TAKE THE CALIFORNIAN MARKET
A1+
06-04-2005
In the North American largest industrial mechanical engineering and
metal processing exhibition «WESTEC» organized in the Los Angeles
Convention Center complex alongside with American and foreign famous
companies Armenian organizations also participated.
Several organizations from Armenia took part in the exhibition.
Yerevan «ElectroEquipment» LTD which exports its products to CIS
and Western countries, presented in the WESTEC exhibition examples
of its products which can be interesting for the American market.
The Company «Hilight» which produces outer lighting equipment for
cars is also represented in the exhibition. It exports its products
to Russia and USA.
The exhibition will be open up to April 7.
–Boundary_(ID_ZcM6xKA669zNfFBT6PwlzQ)–

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
04/05/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) New Armenian Ambassador to US Assumes Duties 2) Armenian Delegation to Attend Pope's Funeral 3) Armenia Dismisses Coach Casoni 4) Armenia, Azerbaijan to Mull New Karabagh Peace Plan 1) New Armenian Ambassador to US Assumes Duties WASHINGTON, DC--Armenia's newly-appointed Ambassador to the United States Tatoul Margarian, arrived in Washington, DC and assumed the duties of his office on March 31. Prior to his appointment, Margarian served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia. According to an embassy press release, Margarian brings to his position a wealth of experience in US-Armenian relations. Margarian received the appointment from President Robert Kocharian on March 19, and is expected to present his credentials to President George W. Bush shortly. Prior to assuming this position, Margarian served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, beginning June 2000. In that capacity, he was the Armenian coordinator for US-Armenia Strategic Dialogue, as well as the NATO-Armenia Political-Military Dialogue. Margarian also served as the President's Special Representative for Mountainous Karabagh negotiations, in 2002-2003. His previous diplomatic assignments include a term as Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, DC from December 1994 to January 1999. Before joining the Armenian Foreign Service, Margarian served in Armenia's legislative and executive branches. He was Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Armenian Parliament from 1990 to 1991, and Assistant and Adviser to the Vice President of Armenia from 1991 to 1994, and also served as Acting Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992. Margarian was born on April 16, 1964, in Ghapan, Armenia. He holds a Master's degree in International Relations degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, and is a Doctoral candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He graduated from the Yerevan University of National Economy in 1985, and completed a PhD in Economics at the same University in 1988. Margarian is fluent in English and Russian. He is married and has one son. 2) Armenian Delegation to Attend Pope's Funeral YEREVAN (Armenpress)--An Armenian delegation headed by Prime Minister Andranik Margarian will leave for Vatican City on April 7 to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The delegation includes Armenian ambassador to Italy Ruben Shugarian, ambassador to France and Vatican Eduard Nalbandian, deputy foreign minister Armen Bayburdian, as well as Catholicos Karekin II, who will be accompanied by Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, and Rev. Fr. Geghard Vahuni. Catholicos Karekin II paid tribute to the pope's legacy in a message of condolence to the Vatican. "Throughout his 26-year reign, His Holiness Pope John Paul II was a staunch defender of life and champion of justice," he wrote. "His Holiness's calls for peace and reconciliation in the world were anchored in his moral convictions and love for humanity." John Paul was the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to set foot on Armenian soil and describe the 1915 slaughter of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide--a fact emphasized by Karekin II. The pontiff spoke of a "moment of grace and joy" as he arrived in Yerevan on September 25, 2001 on a three-day visit that coincided with official celebrations of Armenia's adoption of Christianity as a state religion. "For ever, the annals of the universal Church will say that the people of Armenia were the first as a whole people to embrace the grace and truth for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Chris," he declared. "You zealously guard the memory of your many martyrs: indeed, martyrdom has been the special mark of the Armenian Church and the Armenian people." The pope had termed the 1915 tragedy a genocide in a joint communiqué with Karekin issued in the Vatican in November 2000. Another joint statement signed by the two spiritual leaders in Yerevan likewise referred to "the extermination of 1.5 million Armenian Christians in what is generally referred to as the first genocide of the 20th century." 3) Armenia Dismisses Coach Casoni YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Armenia's French coach Bernard Casoni was fired on Tuesday, following a string of poor performances, federation president Ruben Hayrapetyan confirmed. The former Marseille player and manager, who had landed a one-year contract with the Armenian football federation last August, had been widely criticized for his methods and tactical choices, as his side endured 4 consecutive defeats against Macedonia (3-0), Finland (0-2 and 3-1), and Czech Republic (0-3) before collecting their first 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign points against Romania (1-1) and Andorra (2-1). And last Wednesday's 2-0 defeat in Holland appears to have been the last straw for the tactician. "We were very dissatisfied with the coach's work, especially his choice of players for games and his work methods," Hayrapetyan said. A new coach is expected to be named within the next 10 days. Armenia shares last place in European Zone Group One with Andorra after their most recent defeat, a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands. 4) Armenia, Azerbaijan to Mull New Karabagh Peace Plan MOSCOW (RFE/RL)--The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in London next week to discuss new proposals on Mountainous Karabagh put forward by international mediators, a senior Russian diplomat said on Tuesday. Yuri Merzlyakov, the Russian co-chair of the OSCE's Minsk Group, said that Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mammadyarov may also agree a date for a meeting of the two countries' presidents, which he said is essential for further progress in the peace process. "The parties seem to have reached a point where a meeting of the presidents should give a new impetus to the negotiations," he said. Mammadyarov announced last week that his new round of talks with Oskanian, originally scheduled for March 2, will take place on April 15. The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Oskanian will travel to London to meet with the Minsk Group's French, Russian, and US co-chairs. But it said a face-to-face encounter with his Azeri counterpart has yet to be confirmed. Merzlyakov acknowledged that the London talks will determine whether Aliyev and Kocharian will meet in Warsaw on the sidelines of the May 15-16 summit of the Council of Europe member countries. The mediators hope that they will discuss and present their opinion on the new peace proposals, he said. "The co-chairs believe that a political decision is required at the highest level," he said. "It is possible that they will not agree to our proposals and will suggest something else." The Russian diplomat refused to reveal those proposals, saying that they require major concessions from both conflicting parties. "The co-chairs of the Minsk Group have always said that public opinion needs to be prepared for agreement and to be told that mutual concessions are inevitable," he said. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. --Boundary_(ID_dWjkda3zvvoAa7/EOiqNQQ)--

Ukraine to join Nato?
Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Tuesday 05 April 2005, 3:57 Makka Time, 0:57 GMT
US President George Bush has said he supports the idea of Ukraine
becoming a member of Nato, but said the eastern European state still
had not met the requirements to enter.
Speaking at White House news conference with Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko, Bush said membership in Nato “is not a given”.
“In other words, there are things that the Ukrainian government must
do in order to satisfy the requirements to be considered for Nato.”
Ukraine’s hopes of joining the alliance soon are hurt by the state
of its military, which is seen as underfunded and at times incompetent.
Nato members are also wary of antagonising Russia, which could fear
losing its naval base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.
Bush noted that Ukraine also wants to join the European Union and
said “you don’t have to choose between the EU and friendship with
the United States”.
Yushchenko said his country was looking forward to US support in
accession to European and Euro-Atlantic security alliances.
Anti-Nato alliance?
Meanwhile, senior officials from three splinter territories in old
Soviet Union countries said on Monday they were ready for closer
military cooperation in the face of pro-Western revolutions in Ukraine
and Georgia.
“The revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine have created a new geopolitical
situation,” said Valeri Litskaya, external relations chief for
Moldova’s Russian-speaking separatist republic of Transdniestr.
Litskaya said he feared “growing pressure” on the secessionist
republics by Georgia and Moldova, which form part of a regional
association that also includes Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
“We have common interests, common threats and a historic common
destiny that pushes us to come together and unite,” said Sergei Chamba,
external affairs head of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia.
Russian enclaves unite
Litskaya said a meeting of leaders from the breakway territories and
from the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh would meet in Abkhazia’s
main city of Sukhumi later this month.
Chamba said that in preparing for the meeting, “we discussed the
possibility of cooperating in the military domain”.
The president of Georgia’s separatist region of South Ossetia, Dmitri
Medoyev, said that if his region is attacked, it would count in support
from “brother peoples” in North Ossetia, Transdniestr and Abkhazia.
AFP

President says OSCE MG stepped up activity
Baku, April 2, AssA-Irada
President Ilham Aliyev met with the OSCE chairman-in-office, Slovenian
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel on Saturday. The gist of the meeting
is not reported.
Receiving the OSCE delegation afterwards, President Aliyev said that
Azerbaijan attaches great importance to its co-operation with the OSCE.
“The Upper Garabagh conflict is a great obstacle for regional
development, stability and security,” said Aliyev, reiterating that
Baku supports a settlement exclusively within international legal
norms.
Touching upon the work done by the OSCE Minsk Group (MG), the President
said the Group has significantly stepped up its activity to solve
the conflict.
The OSCE chairman Rupel gave a positive assessment to the activities
carried out in Azerbaijan with support of the OSCE. He also welcomed
the latest presidential decree on freeing 114 prisoners.*

John Paul as gleaned from his poems
By Belinda Olivares-Cunanan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Apr 04, 2005
“MY life will no longer be weighted/deep in my blood; the road will
no longer slip away from my weary feet; New time now shines in my
fading eyes: It will consume me, and dwell with my heart, And all
shall be full at the last/and left for nought’s delight.”
These lines-about a life slipping away and getting a taste of
heaven-might have run in the lucid mind of Pope John Paul II as
he hovered at death’s door, “aware that he is going to The Lord,”
as Cardinal Ratzinger put it, on the eve of the Feast of the Divine
Mercy. Actually, the lines were taken from a poem titled “Embraced
by new time,” written by a poet named Karol Wojtyla, who later became
the first Polish pope, and the third longest-reigning one.
***
Like millions of other Catholics, I spent the past two days absorbed
in JPII’s deathwatch, praying for him. As his condition worsened,
I dug up a booklet of his poems, gathered and annotated by my
former UP humanities professor, Josefina Constantino, now Sr. Teresa
Joseph Patrick of the Carmelites, for the silver jubilee of JPII’s
pontificate on Oct. 16, 2003. The poems, titled “The Easter Vigil
and Other Poems,” were written in his native Polish (translated by
Polish poet and professor Jerzy Peterkiewiez of London University)
and published between 1950 and 1966, as JPII began serving his
priestly ministry. Sister Teresa noted that while his poetry “was
generally profound and philosophical,” yet he was able to deliver solid
universal truths and deeply personal convictions with a radiance and
an invigorating freshness that expands the mind and lifts the heart.
She found resonances of Polish writer Joseph Conrad, English poet
T.S. Eliot, American Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and even the
Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross in Wojtyla’s poetry.
***
In one poem, talking through the lips of the bishop (himself) as he
administered the sacrament of confirmation to the villagers, Wojtyla
says: “I am a giver, I touch forces that expand the mind.” In those
lines, he couldn’t have foreseen the profound influence he was to
have in the realm of spiritual renewal, ecumenism, the sanctity of
human life, the world’s youth and the Sacrament of the Eucharist
(he declared October 2004-2005 as the Year of the Eucharist). Church
historians consider as one of JPII’s legacies his huge role in the
dismantling of communism in Europe, which, in turn, is traced to his
profound respect for human rights, very evident in his early poetry.
JPII was famous for his great devotion to the Mother of God, and
this could be gleaned from the fact that his book of poems began with
“a little unassuming poem” on Mary titled “Her amazement at her only
child,” wherein she contemplated his Godhead even in his childhood:
” …In that little town, my son, where they knew us together, You
called me mother;
but no one had eyes to see the astounding events as they took place
day by day; Your life became the life of the poor, In your wish to
be with them, Through the work of your hands.”
It ends with the precious lines:
“I knew; the light that lingered in ordinary things like a spark
sheltered under the skin of our days-The light was you; It did not
come from me. And I had more of you in that luminous silence than I
had of you as the fruit of my body, my blood.”
***
In time he came to be referred to as John Paul The Great, in the
tradition of the Church’s more memorable popes, such as Leo The
Great and Gregory The Great. His almost 27-year reign saw the Church
embroiled in some of the bitterest controversies, but he didn’t shirk
from getting his preachings across, no matter how bitter it was for his
flock. He was known as the “Great Communicator” and his autobiography,
“Crossing the Threshold of Hope,” was a consistent bestseller. It’s
a bitter irony that toward the end he couldn’t utter a word; but,
in that, he gave us a shining example of how to bear afflictions with
more than just Christian fortitude. In the end he refused to die in
a hospital hallway, preferring to meet death in his own bedroom.
***
JPII utilized the mass media and man’s inventions, such as the
airplane, to bring his gospel around the world-the “travellingest” pope
in history. Some of those travels were efforts to promote ecumenism:
he was the first pope to visit a Muslim mosque and a Jewish synagogue,
and in his visit to the Holy Land in the Holy Year 2000, he apologized
to the Jews for the failings of the Church during their persecution. He
also reached out to the Protestants in Martin Luther’s backyard.
***
Everyone has his own memories of this man whom the youth have known
as their one and only pope. We followed him during his visits here
in 1981 and 1995. I recall how, in 1995, my brothers and sisters
and their families staked out in front of the house of my brother
Ed and sister-in-law Ninez in Para¤aque, hoping to catch a glimpse
of JPII from the airport. Ninez is not exactly the religious type,
but when he passed in front of her in his “Popemobile,” she murmured,
“It’s like seeing God.”
The last time I saw JPII was in Rome, at the canonization of Opus
Dei founder Josemaria Escriva in October 2002. His debilitating
Parkinson’s disease was very advanced even then, but he seemed buoyed
up by the 400,000 people from around the world who had trooped to
Rome. After the ceremony his “Popemobile” drove him up and down St.
Peter’s Square, and he repeatedly blessed the huge throngs. Cries
of “Viva Il Papa” lustily rose and many cried at the sight of the
charismatic Pope. But the shouts became more deafening when a ranking
official of the Armenian Orthodox Church went up to greet JPII,
who gave him a big embrace. JPII would be a tough act to follow.
–Boundary_(ID_MoiAIBvYVh/GQSQP8cnNBg)–

CEREMONIAL MARCH ON OCCASION OF 90th ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
TO START IN USA
YEREVAN, APRIL 2. ARMINFO. Hundreds of Californians will gather at the
Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church Hall in Fresno, Calif. to
attend official opening ceremony of the March For Humanity.
As the web site March for Humanity, youth walking the full 215 miles
will all be present and recognized.
The morning after, on April 2 the marchers will begin the historic
walk from Sunnyside High School in Fresno.
California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to Speak at March For
Humanity Opening Ceremony
215 Mile, 19 Day walk will commemorate 90th Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide.