Author: Kalashian Nyrie

Edgar Manucharyan scored twice against Pobeda in F.Y.R. Macedonia
Wednesday, 21 July 2004
By Khachik Chakhoyan
His hero is Ronaldo and he has been compared to Romanian legend
Gheorghe Hagi, but after scoring two UEFA Champions League goals for
FC Pyunik, and topping the goalscoring charts back at home,
17-year-old striker Edgar Manucharyan is becoming a phenomenon in his
own right.
Ten goals
Last season, the striker’s 12 goals helped Pyunik win the Armenian
title, and his winning run has stretched into 2004. Aside from the two
he scored in last week’s 3-1 win against FK Pobeda in F.Y.R.
Macedonia, he has already scored ten goals in seven league starts and
three substitute appearances at home.
Meteoric rise
Manucharyan has been recognised as a player of significant talent ever
since he first kicked a ball in earnest at the age of nine. Former
USSR international and FC Ararat Yerevan midfield player Khoren
Hovhannisyan, who was named as the country’s Golden Player in the
Armenian Football Federation’s UEFA Jubilee poll, said: “I know
Manucharyan from his first steps in football.
‘Bright future’
“He played in the youth teams together with my son,” added
Hovhannisyan. “It was clear that he was very gifted from the very
first day. He is fast, and he is very determined to work to
improve. He has a bright future if he keeps on training hard and
thinks only about football.” Terrific pace Few in Armenia would
disagree with that assessment. Manucharyan’s skills are exceptional in
a player of his age and he boasts terrific pace and a great eye for
goal, as Pobeda found to their cost. He has also starred for Armenia
at Under-17, U19 and U21 levels, with a senior team call-up on the
horizon.
Leading figure
One of the top Armenian journalists, Football Plus editor-in-chief
Suren Bagdasaryan, has followed his progress closely, and said: “Edgar
is an event in Armenian football on his own. It is not often that
players like this come along. He has all a striker needs, and it is no
accident that he is a leader at Pyunik and with the national teams. If
Manucharyan maintains his professional attitude, he will become a top
class player. However, for that he will need to switch clubs.”
Going west
Certainly, that looks like the most likely option for the player. He
may harbour ambitions to play for Manchester United FC, but having had
trials with French clubs FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique de
Marseille, as well as piquing the interest of United’s rivals
Manchester City FC, his future maylie elsewhere.
Level head
Pyunik president Karen Harutyunyan is convinced that a number of other
clubs are watching Manucharyan – something that the striker himself
must also have noticed. Nonetheless he remains patient. “Right now I
am Pyunik’s forward, so I hope to help my team,” he told uefa.com back
in November 2003.
Next challenge
His next chance to do so will come in the home leg of the tie against
Pobeda as Pyunik aim to earn a second qualifying round tie against
Ukrainian giants FC Shakhtar Donetsk. And Pyunik coach Vardan Minasyan
is certainly not ruling out the prospect of more goals for Manucharyan
in Yerevan.
‘Top form’
“He is on top of his form and rarely leaves a pitch without scoring a
goal,” said the coach. “He helped us to beat Pobeda in the first leg
by scoring twice and making an assist. There are very few players of
such talent in Armenia, and you can already call this lad the finished
item.” If he continues to develop at his current rate, the world will
soon be forced to agree.
©uefa.com 1998-2004.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
July 20, 2004
Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors Meeting Open
Session
TEXT: Secretary Colin L. Powell
Harry S Truman Building Room 1107
July 20, 2004
(10:00 a.m. EDT)
SECRETARY POWELL:Good morning, everyone. It’s my great pleasure to
call the meeting to order and to welcome all of you to this regular
meeting of the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. I see that we have a quorum of directors present so we
can begin our business.
Let me begin by welcoming our two newest members, and the first two
outside members of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Board,
Christine Todd Whitman and Kenneth Hackett. Both of them were
nominated by the President in June and confirmed by the Senate just
last week and sworn in by me seven and a half minutes ago.
(Laughter.) So we are very pleased to have them both here. And as
most of you know, Christie Whitman previously served as Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency and as Governor of the State
of New Jersey. Ken Hackett currently serves as President of Catholic
Relief Services, where he oversees important relief and development
operations around the world. And we are very fortunate to have two
such respected and gifted individuals on the board and we certainly
look forward to their contributions.
And so, on behalf of President Bush and all of the members of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation team, I’d like to welcome them both
to the Board of Directors.
Before we get started on Board business, I wanted to note that due to
the limited time available for a public session today and to give
interested members of the public an opportunity to ask some questions
of the Millennium Challenge Corporation management, MCC will be
holding a public outreach session at GSA on Tuesday, July 27th, next
week, at 10:30 a.m.
At that session members of the MCC management team would like to
update you on their trips to the 16 MCA-eligible countries and other
recent developments and then take your questions. I understand, by
the way, that the country trips were very positive and productive.
The reports that I have received back from Paul and our embassies
certainly give me reason for optimism, so I would encourage you to
attend the outreach session next week.
Let’s now move along to the first item of business, the approval of
the minutes of the Open Session of the May 6th Board Meeting. All of
us have had a chance to review the minutes of the Open Session of the
May 6th Board Meeting, which are included in your Board books. At Tab
1 is a resolution to approve these minutes and certify that they
accurately reflect the proceedings at that portion of the meeting.
If there are no questions or comments, do I have a motion to adopt
the resolution at Tab 1?
A PARTICIPANT: So moved.
SECRETARY POWELL: A second, please?
A PARTICIPANT: Second.
SECRETARY POWELL: All in favor?
(Chorus of ayes.)
SECRETARY POWELL: The resolution is adopted. We will now move on to
the next item of business, a report on MCC operations by Chief
Executive Officer Paul Applegarth. Paul.
MR. APPLEGARTH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. I’m pleased
to provide the Board an update on the work of the Corporation since
our last Board meeting. Because of limited time today, my report will
be a summary, with the idea that we will report in greater detail and
answer questions at next week’s public Board meeting.
For those of you who didn’t write down all the details of where the
meeting will be, they will be available on the MCC website shortly.
Also I want to, despite the best of planning efforts over a couple
months to keep calendars free, both Secretary Snow and Administrator
Natsios had to be out of town today unavoidably. Accordingly, I want
to recognize, in addition to our two new board members, Deputy
Secretary of the Treasury Bodman and Deputy Administrator of AID Fred
Schieck, who are here today.
At its basic Board meeting, the Board did two significant things. One
was to select the first 16 countries as eligible for MCC assistance
and to improve the establishment of a threshold program. Implementing
programs and policies related to those decisions has been the focus
of much of MCC’s operational activities for the last two and a half
months.
Immediately after the Board meeting, eligible countries were informed
of their status by each U.S. Ambassador to each — in their country
and we had a meeting for the ambassadors of the selected countries.
In addition, President Bush held a ceremony in the East Room of the
White House to recognize and congratulate the representatives of the
MCC-eligible countries. This event was attended by members of the
Board, Congress, senior White House officials and a number of NGOs
and members of the public who have been instrumental in helping to
create the MCA.
Following an intense period of preparation, MCC then sent five teams
to visit all the 16 countries at the end of May and early June,
departing within ten days of the last Board meeting. There were five
purposes for these trips: first was to congratulate the countries for
being selected; two, to invite the submission of a proposal; three,
review the three core tests that MCC will use in evaluating
proposals, i.e., will the countries’ proposed program lead to poverty
reduction, to sustained economic growth, were the countries’
priorities determined through a consultative process, and what
additional policy commitments will the selected countries make to
continue the policy reform process; the fourth purpose of the trips
was to communicate MCC’s message broadly in the country through
meetings with government officials, members of parliament, political
leaders, NGOs, the private sector, other donors and civil society
leaders; and finally, to conduct an aggressive grassroots
communication and public diplomacy strategy, including press
conferences and radio and TV interviews to alert the people in
selected countries of the country’s selection as an MCC country,
highlight the United States involvement and encourage them to
participate in the consultative process to develop their country’s
priorities.
Before going, we also spent a lot of time with our U.S. key partners
at USAID, State and Treasury, and I want to thank the Board members
for the administration for making their staffs available to assist
with our trips. They did provide an enormous amount of assistance
that was critical to our preparation, as did staff at the World Bank,
the IMF and elsewhere in the U.S. Government.
You will hear more next week, but I will say there are a number of
common experiences among the teams that visited countries. First, we
were received at the highest levels in every country, the president
and prime minister in virtually every case. Secondly, the countries
were uniformly proud of being recognized for their achievements.
Third, they were very enthusiastic about the concept of country
ownership, particularly after they understood the flexibility being
offered to them to set the strategic directions of their proposal.
I’ll give you a couple of examples of the impact that we had. A
senior official in Armenia stated that Armenia’s inclusion in the
program had made the country much more focused on matters of
governing, governance, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Another official said that because of the consultative process
officials better understood the urgency of problems in rural areas
and that their proposals had been affected by these consultations.
That’s exactly what we’re aiming for through the consultative
process. The State Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Mongolia said Mongolia’s selection as an MCC-eligible country had
paved the way for a new form of relations between Mongolia and the
United States. And the Prime Minister of Cape Verde stated that the
selection of Cape Verde for the MCA was the third most significant
achievement for the country, behind its independence from Portugal in
1975 and the democratic transition in 1991. That’s fairly — in terms
of priority, what can I say? He said it all.
We are clearly now moving into a new phase of MCC operations. The
timing of initial proposal submission for each country will be
different because the specifics of proposal development are unique to
each country. To predict a timeline going forward is difficult at
this time in terms of when we’ll complete the first compacts. It is
clear as we’ve encouraged countries to take time to get their
proposals right — actually, there’s no question that our visits
probably slowed down the submission process, but for good reasons.
First, I think these countries recognize their flexibility under the
program. They wanted to stop, take stock and rethink about how they
could really use this new resource. And secondly, the consultative
process.
Other activities we’ve been quite involved in have been the compact
evaluation process, preparing it and getting ready for receipt of the
first compact proposals; secondly, detailed planning for the
implementation of the threshold program, working together with AID;
and then preparing for really the agenda of this Board meeting, which
is the candidate — beginning the candidate country selection process
for 2005.
We’ve also spent a lot of time on outreach. In terms of outreach,
we’ve spent a considerable amount of time on Capitol Hill meeting
with the members and their staff in an effort to keep interested
members up to date on MCC activities. I have testified before the
HIRC and House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee in
preparation for their deliberations. As you know, the House did pass
an appropriation bill that included $1.25 billion for ’05. We are
working to get it back — the amount up to the President’s original
request of $2.5 billion, but we do appreciate the leadership and
support of Chairman Kolbe and the bipartisan support that MCC enjoys.
We continue actively to participate in a number of outreach efforts
with NGOs and business groups and to seek opportunities for these
discussions. Developing awareness of MCC with international donors
has also been a priority. We should mention Andrew Natsios invited me
to participate in a meeting of development ministers that he was
hosting following the G-8. This meeting provided an excellent
opportunity for us to meet with the leadership of the donor community
and to introduce them to MCC and what MCC is trying to do. And I do
appreciate Andrew’s efforts to include MCC in this important meeting.
And as I mentioned previously, we are holding another public outreach
meeting next week.
In the midst of all this, it’s sometimes difficult to forget we’re
still a startup. If we can find the time, we will celebrate our
six-month birthday at the end of this week. And from an
administrative perspective, we continue to build the infrastructure
to support the implementation of MCC, including things like phones,
security systems, temporary office construction and ultimately
finding a permanent headquarters.
In terms of staffing, we’ve gone from a team of roughly eight people
at the end of January to a little over 40 today, and we continue to
build out the team. We have also continued to put in place financial
and administrative procedures. The administrative staff visited
Denver to further develop financial management and budgeting systems
with our vendor, the National Business Center at the Department of
the Interior. And, actually, we were joined on this trip by a
representative of the Inspector Generals Office.
As I mention the Inspector General, I should say in terms of
oversight, we have had extensive discussions with Hill staff, the GAO
and the Inspector General staff. We recognize the need for this
transparency and see as important strategically in terms of building
confidence of what we are about. As a startup particularly and
without demonstrable results in terms of results of our compacts for
a couple years, it’s very important that everyone have full
confidence in what we are doing and how we are doing it.
In short, I would like to say it’s been a quite busy two and a half
months since our last meeting. We’ve made considerable progress and
still have a lot to do. We look forward to receiving the proposals
from MCC countries, working to the selection of the ’05 countries and
ultimately moving closer to our goal of reducing poverty through
growth in some of the poorest countries of the world.
Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Paul, and my congratulations
to you and the members of the MCC staff for the great work that you
have been doing in recent months. I always have to remind audiences
that I speak to about the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the
Account, that this has gone from a line in the President’s State of
the Union Address in January of last year in less than 18 months —
quite a few weeks less than 18 months — to a complete program, the
chartering of a corporation, the development of a board, the creation
of a staff, pushing the appropriation through the Congress, all that
is required to set up a new and rather unique organization that is
out of government but also connected to the government and enjoying
one of the President’s highest priorities. And by governmental
standards, this is a pretty rapid rate of progress and reflects a lot
of hard work on the part of Paul, Al Larson before Paul, and so many
others, and I appreciate that work.
I might just add one other word about the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. The 16 nations that were selected have all been very,
very pleased with their selection and I received all kinds of nice
letters and phone calls and visitors. And they come in and they give
me all their promises of what they’re going to do, and I said that’s
fine because we’re entering into a compact, a contract, and if you
want this funding and if you want it to continue, and you want it to
be multiyear, if you want us to stick with you, you’ve got to get
better every year with respect to these basic tests of democracy and
openness and economic freedom and end of corruption and the rule of
law. You’ve got to get better.
Of greater interest, however, are the delegations and letters and
phone calls I received from the countries that were not selected but
who are potential candidates. And those calls are of a slightly
different nature, or when they sit in my office and they look across
at me and they say, “What did we do wrong or what is it we have to do
right to get into this game?” And it’s very simple and we lay it out
for them. And they say if you do these things, then you will enhance
your prospects of being selected. And we’re going to get more money
in ’05 and we’re going to get even more money in ’06. So this is the
most significant development program since the Marshall Plan, and you
can be a recipient, you can work out a compact with us, but you’ve
got to do the right things.
The other point I would make is that this is all being done not at
the expense of our normal development assistance programs; in fact,
if you look at the record of the Administration over the last three
and a half years, there has been growth in AID spending and other
kinds of development assistance spending, and on top of that you have
this unique Millennium Challenge approach to development assistance.
And not development assistance for the purpose of keeping people on
the dole forever, but for the purpose of creating conditions in those
countries so they will start to attract investment and trade —
non-aid. It’s not for the purpose of giving them aid forever. This is
the purpose of putting them on a solid footing so that they will
attract investment and trade and get off aid, and we can use the
Millennium Challenge Account money in future years for other
countries that have met the test.
We will be talking about threshold funding. There are a number of
countries that were getting closer and they may need a little walking
around — no, I won’t call it that. (Laughter.) They need a little
help. And that’s what the threshold program is for, to give them a
little help and bring them along, make sure they understand what’s
going to be required of them, make sure they understand the demanding
nature of the tests that they will be asked to take and pass.
So I must say that, at least from my personal perspective as Chairman
of this Corporation, as well as Secretary of State, I can say that
I’m very pleased and I know the President is very pleased at the
progress that we have seen so far, but it is nothing compared to the
progress that we hope to see in the future.
With that, I would now like to move to close the open portion of the
meeting, not to cut off dialogue and debate because you’ll have that
opportunity with Paul and the staff next week, but we have to discuss
a few matters such as the ’05 country selection process, which has to
be closed because of the confidential nature of discussions and use
of classified information, and we also have to discuss some internal
personnel matters.
Members of the Board, in your Board books at Tab 2 is a resolution to
approve the closing of the meeting at this time. If there are no
questions or comments about the resolution, do I have a motion to
adopt the resolution at Tab 2?
A PARTICIPANT: So moved.
SECRETARY POWELL: Second, please?
A PARTICIPANT: Second.
SECRETARY POWELL: All in favor?
(Chorus of ayes.)
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much. The resolution is adopted and
the open session of the meeting is adjourned. Please join me all
upstairs, members

Milford Daily News
Hometown parade: Portuguese Picnic draws thousands
By Sara Withee / News Staff Writer
Monday, July 19, 2004
MILFORD — Thousands of people filled Prospect Heights this weekend to eat,
drink and be merry at the annual Portuguese Picnic.
The Portuguese Club’s two-day festival — a Milford tradition since
1918 — began Saturday afternoon with music, smoked meats and games,
thengathered again yesterday for the annual parade, where this year’s mayor,
John Derderian, saluted the masses.
“It was a wonderful experience coming up Water Street, coming down
Prospect Heights,” said Derderian, 55. “It reminded me of my childhood and
coming to the picnic with my family.”
Derderian is the 44th mayor to be elected by the Prospect Heights
Mayors Association. In this position, Derderian will organize the annual
mayors’ reunion in October and spearhead community outreach efforts.
Mayors must have lived part of their youth in the brick row houses the
former Draper Corp. of Hopedale built around 1900 for its workers and
represent one of the area’s five major nationalities: Portuguese, Armenian,
Irish, Italian or Polish.
“I was very honored to be asked,” said Derderian, who is Portuguese and
Armenian.
Yesterday’s parade left Sacred Heart Church on East Main Street at 2
p.m. Milford selectmen Chairman John Seaver and his 10-month-old daughter
Cristina rode in on one of the first floats with Miss Portuguese Community
Mara Lage, 18.
Lage, the second person to hold the title, was joined by Lisa
Goncalves, 16, first runner-up of the February pageant and second runner-up
Liliana Dafonte, 18.
Derderian and a dozen former mayors arrived at the Portuguese Club on
the parade’s last float, then began enjoying the beef stew, tripe and
sardines.
“It’s quite a celebration, a little piece of Americana,” state Rep.
Marie Parente, D-Milford, said.
“It gets better every year,” said Al Azevedo, 61, of Milford, the 1997
Prospect Heights mayor.
Azevedo, who is Portuguese, Albanian and Irish, said the two-day
festival is a chance to reunite with childhood friends with whom he played
outside and shared meals as their parents tried to get by in their new
country.
“We all took care of one another, our parents took care of one
another,” Azevedo said.
Azevedo said he always leaves the celebration with a strong feeling
about his past. “No matter where you go, the people who grew up here,
they’re always here for you,” Azevedo said.
Joseph Lopes, the 1971 Prospect Heights mayor, recalled his youth and
agreed, saying, “There was a level of trust in the community. Very few
people ever locked their doors.”
Fellow former mayor Joe Oneshuck, 70, said he never fully understood
that trust as a child and remembers questioning his father whenever he heard
him talking to a neighbor who spoke a language the family didn’t know.
“He said, ‘It doesn’t matter what they say, I know what they mean.’
They were all in the same situation. They were trying to raise a family.
They were trying to survive,” said Oneshuck, the 1975 mayor.
Oneshuck said he sees the same plight among today’s Prospect Heights’
residents.
“They’re going through the same things with their children as our
parents did,” he said. “They’re all trying to work their way up in society.”
But Lopes noted the melting pot has seen some changes.
“Milford has a lot of Brazilians and Hispanics,” Lopes said. “These
people are the new wave of immigrants. They pretty much represent what our
families did in those times.”
( Sara Withee can be reached at 508-634-7546 or [email protected] )

ArmenPress
July 15 2004
ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF TURKEY SPEAKS IN FAVOR OF TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP
TO EU
ISTANBUL, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Patriarch of Turkey,
Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian, met recently with the senior consul of
the French consulate in Istanbul, Jean Christopher Possel, who was
eager to learn Mutafian’s views concerning Turkey’s drive towards EU
membership.
Mutafian said it would not be correct to look at the entire
Armenian community of Turkey as a homogeneous body. “Those French
Armenians who resist Turkish EU membership represent only part of
Armenians. Along with Diaspora Armenians who advocate against
Turkey’s accession to EU there are also Armenians who realize the
benefits that can come for Turkish-Armenian relations together with
Turkey’s membership and therefore they support that process,” he
said.
Mutafian said he too, as the Armenian Patriarch, speaks often in
favor of Turkey’s membership. “In the event of meeting all
requirements of becoming an EU member country, the membership will
have a very positive effect on the state of Turkish citizens,
national minorities, in terms of improving Armenian-Armenian
relations and securing regional stability,” he said.

Agence France Presse
July 17, 2004 Saturday
Erdogan en France pour promouvoir la candidature turque a l’UE avant
decembre(AVANT-PAPIER)
Par Burak AKINCI
ANKARA
BODY: Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan effectue de lundi
a mercredi une visite officielle en France pour promouvoir aupres des
dirigeants francais la candidature de son pays a l’Union europeenne,
epineux sujet qui divise la scene politique francaise.
M. Erdogan doit s’entretenir avec son homologue Jean-Pierre Raffarin
au premier jour de sa visite et etre recu le lendemain a l’Elysee par
le president Jacques Chirac lors d’un dejeuner de travail.
“C’est une visite importante dans un Etat important de l’UE”, a
precise un diplomate turc sous couvert d’anonymat. Outre la
candidature turque, les relations bilaterales et commerciales seront
egalement au menu des entretiens, a-t-on precise de meme source.
La Commission europeenne doit remettre en octobre sa recommandation
sur l’ouverture de negociations d’adhesion avec la Turquie, que
decideront ou non les dirigeants europeens en decembre.
La Turquie a obtenu le statut de candidat a l’UE en 1999.
Estimant avoir rempli les conditions politiques –les criteres de
Copenhague– pour ouvrir ces negociations, le gouvernement de M.
Erdogan, qui dirige un parti issu de la mouvance islamiste, l’AKP, a
fait passer au parlement plusieurs reformes democratiques. Il espere
que ces discussions debuteront des debut 2005.
La question de l’entree dans l’UE de la Turquie, pays musulman mais
laieque de plus de 70 millions d’habitants, divise profondement les
opinions europeennes et les partis politiques francais.
Le 29 juin, lors du sommet de l’OTAN a Istanbul, M. Chirac avait
vivement critique la prise de position du president americain George
W. Bush en faveur d’une adhesion de la Turquie a l’UE, y voyant une
ingerence dans les affaires europeennes.
Le president francais avait toutefois juge “irreversible” la marche
d’Ankara vers l’UE, estimant que “la Turquie a une vocation
europeenne, historique, tres ancienne”, meme si son parti, l’Union
pour la majorite presidentielle (UMP), s’est prononce contre une
adhesion.
L’entree de la Turquie dans l’UE signerait “a terme la fin de
l’Europe”, avait declare le president de l’UMP, Alain Juppe,
proposant plutot pour Ankara la solution d'”un voisinage rapproche”.
M. Erdogan doit avoir un tete-a-tete avec M. Juppe ainsi qu’avec le
president du parti centriste UDF Francois Bayrou et avec le premier
secretaire du parti socialiste (PS), Francois Hollande.
A la difference des partis de droite, le PS, premier parti
d’opposition en France, est favorable au principe de l’entree de la
Turquie dans l’UE mais conditionne pour sa part l’ouverture de
negociations d’adhesion a la reconnaissance par ce pays du genocide
armenien de 1915, pendant l’empire ottoman.
La Turquie, qui rejette categoriquement la these d’un “genocide”,
avait ete particulierement irritee par l’adoption par le parlement
francais en 2001 d’une loi reconnaissant le genocide armenien.
Lors de sa visite M. Erdogan doit egalement evoquer les relations
economiques. Les echanges entre les deux pays se sont chiffres en
2003 a quelque 6 milliards d’euros.
La France est le deuxieme partenaire commercial de la Turquie et son
quatrieme fournisseur.
La compagnie nationale Turkish Airlines se prepare a acheter pres de
cinquante avions de ligne, notamment moyen et long courrier, pour
renouveler sa flotte vieillissante. Le consortium aeronautique
europeen Airbus et l’americain Boeing sont en lice.
M. Erdogan souhaiterait se servir de ce contrat de deux milliards de
dollars (1,6 milliard euros), qui devrait en principe etre partage
entre les deux constructeurs, pour “inciter” les Francais a donner
leur aval a l’ouverture des negociations d’adhesion avec Ankara,
a-t-on indique de source proche du dossier.

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
July 17 2004
Schiff genocide resolution faces GOP resistance
House leaders fear offending ally Turkey one day after House passes
bill affirming Armenian Genocide.
By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press
WASHINGTON – A day after getting the House of Representatives to
recognize the Armenian Genocide for the first time, Rep. Adam Schiff
(D-Glendale) was already feeling pressure Friday from the House’s
Republican leadership to drop the issue.
The House of Representatives accepted an amendment to the foreign
operations appropriation bill Thursday sponsored by Schiff that would
prohibit Turkey from using U.S. foreign aid funds to lobby against
recognition of the genocide.
“It puts the House on record as saying that the genocide took place,
we know it took place, and we won’t allow our money to be used to
deny it,” Schiff said.
>From 1915 to 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman
Turks, but the United States has never acknowledged it as genocide.
Schiff’s amendment is the first time the House voted on a measure
related to the genocide.
But a joint House-Senate committee must approve the amendment, and
Republican leaders in the House are already starting to fight it. In
a joint statement, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.),
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and House Majority Whip Roy
Blunt (R-Mo.) insisted the committee drop the amendment and said the
House would not consider officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide
this year.
Republicans fear that recognizing the genocide will hurt the United
States’ relationship with Turkey, a strategic military ally. The
United States and Turkey jointly operate an air force base in
Incirlik, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
“Turkey has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades,
and the deep foundation upon which our mutual economic and security
relationship rests should not be disrupted by this amendment,”
Hastert, DeLay and Blunt said in a written statement. Efforts to
reach them Friday were unsuccessful.
Schiff dismissed the notion, saying that Turkish leaders might be
angered for a month and then get over it.
He pledged to work hard to make sure the amendment remains part of
the bill, and he expects help from Armenian-American leaders
throughout the country.
“Up until now, [the Republicans] have been killing this resolution
behind the scenes; killing it with silence,” Schiff said. “This is
the first time they’ve been fleshed out and forced into the open.”
In Glendale, the Armenian-American community rejoiced that Schiff’s
amendment passed.
Ardashes Kassakhian, executive director of the Armenian National
Committee’s Western Region, which serves Glendale and Burbank, heard
the news while serving as a counselor at an Armenian youth camp. He
immediately shared it with the campers.
“I told them, boys and girls, we’ve been working hard for a very long
time to have a success such as this,” Kassakhian said. “It’s been a
while since we’ve had a success such as this one, and we achieved it.
The kids all started cheering and singing Armenian patriotic songs.”

The Washington Post
July 16, 2004 Friday
Final Edition
House Votes Down Cut In Military Aid to Egypt;
Administration Officials Pressed Hill on Issue
Dan Morgan, Washington Post Staff Writer
The House yesterday rejected a $570 million cut in U.S. military aid
to Egypt after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell issued a
last-minute warning to lawmakers that the action would damage
relations with a close Middle East ally “at a very sensitive moment
in the region.”
Although the 287 to 131 vote was lopsided, the administration and
military contractors who sell U.S.-financed weaponry to Egypt took
seriously the threat of a cut and worked behind the scenes to head it
off.
Before the vote, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice made
calls to some lawmakers, who were also on notice from arms companies
that the shift could result in job losses in home districts. “It was
a full-court press,” said Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who offered the
amendment to the $19.4 billion foreign aid bill for 2005.
His bill would have shifted the military aid to economic assistance,
which he said is “desperately needed” in Egypt. “The last thing this
society [Egypt] needs is the ultimate in high-tech weaponry,” Lantos
said.
The debate brought out highly ambivalent feelings about Egypt. The
House’s pro-Israel forces used the opportunity to vent frustration
with the Egyptian government’s role during hostilities between Israel
and the Palestinians. Among those supporting the cut was House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), one of the strongest supporters
of Israeli interests in Congress.
Lawmakers took the floor to rebuke the Egyptian government for
tolerating anti-Semitism, limiting its cooperation with the United
States in the war on terrorism and failing to prevent gun-smuggling
to militant Palestinian groups.
But Powell and senior lawmakers in both parties warned that the
action would send the wrong signal at a time when Egypt has begun
working closely with Israel to assure a smooth transition as Israel
plans to withdraw from Gaza.
In a letter to Congress, Powell noted that a unilateral reduction
would weaken the balanced military aid to Egypt and Israel that is a
“cornerstone” of the 1979 Camp David peace accords. In 2005, Israel
and Egypt are set to receive $2.2 billion and $1.3 billion in grants,
respectively, under the formula.
“Our credibility in this relationship depends to a great degree upon
being a reliable provider of assistance to the Egyptian military,”
Powell wrote.
“This puts a finger in the eye of our friends in Egypt,” said Rep.
John D. Dingell (D-Mich.)
Jewish House members were divided on the issue. Rep. Nita M. Lowey
(D-N.Y.) questioned why the United States was providing lavish
military assistance to Egypt even though “it has no real enemies” and
its government tolerates “TV shows that perpetuate anti-Semitism.”
But she said she was reluctantly opposing the aid cut because of its
timing, noting that Egypt has lately signaled its intention to play a
more constructive Middle East role.
However, Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), in backing Lantos’s proposal,
said years of U.S. aid to Egypt have done little to curb anti-Israel
rhetoric in the country’s media.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the principal
pro-Israel lobby in the United States, took no official position on
the issue. Earlier in the day, AIPAC won at least a symbolic victory
when it helped push through the House a resolution that was critical
of a July 9 advisory judgment from the International Court of Justice
holding Israel’s security wall to be illegal. The resolution
indicated that the ruling was a result of improper political pressure
from members of the U.N. General Assembly. The vote was 361 to 45.
Later yesterday, Republican leaders helped the underlying foreign aid
bill get passed by a 365 to 41 vote. Tight budget restrictions forced
the House to cut $2 billion from President Bush’s request, but the
measure still provides a record $2.2 billion to fight HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis — nearly $60 million more than last year.
The president got only half the $2.5 billion he requested for his
signature foreign aid initiative, the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. The corporation establishes a new way to dispense
foreign aid to countries that qualify by meeting a list of criteria
such as commitment to free-market economies and democratic
institutions.
The bill provides $900 million in aid to Afghanistan, and continues a
waiver that allows continued bilateral economic assistance to
Azerbaijan despite that country’s economic blockage of Armenia.

ARMENIAN PM MEETS WITH MOSCOW MAYOR
YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS: Before wrapping up an official
visitto Moscow, Armenian prime minister Andranik Margarian met today
with Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, who said that the trade between the
two countries was not satisfactory, despite some progress in that
area. The Russian mayor briefedthe Armenian prime minister on Moscow
government plans concerning Armenia, which he said would mark a
significant progress if implemented.
Luzhkov, particulalry, expounded about construction of Yerevan
Trade Center in Moscow, which is set to be built by Armenian companies
and is expected to be over in 2005. His other proposal was about
building a center for wholesale of Armenia-made products. Luzhkov also
proposed that a joint commission, made of Armenian government and
Moscow officials be formed to promote mutually beneficial ideas. The
Moscow mayor also promised to assist Armenia to secure reasonable and
fixed fee for hiring a pavilion at all-Russian exhibition center.
Armenian prime minister asked Luzhkov to consider the issue of
providing quotas for Armenian builders in Moscow so that they face no
problems when working there.

Armen Press
July 12 2004
PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARYAN TO VISIT RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON JUNE
12
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS: On July 12 Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan left for the Russian Federation on a two-day
official visit at the invitation of Mikhail Fradkov, the chairman of
the Government of the Russian Federation. The Armenian delegation,
headed by the Prime Minister, includes Vardan Khachatrian, the
minister of finance and economy, Karen Chshmaritian, the minister of
trade and economic development, Sergo Yeritsian, the minister of
science and education, Armen Avetisian, the chairman of the
government affiliated state customs committee, Tatul Margaryan, the
deputy minister of foreign affairs and also senior officials of the
staff of the government and the ministry of foreign affairs.
On July 13 Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan will have a meeting
with his Russian counterpart, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. This
will be followed by enlarged Russian- Armenian talks with
participation of all members of Russian and Armenian delegations. The
prime Ministers of Armenia and Russia will also meet with
representatives of mass media.
Within the frameworks of the visit Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian is expected to have also bilateral meetings with some
high-ranking Russian official. During his stay in Moscow the Prime
Minister will visit the “Armenia” pavilion of the Pan-Russian
Exhibition Center and will meet with its director M. Musayev.

Faces of Globalization: Armenian students
By Christine Heath
UPI Correspondent
Published 7/9/2004 6:40 PM
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) — Walking along the sidewalk surrounding the
Capitol building in Washington, Nune Hovhannisyan and Lusine Tadevosyan want
to complete what they lightheartedly call their picture show.
The two women, born and raised in Armenia, are spending their summer here as
part of an academmic program.
On their way back to work for the Armenian International Policy Research
Group, Lusine, 25, and Nune, 22, strategically position themselves on the
front steps of the symbolic Capitol building, preparing to be photographed.
As the picture is snapped, their faces are proud with an underlying sense of
accomplishment. Both stand ridged and tall, with a sense of how far they
have come from their homeland of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Armenia, located in Southwestern Asia, just east of Turkey, is a landlocked
country with a population of about 3 million.
After gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country’s
centralized economic structure dilapidated and forced Armenian leaders to
privatize all industries.
Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia was able to maintain a
modern industrial manufacturing sector, supplying such things as machine
tools and textiles, to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and
energy.
The break up of the Soviet central planning system and the long conflict
with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, the predominantly
Armenian-populated region assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan, contributed to the
severe economic decline in the early 1990s.
Between 1991 and 1993, the gross domestic product dropped by 60 percent.
Factories, with an inadequate fuel supply and an inability sell products,
were forced to close.
“All the plants just closed down and some re-opened, but they needed new
professionals,” Nune explained, now seated at her desk located in the
Armenian Assembly of America.
Nune’s father, who has a formal education in engineering, lost his job in
1993.
After loosing his job at the engineering plant, Nune’s father worked as the
councilor to the head of a trade group.
“It sounds great, but just on the paper … it is a huge complex (group),
but only 1 percent is functioning,” Nune said in accented English.
Nune explains, “a successful businessman privatizes the company. When new
people come, they bring their own team. The complex closed and ever since he
is trying to get a job.”
Nune’s father is financially dependent on family living outside Armenia to
send him money.
Sitting directly to Nune’s left at her own desk, Lusine relates a similar
story.
Her father, also formally educated as an engineer, now drives a taxi.
“Being an engineer you many not have steady work, so they have other jobs.”
In 2001, the unemployment rate topped 20 percent for Armenians.
Lusine also talked about the effect of the war with Azerbaijan, “Blockages
and no energy sources during war make it really hard.”
Armenia suffered chronic energy shortages in the early and mid-1990s.
Even before the war started the only nuclear power plant closed because of
environmental concerns, Lusine explained with a map of Armenia posted
prominently on the wall behind her.
“With no energy supply, how can factory produce?”
The country producing only hydropower at the time, Lusine recalled having
power for a limited two hours a day.
“People got really used to it because they needed to survive. Those were
difficult years, but we survived.”
Lusine added, “My sister was trying to get into medical school; she studied
with a candle. It is an Armenian characteristic, they never suffered the
education for anything.”
The literacy rate for the total population of Armenia is 98.6 percent.
Education has always been important to both Lusine and Nune.
“It was really difficult to get into my institute,” Nune shyly admitted that
600 students applied for 25 places in the economic department at Yerevan
State University.
Upon a successful completion of their undergraduate work, both women decided
to continue their education in the United States.
“When you have an American education it is much easier to find a job. You
have more opportunity in Armenia and elsewhere,” said Lusine.
Nune jumped in, “U.S. education is a passport.”
Lusine and Nune both are in the United States as part of the highly
competitive, merit-based Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program.
Nune, one of the youngest fellows, felt fortunate to be a part of the
prestigious program, “I know people who applied five years.”
The program attempts to ameliorate democracy and economy in Eurasia by
sending young professionals to the United States for a master’s degree level
of education and requires that fellows return home for two years upon
completion of their education.
After the program’s completion, Lusine intends to take full advantage of the
opportunities she has been afforded.
“I got the education not just for fun. I want to use it and get paid, that’s
all I want.”
Lusine and Nune represent a new future for Armenia. The young, educated
professionals will continue to stimulate the economic growth in upcoming
industries like electronics, high technology, agriculture, and
diamond-processing.
The UN estimates that between 1998 and 2000 annual technology-related
exports rose by 25 percent.
Armenia’s gross domestic product was $11.79 billion in 2003. Its per capita
was $3,900 last year.
Armenia is seeing change in its increasing globalization. In January 2003
the country joined the WTO and has recently managed to qualify for
state-to-state funding from the United States through World Bank’s
Millennium Challenge Account.
Over the past ten years, the U.S. government has allocated over $1.4 billion
in U.S. humanitarian, technical, and economic development assistance to
Armenia.
>From under a stack of papers, Lusine pulled out a photocopied March 2004
National Geographic article that featured Armenia.
“I don’t like this article because they make you feel pity on Armenia. You
have to feel pride.”
While in the United States, Lusine takes every opportunity she can to
educate people on the little known Republic of Armenia.
“I am trying to educate people on my country. I learned my history much
better when I came here, which is really long and rich.”
“When they ask, I don’t just say Armenia, I try to give them idea what means
Armenian.”
Faces of Globalization — The above piece by UPI Correspondent Christine
Heath is part 17 of a half-year series by United Press International which
focuses each week on the human face of globalization in locales ranging from
India to the heartland of the United States. The series looks at the complex
array of social and economic issues facing workers, managers, students and
others, who have been affected by the growing worldwide investment, trade
and technological interconnections that have come to be known as
globalization.