Author: Kamalian Hagop

RUSSIAN AIR FORCE COMMANDER BLAMES A-320 CRASH ON BAD WEATHER

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 16 2006

LYUBERTSY, Moscow Region, May 16 (Itar-Tass) — The A-320 liner of
the Armenian air carrier Armavia crashed near Sochi’s Adler airport
due to bad weather, the commander of Russia’s Air Force, General of
the Army Vladimir Mikhailov has said.

“The weather is to blame for what happened. When we get the voice and
data recorders, this version will be confirmed,” Mikhailov said. In
his opinion the pilot made the correct decision, when he steered the
plane back after the first unsuccessful attempt to land the plane.

“He should have returned (the plane to the airport of departure). He
should not have changed his mind. This often leads to grave
consequences,” Mikhailov said, adding that specialists at the research
and development institute No. 13 of the Defense Ministry were ready
to provide assistance in decoding and interpreting data yet to be
retrieved from the “back boxes.”

The crash of the A-320 plane of the Armavia airlines in the small
hours of May 3 near Sochi claimed the lives of all 113 passengers
and crew on board. The liner crashed into the Black Sea and fell apart.

Its fragments sank 6-7 kilometers away from the coastline.

TURKISH COURT BEGINS TRIAL OF A TURK SUSPECTED OF KILLING CATHOLIC PRIEST

Armenpress
May 15 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 15, ARMENPRESS: A Turkish court in the Black Sea city of
Trabzon began Monday the trial of the 16-year old suspected killer
of Andrea Santoro- an Italian priest murdered at Santa Maria Church
in Trabzon in February.

Father Andrea Santoro, 60, had been shot twice in the back on February
5 as he knelt praying after Sunday afternoon mass in the front row of
the Santa Maria Catholic Church. The two bullets pierced his heart and
liver killing him almost instantly. A life sentence has been sought
for the 16-year-old suspected killer of the Italian priest. The
public prosecutor has charged the accused with murder with intent,
possession of an illegal fire arm and willfully endangering public
safety. For these three charges the prosecutor is seeking respectively,
a life sentence, one year, and between three to six months.

Several foreign and national journalists along with Turkish
parliamentary human rights watch commission members are attending the
hearing. The accused will be tried as a juvenile since he is under
18 years of age.

Ballistics tests have confirmed that the handgun used in the priest’s
killing belonged to the suspects father.

EU-AZERBAIJAN TALKS POSTPONED FOR UNKNOWN REASONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.05.2006 17:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The next phase of talks over the EU-Azerbaijan
Action Plan within the European Neighborhood Policy was to be held
today. The new schedule of the talks is not known, as the reasons of
cancellation are not know either.

VAZGEN MANUKYAN: “ORINATS YERKIR” PARTY’S LEAVING THE COALITION WAS NATURAL AND EXPECTED

ArmRadio.am
12.05.2006 14:50

“Orinats Yerkir” Party’s leaving the coalition was natural and long
expected,” Head of the National Democratic Union, MP Vazgen Manukyan
said in his interview to “Arminfo” correspondent.

According to Vazgen Manukyan, “Orinats Yerkir” declared long ago that
it is unable to control the situation in the country and came forward
with statements counter to the coalition policy. Therefore there is
nothing surprising in yesterday’s statement of the political council of
the party. But what is unnatural is that the party started dissolving.

Vazgen Manukyan confirms that by leaving the coalition, “Orinats
Yerkir” automatically gains the status of an opposition party. However,
time will show whether the party will join the existing opposition
or will operate separately.

Speaking about the probable candidates for the Chairman of the National
Assembly in case Arthur Baghdasaryan resigns, the Deputy said his
party does not intend to participate in any elections on candidacy.

TURKEY: ERDOGAN TO DISCUSS ARMENIAN ISSUE WITH CHIRAC

Reporter, Greece
May 11 2006

11:43 – 11 May 2006 – I believe France will not let this virus
infiltrate our relations,’ Prime Minister Erdoðan says, while
describing a bill that criminalizes denial of an alleged Armenian
genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire last century as a ‘virus’.

A report coming from Paris yesterday on the rejection of a bill by a
parliamentary commission has pleased Ankara, with Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan expressing hope that common sense would eventually win
out over the bill as Turkey has repeatedly warned that the bill’s
adoption could cause serious damage to bilateral relations between
the two countries.

Speaking to reporters at the airport ahead of his departure for
Vienna, where he will attend the three-day 4th European Union-Latin
America/Caribbean Summit at the invitation of his Austrian counterpart,
Wolfgang Schuessel, Erdoðan said he believed common sense would
eventually win out as French-Turkish relations were not “ordinary
bilateral relations.”

The prime minister described the bill criminalizing any denial of the
Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire last century —
an allegation that is categorically denied by the Turkish Republic —
as a “virus.”

“I believe France will not let this virus infiltrate our relations,”
Erdoðan said, while also mentioning the fact that investments by
French companies in Turkey top the list of foreign investment.

Referring to a meeting he held on Tuesday with a group of senior
directors of French companies doing business in Turkey, Erdoðan
said the Turkish government and those directors shared a common view
concerning the bill: that French-Turkish relations are so strong they
cannot be victimized by such a bill.

Also yesterday, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau
apparently felt the need to publicly express his country’s
“attentiveness” regarding Ankara’s anger over the bill.

Erdoðan said he would meet with French President Jacques Chirac
in Vienna.

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YURI MERZLYAKOV: “IT IS THE MOST SUITABLE TIME TO SETTLE KARABAKH CONFLICT”

Today, Azerbaijan
May 10 2006

“The current situation on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict is promising and bears responsibility,” said OSCE Minsk
Group Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov.

The Russian co-chair told APA exclusively that it is the most suitable
time to reach an agreement and this chance cannot be underestimated.

“I do not think there will a better chance again,” Mr.Merzlyakov said.

The co-chair did not say what are new proposals the co-chairs offered
to the conflicting sides. However, he said there are a number of new
opinions related to some details discussed in the framework of the
Prague process.

The Russian co-chair also said that the Minsk Group co-chairs are
not expected to visit the region by the meeting of Azerbaijani and
Armenian Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanyan in
Strasbourg in the framework of the Council of Europe event on May
18-19. He did give a specific answer to the question on the date of
the meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents.

“Let’s organize the meeting of Foreign Ministers first and they
exchange views and then organize the meeting of Presidents if the
Ministers consider it necessary,” Merzlyakov said.

URL:

WHERE SOCHI DISPATCHER DISAPPEARED?

Lragir.am
09 May 06

There is a pack of documents stating that the A320 which crashed in
Sochi was repaired and examined several times a year, said the owner
of Armavia Airlines Mikhail Baghdasarov May 6 in an interview with
Gazeta.ru. He saidthe specialists of Sabina Technics deal with minor
repairs in Armenia, but planned repairs are done in Belgium. With this
regard Mikhail Baghdasarov was surprised by the news release of the
spokesperson of the Belgian company who announced that the plane of
Armavia Airlines had not been repaired in Belgium.

Baghdasarov stated that either the author of this statement is not
competent, or hides the truth on purpose.

At the same time, the owner of Armavia rejects any relation between
the accident in Sochi and another A320 of Armavia which burnt down in
Belgium.

Moreover, the owner of Armavia gives a rather interesting assessment
of the two accidents. He says what happened in Belgium was an
accident, and for the plane crash, he says everything will become
clear. Mikhail Baghdasarov’s self-confidence is not weakened by the
fact that the black boxes are stilllying at the bottom of the sea.

`I believe that they will be found. Although there are still some
questions.

The plane was going to land normally. Why was the pilot instructed to
makea second attempt? The plane had almost landed whereas it was
ordered to makea second attempt, although they could only advise
to. And where is the dispatcher now? He cannot be found,’ said Mikhail
Baghdasarov. He stated that the dispatcher might be hiding somewhere,
fearing revenge of the relatives of victims. Baghdasarov reminds
another crash involving a plane with young children, which was caused
by the mistake of the dispatcher, when one of the parents took revenge
on the dispatcher.

SOME SETTLEMENTS OF VAYOTS DZOR AND LORI MARZ SUFFER IN CONSEQUENCE OF
HEAVY RAINS

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. In consequence of May 4 heavy rains in
the territory of the village of Azatek, Vayots Dzor marz, the Arpa
river went out of its banks and covered about 3 hectares of melon
sowing areas. And in consequence of overflow of the Debed river in the
territory near the Akhtala railway station of the Lori marz, the
territory adjacent to the station and ground floors of some houses and
constructions were covered with water. As Noyan Tapan was informed by
the Rescue Service of the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration,
collapse of the road took place at the 8th km of the Vanadzor-Alaverdi
railway on the same day. Rescuers arrived at the place of the accident
found out that a dam was breached with 15-20 metres length at the
above-mentioned place. An alarm was got at about 11:05, May 4, that a
partly collapse took place in the building of the Gyumri Branch of the
Yerevan State Economy Institute. It was found out that the
three-storied building is of the 3rd degree unsafety and from the
total 3150 square metres surface, concrete covers of 300 square metres
surface were ruined. There are no suffered people.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
May 3, 2006 Wednesday

COMMITTEE ON ARMENIA NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
HAD A SESSION IN YEREVAN

The 4th session of Interagency committee on Armenia National Security
Strategy project development too place today in Yerevan. Armenia
Defense Department Press-secretary Colonel Seyran Shakhsuvaryan
stated that the session was conducted under the chairmanship of
Armenia President Serzh Sarkisyan. The members of the 4th session
chose from 250 offers and included in the agenda the ones concerning
the following topics: Armenia outer security strategy, All-Armenian
integration strategy. After exchanging opinions, amendments have been
made and the offers accepted. The Committee secretariat is
responsible for editing the new topics.

MANY DEPUTIES LEAVE “COUNTRY OF LAW” PARTY

Yerevan, May 6. ArmInfo. Grigor Margarian, member of “Orinats Yerkir”
party, owner of a chain of “Belagio” restaurants, left the party.
Parliament sources informed ArmInfo about this.

According to ArmInfo another deputy left it, particularly. Samvel
Balasanian, head of the party’s faction, said he doesn’t know anything
about that.

It’s worth mentioning that yesterday deputy-entrepreneurs Melik
Manoukian and Arshak Mkhitarian also left “Orinats Yerkir” party. The
pro-party sources conditioned this by the strict position of “Orinats
Yerkir” party in the issue of privatization processes in 2000-2003. A
month ago Artak Sargsian, another member of the party, left that.

According to our information other 6 deputies will leave the party.
At present, there are 15 deputies in “CL” faction.