Author: Kanayan Tamar

FIVE PIECES OF ADVICE FOR SERGE SARGSYAN
Lragir.am
11 Sept 06
Hrant Khachatryan, the leader of the Constitutional Right Union,
gave some advice to Serge Sargsyan, the chair of the Council of the
Republican Party, September 9 at the Azdak Club after Serge Sargsyan’s
statement two days before that he had not ordered to attack Hovanes
Galajyan, the editor of the Iravunk, the official newspaper of the
Constitutional Right Union, “because he does not fight against the
wretched.”
In answer, the leader of the Constitutional Right Union Hrant
Khachatryan gave five pieces of advice to Serge Sargsyan:
“Advice 1: relations with the society is not the same as relations
with a group of pageboys, hypocrites and bootlickers. For a person
with such big ambitions it is high time to realize this.
Advice 2: even if you are libeled in the media, it should be clearly
separated from facts that are evident and do not need to be proved,
otherwise calling everyone slanderer arouses dissatisfaction among
honest critics, and if this occurs again and again, it may grow
into personal enmity. Advice 3: when one describes publicly a known
person, one automatically reveals the system of values which one
represents. Describing Hovanes Galajyan as wretched is utterly against
our idea, the idea of the society, and I believe that some members of
your team did not like it either. Advice 4: in mental exercises about
the criminal you do not have to assume all the responsibility. We know
it is an unsatisfied ambition. For you, on the other hand, you should
beware the criminal, which is now taking an oath of faithfulness to
you. They have already cheated several others like you. Advice 5:
there is one case when you are really responsible for the criminal –
as the secretary of the Council of Security. And either you have to
fulfill this responsibility or you should deny it,” announced Hrant
Khachatryan.
He says after the attack on the journalist they doubted that Serge
Sargsyan had organized the attack. However, after Serge Sargsyan’s
reaction, Hrant Khachatryan says they think that their doubt is real.

ONE OF THE YEREVAN STREETS CLOSED DOWN BECAUSE OF FIRE
A1+
[01:17 pm] 11 September, 2006
At about 10:05 p.m. yesterday 120-square-meter roof of a 4-storeyed
building on Andrfederation 18 caught fire.
The Emergency Board and Rescuers’ Agency informed A1+ that the roof
of the building was completely burnt.
Fortunately, the fire didn’t spread too far, and there were neither
damages nor victims.
The inner part of the building is made of wood which contributed to
the quick spread of the fire. The Emergency Board has no information
on the causes of fire; they will be revealed only within 7 – 10 days.
It took two days to extinguish the fire. The fire was completely put
out at 00:29 a.m. The roads leading to the burning building closed
down in order not to prevent the work of the fire brigade and rescuers.
Fire-extinguishing cars from fire agencies 2, 3, 4 and 8 arrived
on the scene at 10:05 – 10:08 p.m. The second group of the rescuers
arrived at 11:05 p.m.

LEBANON’S ARMENIANS PROTEST OVER TURKISH PEACEKEEPERS
Burj Hammud, Lebanon
Agence France Presse — English
September 8, 2006 Friday 11:58 AM GMT
Lebanon’s Armenians, who have not forgotten the massacres their
people suffered under Ottoman rule, demonstrated Friday against
Turkish troops set to take part in a UN peacekeeping mission.
Waving Lebanese flags and banners denouncing Turkey as a murderous
state, several hundred gathered in this Beirut suburb heavily populated
by Armenians and appealed to the United Nations to reconsider Turkey’s
participation in an expanded UN force in Lebanon.
“Genocide, massacre, deportation: Turkey’s definition of peace,”
read one banner. Another said: “No to the participation of Turkish
forces among UN troops coming to Lebanon”.
“We had 1.5 million of our people slaughtered under the Turks and
you expect us to welcome them?” angrily declared Arous Ghougassian,
the owner of a home furnishing business.
“I can assure you that I won’t sell them anything if they come into
my shop,” she added.
Hagop, an employee at the Basterma Mano food store, raised his fists
in anger when asked about the Turkish UN force.
“Look at my arms, I get goose bumps when you refer to them,” he said.
“If they dare come into our neighborhoods we’ll deal with them.”
Lebanon’s minority Armenian community, which numbers about 140,000
people, has objected to Turkey taking part in the UN force because
of massacres of Armenians by Turks in 1915.
Representatives have sent letters to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
and to Western embassies in Beirut urging them to reject Turkish
participation in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) set to
number 15,000 troops from various countries.
The Turkish parliament voted after fierce debate at an extraordinary
session Tuesday to authorize the government to send troops to take part
in the UN force to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has said the number of soldiers
is not likely to exceed 1,000.
Under the old Ottoman empire, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians are
said to have been killed or died after being forcibly driven from
their homes in Turkey between 1915 and 1917.

PROMINENT RUSSIAN BUSINESS LEADER DIES, COLLEAGUE SAYS
AP Worldstream
Sep 09, 2006
Arkady Volsky, a prominent Russian business leader and public figure
died after an illness Saturday at age 74, his colleague said.
Volsky, who founded and for 15 years headed the Russian Union of
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the country’s biggest business
lobby, passed away from a “severe and long-lasting disease,” the
union’s current head Alexander Shokhin said on Ekho Mosvky radio.
NTV television reported Volsky died from leukemia.
“Volsky’s death is a big loss not only for (the Union), but for the
entire business and political community of the country,” Shokhin said.
Born in 1932 in then-Soviet Belarus, he rose to senior posts in the
Communist government, notably serving as a senior aide to former
Soviet leader Yuri Andropov.
Following the 1991 Soviet collapse, he turned into the country’s
biggest business lobbyist and also actively participated in crisis
negotiations in bloody regional conflicts including Chechnya and the
Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Volsky also was also a rare critic of the politically charged jailing
of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who last year was sentenced to eight years
in a Siberian penal colony on charges of fraud and tax evasion,
and the ensuing partial renationalization of his Yukos oil company.
Last September Volsky was replaced with Shokhin, a more
Kremlin-friendly figure, in what many interpreted as punishment for
his protest.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Volsky’s
family and friends, a Kremlin spokeswoman told The Associated Press.

AZG Armenian Daily #172, 09/09/2006
Sport
CUP OF ARMENIAN DIASPORA IN ST PETERSBURG
The first open tournament of chess amateurs for the
cup of Armenian national-cultural autonomy will be
held in St. Petersburg in October, Yerkramas newspaper
of Russian-Armenian reports. The tournament is
dedicated to the glorious victory of Armenian chess
players in 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin. The event was
organized by the Armenian Association of St.
Petersburg and welcomed by the chess federation of St.
Petersburg and Armenian consulate.
The aim of the tournament is further fostering of
friendly ties between Armenian and Russian nations. It
will be open for everyone. It’s envisaged that
national minorities of St. Petersburg will also take
part in the tournament. Not only the first 3 best
players will receive prices but also the best female
player and the best young player will receive special
prizes.

OFFICIAL BAKU “SURPRISED” AT OSKANIAN STATEMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.09.2006 13:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Statements of Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian regarding
the terms of Yerevan’s further participation in the Nagorno Karabakh
peace talks cause at least “surprise of official Baku,” stated Head of
the Information Department of the Azeri MFA Tahir Tagizadeh. “There
is an impression as if the Armenian FM has completely forgotten that
Armenia has assumed commitments over settlement of the conflict to a
number of international organizations, including the UN, OSCE and CE,”
Tagizadeh said.
“If Oskanian considers possible making statements like that,
stipulating that Armenia’s further participation in the talks with
additional moments, then Azerbaijan has sovereign right to raise
the issue of Armenia failing to meet its commitments before any
international organizations,” the Azeri diplomat said.
We note that the Armenian FM stated Monday that the opportunity to
hold the recurrent round of talks between Armenian and Azeri FMs
depends on the position of the Azeri party in the discussion of the
Karabakh conflict in the UN, reports Interfax-Azerbaijan.

MEHTIYEV: “BAKU DOES NOT WANT WAR, BUT DOES NOT RULE OUT ITS RESUMPTION”
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.09.2006 14:34 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Azerbaijan does not wish resumption of the war
with Armenia, however, in case peace talks on the Nagorno Karabakh
settlement fail it will have to consider other ways to solve the issue
of territories controlled by the NKR Defense Army,” stated head of
Azeri President’s Administration Ramiz Mehtiyev.
The presidential Administration head also noted that Azerbaijan
continues actively taking measures to strengthen national armed forces
military efficiency and one of the steps in this regard is the latest
creation of the Ministry of Armaments Industry, reports Day. az.

DECISION ON NEW TARIFFS OF ARMENTEL TO BE MADE BY MID OCTOBER
Noyan Tapan
Sept 05 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The company ArmenTel submitted a
bid to the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, proposing that
the tariffs of fixed-line phone and Internet services be increased
next year. It is proposed that the current monthly tariff of 1,100
drams for fixed-line phone services be increased to 3,000 drams (about
7.5 USD), while the tariff for business subscribers be lowered from
4,800 to 4,200 drams.
The company proposes reducing the time, during which the subscriber
may speak on the phone free of charge, from the current 360 minutes
to 280 minutes.
It is proposed that the minumum per-minute tariff be increased from
5 to 6 drams. This tariff will be used from 281st minute to 1,000th
minute. To recap, at present the minimum per-minute tariff of 5 drams
is used from 360th minute to 1,600th minute. ArmenTel proposes that
the maximum per-minute tariff of 9 drams be left unchanged.
According to ArmenTel’s bid, the per-minute charge for using the
Internet through a phone should be raised from the current tariff of
1 dram to 2.4 drams.
According to the bid, it is proposed that the previous payment for
provision of a phone number (24,000 drams) be restored instead of the
current payment of 12,000 drams, and for natural persons it should be
fixed at 28,000 drams instead of the current payment of 14,400 drams.
At the same time, the company proposes lowering the tariffs of
intercity and international calls, as well as calls to mobile
phones. For example, it is proposed that during busy hours (7 am to
11 pm), the tariff of intercity calls be lowered from the current 20
drams to 16.8 drams, and the per-minute tariff for making calls from
a fixed-line phone to a mobile phone – from 70 to 54 drams. During not
busy hours (11 pm to 7 am) it is proposed using a tariff of 13.2 drams
for intercity calls instead of the current 14 drams, and a tariff of
42 drams for calls to a mobile phone instead of the current tariff
of 49 drams.
To recap, the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission must make a
decision about ArmenTel’s bid within 45 days.

JAVAKHK ISSUE TO BE DISCUSSED AT ARMENIA-DIASPORA FORUM
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 17:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The discussion of the situation in
Samtskhe-Javakhetia at the Armenia-Diaspora forum is not ruled
out, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated in Yerevan
today. “The situation in this Armenian-populated region in not on the
agenda as a separate item but I suppose it will be discussed. As for
Yerevan’s official position, I reiterate that the issue of Javakhk
is Georgia’s internal issue, but Armenia being concerned over the
fate of our compatriots will not stand aside. This is a very delicate
matter and Armenia’s measures should be very cautious, balanced and
harmless for the Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental relations,”
Oskanian underscored.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Ghukasian Confirmed NKR Readiness to Hold Direct and
Constructive Dialogue with Baku
02.09.2006 13:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The declaration on the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
proclamation is a brave political and legal act that was adopted is
accordance with the fundamental norms of the former USSR Constitution
and international law. It became epochal in the centuries-old history
of Artsakh. It reflected the will of our people who had chosen the
path of freedom and independence,’ NKR President Arkady Ghukasian said
in Stepanakert during the festivities dedicated to the 15th
anniversary of the NKR proclamation. He remarked that under the
circumstances independence proved to be the only way to secure
Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, its development and
prosperity.
`I would like to remind that NKR was proclaimed at the time when no
single Armenian remained at the territory of the Azeri SSR. The
Azerbaijani leadership isolated Nagorno Karabakh from the outer
world. 15 years that have passed proved the historical necessity and
relevance of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s proclamation,’ Ghukasian
said. In his words, the economy of the state was almost completely
destroyed. Dwellings, hospitals, schools were demolished. `Half of
Nagorno Karabakh was occupied by Azerbaijan as result of bloody
battles. Thousands of people were killed but thanks to the incredible
efforts of our people and leadership as well as owing to Armenia and
Diaspora’s support the enemy was forced of retreat and conclude
armistice agreement signed by Stepanakert as well. Thus, the
Azerbaijani leadership actually recognized Nagorno Karabakh as a party
to conflict although now it denied this fact,’ the NKR leader said.
Arkady Ghukasian voiced regret over the fact that the `Azeri
authorities prefer to counteract the logic of political
development. Karabakh problem cannot be resolved by force. War will
bring new losses and sufferings to both peoples. I call on the Azeri
side to abandon delirious intentions to take revenge and settle all
the issues at the bargaining table,’ he said. At that he underscored
that the efforts of the NKR political leadership are targeted at a
peaceful settlement of the conflict. `We consider the irreversible
democratization process as factor promoting peaceful resolution of the
Karabakh conflict. The calls to war in Azerbaijan can be explained by
absence of democracy in the neighbor republic. If the process reached
a deadlock now, it’s not the fault of Karabakh or Armenia but the
result of Azerbaijan’s counterproductive position,’ Ghukasian said.
He remarked that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement is possible
only on the basis of mutual compromise that demands courage and
political will of the leaders of the conflicting sides. `I would like
to confirm Karabakh’s readiness to hold a direct and constructive
dialogue with Azerbaijan without preconditions. Such format will
reflect the core of the problem,’ Ghukasian concluded, reported IA
Regnum.