Author: Karagyozian Lena

ArmenPress
March 10 2004
NO ARMENIANS KILLED IN MADRID EXPLOSIONS
MADRID, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: A clergyman of the Armenian Church,
Father Masis, dispatched to Madrid to help local Armenian community
to resolve their organizational issues, was quoted by RFE/RL as
saying that no Armenians were identified among 173 people, killed
today morning in a series of explosions hat ripped through crowded
passenger trains during the rush-hour.
Official sources had earlier confirmed that around 130 people were
killed.
Authorities blamed the attacks on Basque separatist group ETA,
which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the
European Union. According to some estimates, some 45,000 Armenians
live in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
March 10 2004
PRESIDENT GHUKASSIAN RECEIVED RA MINISTER OF EDUCATION
On March 8 the president of the Republic of Nagorni Karabakh Arkady
Ghukassian received the delegation of the Ministry of Education and
Culture of Armenia headed by Sergo Yeritsian. The director of the
National Institute of Education of Armenia Victor Martirossian was
also in the delegation. During the meeting the minister told that the
aim of his visit to Nagorni Karabakh is to get closely acquainted
with the problems in the sphere of education in NKR. In this
reference he said that the ministry is willing to provide their
assistance to the further development of the sphere in Artsakh. The
participants of the meeting touched upon several aspects of the
program of bringing the new system of education to NKR, which
provides a wide use of computer technologies, and requires retraining
of school and university teachers. The minister of education of
Armenia promised to provide about 600 computers to the schools of
Nagorni Karabakh and mentioned that the possibilities of his ministry
will be used to solve the problems that will occur during the
implementation of the new educational program. Speaking about the
prospects of development of the educational system in NKR Mr.
Yeritsian emphasized the importance of promoting relationships
between the universities of Armenia and Nagorni Karabakh. During the
meeting it was mentioned that due to the efforts of the corresponding
ministries of the two Armenian republics the representation of the
National Institute of Education of Armenia was opened in NKR. The NKR
president expressed his confidence that daily cooperation between the
ministries of Armenia and Nagorni Karabakh, the implementation of
joint programs may influence positively the promotion of the sphere
of education in Artsakh.
AA

Georgian leader offers help to improve Armenian-Turkish ties
Mediamax news agency
12 Mar 04
YEREVAN
“We would like to make our own contribution to the process of
normalizing Armenian-Georgian relations,” Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili said in Yerevan today.
During his forthcoming visit to Ankara, he is ready to discuss the
prospects for the restoration of transport communications that link
Turkey with Armenia, including the Kars-Gyumri railway, Saakashvili
told Mediamax today. However, he noted that “in the long-run,
everything will depend on the good will of the Turkish authorities”.
Saakashvili said that Turkey could play an important role in
stabilizing the situation in the region and is interested in good
relations with all the countries of the region, including Armenia.
For his part, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said that the
restoration of the Kars-Gyumri railway would be of benefit not only to
Armenia and Turkey, but also to Georgia and Russia.
“We would be grateful to our Georgian colleagues if they included
these issues in their agenda during their negotiations in Turkey,”
Kocharyan said.