Author: Karakhanian Suren

CIS antiterrorist units in Belarus contest practise freeing hostages

Belarusian television, Minsk
11 Aug 05

The complex storming of a multistorey building with hostages. A new
stage in the contest among special-purpose units [from Belarus,
Russia, Ukraine and Armenia] began today. According to the event
organizers, all the competition participants will be able to
demonstrate their skills at this stage of the contest. Pyrotechnics
experts, snipers and storm-troopers will be quite busy. According to
the scenario, there are hostages on the ground and the first floors of
the building. Foreign antiterrorist units have already experienced
such activities in practice. Fortunately, Belarusians are mastering
their skills on a training range. Belarus’s Almaz special-purpose unit
has been the leader in terms of scores gained so far.

[Video shows the building with “hostages”, servicemen running and
getting ready for storming the building.]

Draft documents on CSTO peacekeeping activity are ready-view

ITAR-TASS News Agency
August 4, 2005 Thursday

MOSCOW, August 4 — Draft documents on the CSTO peacekeeping activity
are ready, said Valery Semerikov, deputy secretary-general of the
Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

The CSTO secretary-general told Itar-Tass on Thursday, “The CSTO
strengthens and it is necessary to create its own peacekeeping
potential in order to ensure stability and security in the CSTO
responsibility zone and involve the CSTO in U.N. peacekeeping
operations.”

He recalled, “In June 2004 the CSTO supreme body – the CSTO Council
– approved a concept on the creation and functioning of the CSTO
peacekeeping activity and instructed to prepare necessary documents.”

“Draft documents are being worked out. They will lay a necessary
foundation for the CSTO peacekeeping activity. Draft documents are
being coordinated by members states of the CSTO – Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan,” Semerikov said.

On Wednesday, CSTO member-states are working on an agreement on
interstate programmes for basic and applied research. Semerikov
told Itar-Tassdraft agreement is finalised and submitted to CSTO
member-states for consideration.

The agreement “will become a legal foundation for solving foreign
political, military and military-technical problems. It will help
counteract trans-national challenges and threats to security posed
to CSTO member-states within interstate programmes,” the CSTO deputy
director general said.

The draft agreement is being coordinated by Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933

Press Release
For Immediate Release ~ July 28, 2005
Contact: Sossi Essajanian
(617) 923-1933
[email protected]

AYF-YOARF Internship Program in Full Gear in Armenia

WATERTOWN, Mass.?For the past two months, Aline Alexanian, Arevat
Garamova and Liya Manukian have been learning and living Armenia. As
members of the 2005 Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Eastern Region
Internship program, the three, along with their directors Serouj
Aprahamian and Vahag Melkonian, have been in Armenia since June,
working and traveling around the country.

Aprahamian and Melkonian assigned a position to each intern according
to her interests. Alexanian, a biology and Spanish double major at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, works at St. Gregory
the Illuminator Hospital, focusing on the medical field in Armenia.

Fellow intern Garamova, majoring in Russian studies, political science
and history at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
is interning at Cafesjian Museum Foundation. Manukian, an exercise
biology major at the University of California at Davis, spends her days
working at the American University of Armenia?s Cardiac Surgery Center.

Living in an apartment in downtown Yerevan, the group enjoys a
birds-eye view of the goings-on in the city. But while they are not
working, Alexanian, Garamova, Manukian, Aprahamian, and Melkonian
spend their days learning the ins and outs of both Armenia and
Karabagh. Thus far, the group has explored Yerevan, visiting such
sites as the Dzidzernagapert Genocide Monument and the Madenataran
manuscript museum. Venturing outside the city, they toured the
churches of Etchmiadzin, St. Hripsime and St. Gayane. ?This was a very
educational experience where the group learned a lot about Armenia?s
rich religious history,? said director Aprahamian.

Also as part of the program, the interns participate in the
Birthright Armenia forums and classes during the week and as a
consequence, spend a lot of time with other people they met through
the Birthright program. During their trip to the temple of Garni,
as well as the church of Geghard, several Birthright participants
joined the trip. Making the day especially exciting was that the trip
fell on the traditional holiday of Vartevar, where everyone throws
water on each other. ?It was very fitting that we were in Garni that
day, given the pagan roots of this holiday,? said Aprahamian. Later,
the group packed their van for a two-day trip to northern Armenia,
visiting Dilijan, as well as the Haghartsin and Goshavank monasteries,
with an overnight trip to Sevan.

Other trips took Alexanian, Garamova, Manukian, Melkonian and
Aprahamian to Armenia?s northern cities of Gyumri, Spitak and
Davtashen. Along with fellow Birthright participants, the group
visited churches, a cemetery of earthquake victims, and saw the
impact of the 1988 earthquake on the community. In Gyumri, they
saw buildings devastated by the quake, and visited the town museum,
which included much information on the history of Gyumri, artifacts
from the past, and works of art, as well as photography. They then
headed to Davtashen and in a neighboring village, visited a museum
in honor of Kevork Chavoush. ?It was very interesting and it gave
the entire group an opportunity to learn about the fedayee movement
and its contributions to Armenia,? said Aprahamian.

As part of the Birthright program, the group also had the opportunity
to meet with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, where they discussed
topics such as dual citizenship, Artsakh, Turkish-Armenia relations,
as well as Genocide recognition and reparation. The group later viewed
the documentary ?Armenia: A Country Under Blockade? as part of the
Golden Apricot International Film Festival taking place in Yerevan
from July 12-17. The film discussed the effects of Turkey?s blockade
on Armenian society.

When participants of the AYF West Coast Youth Corps arrived in July,
the Alexanian, Garamova, Manukian, along with Aprahamian and Melkonian
met with the group and bid them farewell as they set out to Vaik,
where they are spending the remainder of time in Armenia doing
construction work there at a local youth center.

At the same time, the Armenian Cultural and Educational Society
(Hamazkayin) hosted its Armenia Forum program in Yerevan, and featured
a lecture by Armenian studies professor Richard G.

Hovannisian as part of the program. The group was invited to attend
the lecture, which took place at the Yerevan State University
hostels. Hovannisian discussed the Armenian genocide, its impact,
current developments within Turkey, as well as the status of
reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.

As the group approaches the half way mark of the internship program,
they are preparing for more work at their internships and more trips.

>From July 29 to 31, they will be heading to Artaskh to learn about
the people, places and situation of the new republic. ?There have
been several occasions where we end up sitting up at night as a group,
often with other diasporan interns here, and have relatively fruitful
discussions about Armenia, diaspora, and other issues. These informal
discussions tend to be the most rewarding and really give everybody
the chance to reflect and build on their experiences here,?
said Aprahamian.

Since 1992, the AYF-YOARF Eastern Region Internship in Armenia has
been sending youth to work in Armenia. The eight-week internship in
Yerevan includes an orientation to Armenia during first week; weekend
and overnight trips to different parts of Armenia and Karabagh;
a scheduled lecture series; and opportunities to participate in the
Birthright Armenia program.

For more information, visit or contact the AYF Eastern
Region office at (617) 923-1933.

VIVACELL EMBARKS ON SELLING BUSINESS, BUSINESS+, OPTIMA CORPORATIVE CARDS

ARKA News Agency
Aug 3 2005

YEREVAN, August 2. /ARKA/. VivaCell, the second mobile
telecommunication operator in Armenia, has embarked on selling
Business (5-20 lines), Business+ (21-100) and Optima (over 100
lines) corporative cards. The company says per-minute prices
within corporative network will be 40, 38 and 36 Armenian drams
correspondingly. Prices for porting Business, Business+ and Optima
cards make AMD 3800, 3400 and 3000 correspondingly. Each line monthly
payment is set at AMD 3800, 3600 and 3300. Depository bill for the
three kinds of cards is equal – AMD 22500. All the corporative cards
also have fool free package of services, such as SMS messages, voice
mail, received calls identification call-waiting regime, readdressing,
international connection, multi-customer network and others. Prices
for calls made in different hours will be also different.

Rush-hour per-minute prices (from 7:00 to 23:00) for the mentioned
cards owners’ calls to Viva Cell’s other subscribers and to Armenia’s
cable network subscribers will made AMD 46, 44 and 42 correspondingly
while at the remaining hours they will be AMD 42, 42, 40. Prices for
calls to ArmenTel and Karabakh Telecom (NKR) subscribers as well as
to Nagorno-Karabakh cable network subscribers at rush hours (remaining
time) are 52 (48), 50 (48) and 50 (48).

The package-owners’ calls to Russia and Georgia will cost AMD 235 and
AMD165 (at rush and other hours), to the CIS other member countries
– AMD 285 and AMD 200, to the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia –
AMD 430 and AMD 300, Middle East countries- AMD 350 and AMD 245.

The network’s all subscribers will be able to send local SMS messages
for 20 Armenian drams and foreign – for 55. The company also says
all received calls are free. The prices are indicated with taking
into account 20-percent VAT. ($1 = AMD 447.17). M.V. –0-

US Uzbekistan base may be stationed in Azerbaijan, report says

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 2 2005

Baku, August 1, AssA-Irada — The military base the USA plans to
withdraw from Uzbekistan may be stationed in Azerbaijan, Russian
Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reported.

The Khanabad base, previously the former Soviet Union air force base,
was given to the disposal of the United States prior to the attack it
launched on Afghanistan in October 2001. The base, located close to
the Afghan-Uzbek border, is the key US military ground in Central
Asia, stationing 1,500 military men supplied with 30 military
helicopters. The F-15 and F-16 airplanes took off 50 to 60 times
from Khanabad during the military action in Afghanistan. The base is
currently used as an airport for heavy airplanes carrying cargo and
fuel to US troops in Afghanistan.

The Russian publication also said that due to the presence of similar
US bases in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, losing the base in Khanabad is
not likely to seriously affect the military supplies of US contingent.

Official Tashkent has made a decision for US to pull out its base
from Khanabad over the next 180 days.

The Azerbaijan Defense Ministry spokesman Ramiz Malikov, commenting
on the possibility of moving the base to Azerbaijani territory, told
local ANS TV channel that although the issue is of military nature,
‘it is of political importance’.

“The Ministry therefore cannot express its position on the matter.

The issue should be addressed on the state level.” Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov has said that Azerbaijan has not received any
official appeals and the reports on the issue have been released only
in some media so far.*

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
July 28 2005

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CONSIDERS SUPPORTING CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

By Emil Danielyan

Thursday, July 28, 2005

The Armenian authorities have been given a major boost in their
standoff with the opposition with the Council of Europe’s effective
endorsement of their draft amendments to Armenia’s controversial
post-Soviet constitution. Experts from the Venice Commission have
declared that the amendments’ passage at a referendum expected this
November would contribute significantly to the country’s
democratization and advance its European integration.

The move created a serious dilemma for the Armenian opposition, which
had hoped to use the vote for another attempt to depose President
Robert Kocharian. It also caused a rift between moderate and more
radical opposition groups — another welcome development for the
ruling regime.

Reform of the constitution, criticized for giving the president of
the republic disproportionate powers, was one of the conditions for
Armenia’s accession to the Council of Europe in January 2001.
Kocharian’s first attempt to expedite it ended in failure when his
package of amendments did not win sufficient popular support at a
referendum in May 2003. Kocharian and his three-party governing
coalition have since been revising that package to make it more
acceptable to the domestic public and the Council of Europe.

They avoided making major changes in the constitutional draft until
facing strong criticism and warnings from the Venice Commission as
well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Strasbourg-based
pan-European body in June. Armenian officials pledged to further
curtail the sweeping presidential powers before sending a revised
draft to Strasbourg on July 7. The Venice Commission said in a July
22 report that Yerevan has honored those commitments, concluding that
the final version of the proposed constitutional changes constitutes
“a good basis for ensuring the compliance of the Armenian
Constitution with the European standards in the fields of respect for
human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.” The commission
expressed hope that the opposition will be “mature” enough to help
the authorities enact those changes.

But Armenia’s largest opposition group, the Artarutiun (Justice)
alliance, is clearly unhappy with the latest draft and is demanding
additional changes. The first and foremost of them relates to the
formation of the government. The authorities have agreed to strip the
Armenian president of his discretionary right to sack the prime
minister and his cabinet. Only the parliament would have such
authority in the future. But opposition leaders say this change would
be nullified by another draft amendment that empowers the president
to dissolve the National Assembly if it twice rejects his prime
ministerial nominees.

Artarutiun also wants serious limitations on the presidential
authority to appoint and sack virtually all judges as well as a
constitutional provision mandating direct elections of Yerevan’s
mayor, who is currently named by Kocharian. The latter is only
prepared to allow the mayor’s appointment by an elected municipal
council.

The opposition demands have already been dismissed as “ridiculous” by
Tigran Torosian, the deputy parliament speaker and a senior
representative of the ruling coalition. Torosian warned on July 22
that Artarutiun will commit “political suicide” if it campaigns
against the reform. Indeed, the opposition bloc now risks finding
itself at loggerheads with the Council of Europe and perhaps major
European governments that hold sway in the organization.

Hanrapetutiun (Republic), the most radical of nine parties aligned in
Artarutiun, has made it clear that it will not support the reform
under any circumstances.. The party, led by the firebrand former
prime minister Aram Sarkisian, has publicly attacked its opposition
allies for taking a more conciliatory approach.

There is clearly little the opposition can gain in return from
endorsing the reform and somehow legitimizing a regime repeatedly
criticized by the West for falsifying elections and abusing human
rights. An amended constitution is unlikely to have any bearing on
the root cause of Armenia’s problems: chronic vote rigging. The
Council of Europe, however, continues to put the emphasis on the
passage of new laws rather than the enforcement of the existing ones
that already provide for free and fair elections. No wonder that
Armenia is now hardly more democratic than it was before joining the
organization.

Opposition support is essential for the success of the constitutional
reform. To pass, the constitutional amendments have to be approved by
a majority of referendum participants that make up at least one-third
of Armenia’s 2.4 million eligible voters. Clearing that threshold
requires a high degree of political consensus that is currently
absent. Besides, many Armenians seem apathetic to the issue. A recent
opinion poll found that less than one-third of Yerevan residents
would likely take part in the constitutional referendum if it were
held now.

Some local observers believe that the only way for the authorities to
ensure a desired outcome of the referendum is to falsify its results.
And this is what opposition leaders seem to be banking on as they
prepare for another bid to bring the recent wave of ex-Soviet
revolutions to Armenia. Their previous campaign of anti-Kocharian
demonstrations last year failed to attract strong public support and
was easily suppressed by security forces.

Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian, Kocharian’s most likely successor,
indicated on July 24 that the regime is ready to go as far as to
order troops into the streets of Yerevan to hold off another
opposition challenge. “Who is their Hercules who will come and crack
my head and sit in my chair?” he asked members of a pro-government
youth organization. “How do they imagine cracking Kocharian’s head
and occupying his post?”

(Report by a Venice Commission working group on Armenia, July 22;
Haykakan Zhamanak, July 26; Aravot, July 26; RFE/RL Armenia Report,
July 4, 22)

RIA Novosti, Russia
July 28 2005

Georgian opposition blames government for attack on Bush
16:55 | 28/ 07/ 2005

TBILISI, July 28 (RIA Novosti, Marina Kvaratskhelia) – The May 10
attempted attack on U.S. President George W. Bush in Tbilisi was
masterminded by the Georgian special services, said Shalva
Natelashvili, leader of the opposition Georgian Labor Party.

“Having analyzed the information I have received, I would like to
claim that the May 10 terrorist attack on Bush was perpetrated by
Saakashvili’s special services to save his ruined image and
dictatorship,” Natelashvili said Thursday. “Saakashvili wants his
name to be used with that of the U.S. president for the sake of his
image of a fighter for democracy and a victim of terrorism.”

The opposition leader said Vladimir Arutyunyan, suspected of the
grenade attack, was a Georgian secret agent and was provided with
weapons.

Natelashvili said Georgian investigators should be estranged from the
investigation, which should be conducted by the FBI, while Arutyunyan
should be extradited to the United States.

Charges of terrorism were brought against Arutyunyan, 27, an ethnic
Armenian suspected of the attack on the U.S. and Georgian presidents,
on July 26.

He was also accused of the illicit purchase, possesion, making and
transport of ammunition and explosives and aggravated killing.

Arutyunyan, who had thrown a grenade during Bush’s speech on
Tbilisi’s Freedom Square, was detained on July 20 during a special
operation in a Tbilisi suburb after he shot and killed the head of
the Georgian anti-terrorist center. He is facing life imprisonment.

I-Newswire.com (press release)
July 28 2005

Armenia joins global campaign to stop violence against children

UNICEF, Council of Europe and representatives of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues and State Police
called today for immediate action to put an end to violence against
children.

(I-Newswire) – `In Armenia we need to give the issue of violence
against children in homes, schools and other places in their
community the visibility and public attention this deserves,’ Sheldon
Yett, UNICEF Representative in Armenia said, addressing a round table
organized on the heels of the Regional Consultations on Violence
Against Children held in Ljubljana on 5-7 July 2005. `It is essential
that polices and procedures are in place to help prevent violence
against children, support child victims and strengthen reporting,
referral and response mechanisms.’

Studies in many countries have repeatedly shown that victims of
physical abuse during childhood have an increased risk of becoming
violent offenders themselves.

`Violence against children can occur everywhere, in every family and
in every society. In Armenia, as in almost all countries, it is
often a hidden problem that is vastly under-reported,’ Yett said

A 2003 UNICEF Armenia survey found that poor living conditions,
unemployment and the psychological stress of poverty had resulted in
an increase in the number of cases of abuse and neglect not only in
the family but also in schools and children’s institutions.

The study revealed that in many families slapping and beating are
perceived as a `means of upbringing’. In many children’s institutions
as well as in schools corporal punishment is still a common practice.

The Ljubljana conference was hosted by the Government of Slovenia
and organized in close consultation with UNICEF, WHO the Council of
Europe, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
NGO Advisory Panel on the UN Study on Violence Against Children. The
consultation is one of nine worldwide that will feed into a major
study mandated by the UN General Assembly on Violence Against
Children.

Representatives of 40 countries as well as 24 child delegates
participating in the Regional Consultations in Ljubljana adopted a
final document called `Ljubljana Commitment’. By adopting this
document, the Government of Armenia and other countries in the region
pledged to take immediate steps to tackle the problem of violence
against children in their respective countries and to adopt measures
to prevent such cases from happening in future.

For more information, please contact:

Emil Sahakyan, UNICEF Armenia, [email protected]

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
July 27 2005

UKRAINE IN QUEST FOR IRANIAN GAS

By Vladimir Socor

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Secretary, Petro
Poroshenko, and Naftohaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko paid
little-noted visits to Iran on July 14 and July 24-25, respectively.
The visits in quick succession evidenced Kyiv’s sense of urgency
about reducing its dependence on Russian energy supplies, as well as
its medium-term ambition to increase Ukraine’s role as an energy
transit corridor to European Union countries.

Poroshenko and Ivchenko held talks with Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan
Namdar-Zanganeh and Deputy Oil Minister Hadi Nezhad-Hoseyinian.
Poroshenko was also received by Iran’s newly elected President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad. Poroshenko and Ivchenko recalled that President Viktor
Yushchenko had in 2000, while prime minister, initiated discussions
with Iran for energy supplies to Ukraine. Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko has also spoken more than once recently in favor of
discussions with Iran for oil and gas.

The Tehran meetings discussed options for delivery of Iranian natural
gas to Ukraine and farther afield into Europe. Three possible transit
routes were considered: a)
Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia-Ukraine-Europe; b)
Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Black Sea-Ukraine-Europe; and c)
Iran-Turkey-Black Sea-Ukraine-Europe.

Under any of these versions, Iran would finance the pipeline
construction on its own territory. Presumably, this would enable the
countries participating in such a project to steer clear of violating
the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of the United States, which penalizes
any sizeable foreign investment in energy projects on Iran’s
territory.

It was agreed during these meetings to form expert groups, exchange
information on feasibility of projects, identify participant
companies and the shape of a possible consortium, select a transit
route, make preliminary calculations on investments, determine
volumes of gas for delivery to Ukraine and EU countries, and set
prices for the amortization period.

A six-party meeting among the aforementioned countries has been
scheduled for September. Meanwhile, Ukraine proposes moving ahead
bilaterally with Iran to select a transit route. Ukraine and Iran can
then invite other countries to participate, depending on the choice
of route.

Each of the three options poses daunting problems. The route out of
Iran through Armenia will almost certainly be opposed by Gazprom. The
Russian company will defend its position in Ukraine, and has ample
means to pressure Armenia to act as a buffer, rather than as a
conduit for competing gas. Moreover, it is Gazprom policy at present
to restrict access of Iranian gas in the South Caucasus as well. At
Moscow’s insistence, the Iran-Armenia gas supply pipeline now under
construction will have a small diameter, so as to keep its throughput
capacity to a minimum.

The route out of Iran through Turkey seems less subject to Russian or
other strong-arm political interference. Moreover, an Iran-Turkey gas
pipeline already exists, and is being underutilized because the
Turkish gas market is oversubscribed. However, laying a pipeline
across mountainous Anatolia to the Black Sea coast, and then a seabed
pipeline to Crimea, is a proposition that investors will receive with
great caution. Construction of a large-capacity transit pipeline
through Ukraine will then be necessary, as there is no spare capacity
in existing pipelines.

Iranian gas is high-priced already at the country’s border, as
Armenia has learned. If inordinate transportation costs are added,
Iranian gas might price itself above Ukraine’s paying ability and out
of competition on European markets.

(Iran Daily, July 16; IranMania, July 17; Interfax-Ukraine, July 15,
25)

Iranian press 27 July 2005

Quotes package from BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
Jul 27, 2005

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and
commentaries published in 27 July 2005 editions of Iranian newspapers
available to BBC Monitoring at 0430 gmt.

London explosions

Resalat [conservative]: “The London explosions have provided enough
pretexts for Western government to show their anti-Islamic beliefsý
The roots of the development of terrorism should be sought in the
policies of the Western countries. Is the world any more secure now
than it was three years ago when America unilaterally attacked Iraq
and Afghanistan, pretending to combat terrorism?”

Khatami

Iran News [moderate]: “The mild-manner, reformist cleric whose
two-term presidency began with so much hope and promise is leaving
office with a mixed recordý the more than 20 million citizens who
twice voted him in office would expect nothing less than a frank
discussion and truth telling session as well as a demand for the
release of all journalists and intellectuals behind bars, especially
Akbar Ganji.”

Women

Mardom-Salari [moderate]: “It seems that in developing countries no
reasonable solution has been so far found to equally engage women in
political activitiesý This problem should be seriously dealt with. We
have to pavethe way in all fields for women to take part in all
cultural, economic, and political affairs.”

Recreation centre

Jomhuri-ye Eslami [hard-line pro-Khamene’i]: “It is said that the
Armenians in Iran are going to establish a recreation centre on Qeshm
Island for tourists and Armenians where they can enjoy themselves
without obeying Islamic principles and free from Iran’s restrictionsý
Marina Agency, headed by an Armenian lady, has got permission to carry
out the projectý A poisonous plot targeting Muslims can be smelled
from this plan, though it is said that the plan is for Armenians’
activities.”