Author: Karakhanian Suren

US APPRAISES ACHIEVEMENT OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIAN OVER AGREEMENT ON NK
Author: A.Mammadov
TREND, Azerbaijan
May 17 2006
The United States with optimism estimates the achievements of
Azerbaijan and Armenia on the agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Matthew Bryza, US Assistant Secretary of State on Europe and Eurasia,
states to the Congress. “Both countries are closer to agreement than
earlier,” the US diplomat urged.
“The governments of the two countries are to demonstrate political
courage to remove the disagreements, he said. The months to come open
real opportunities,” he added.
Earlier Anne Derse, President’s Bush’s nominee for the post of
US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, also stated that Washington hopes on
achievement of mutually acceptable [peace] agreement by the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents in the weeks to come. “We are in the importance
phase of negotiations process, the diplomat underlined. This year
opens important window for the achievement of an agreement through
talks… Return to violence would tragedy,” ITAR-TASS reports.

GOAL OF REGIONAL POLICY OF ARMENIA IS EXCLUSION OF FORMATION OF “SEPARATING LINES,” RA DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 17 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “We are supporters of
the dialogue of civilizations, but not of conflicts. Settlement of
the ethno-political conflicts in the geopolitical space of Caucasus
is one mechanisms assisting formation of measures of confidence,
economic and cultural integration of peoples of Caucasus,” World
Armenians Congress Chairman Ara Abrahamian stated at the May 17
opening of the international conference “Caucasus without Conflicts
and Terrorism. Dialogue of Civilizations at the Caucasian Crossroad.”
He mentioned that the idea of former President of Iran Doctor Khattami
became a reality. According to Ara Abrahamian, it is necessary to lead
an active work for finding common borders and common interests in the
region: “One must not forget that when a large-scale conflict appears
we all will appear in danger.” According to the Gegham Gharibjanian,
the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, in implementation of the
regional policy, the goal of Armenia is exclusion of formation of
“separating lines” and striving for making the region of Caucasus
a zone of cooperation. He mentioned that a similar position is
coming out of realities of the modern world order and necessity of
development of the state, based on democracy and the human rights. The
OSCE Yerevan Office Head Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin pointed out
a number of problems, struggle against which will demand united
efforts by the region states. It is, particularly, the struggle
with drugs trafficking, terrorism, struggle against soiling the
environment. Representatives of Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, Georgia,
Russia, Iran and Turkey participate in the conference organized by
the World Armenian Congress. A Declaration will be adopted by data
of the conference.

A. MIGRANYAN: RUSSIA’S RETREAT FROM CAUCASUS PROGRESSIVE
Yerkir
17.05.2006 17:30
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – “Presently we can observe the progressive retreat
of Russia and the increase of the U.S. presence in the Caucasus.
The U.S. aims at joining to the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which will
become one of the instruments for cutting Russia off the geopolitical
processes in the region,” political scientist Andranik Migranyan stated
at the international scientific conference titled “Caucasus without
conflicts and terror: dialogue of civilizations on the Caucasian
crossroad” held in Yerevan today. In his words, the U.S.’s regional
plans base on the states which are incapable to settle the domestic
problems by own strength.
It’s quite obvious that Georgia will not be able to return Abkhazia
and South Ossetia and hopes for the support of the U.S. that takes
the advantage of the situation.
However all attempts of Russia and the U.S. to knock each other form
the South Caucasus are doomed to failure,” the political scientist
remarked. At that he underscored that Georgia even with the support
of the United States will not be able to solve its internal problems.

PRESS RELEASE
May 17, 2006
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected] ;Web:
Armenian Publishers Exhibit at the Book Expo 2006 in Washington, DC
`Book Expo 2006,’ to be held in at the Washington Convention Center on May
19 – 21, 2006, will feature Armenian literature and publications presented
by the National Publishers Association of Armenia and Edit Print Publishing
House. Publications by more than 50 publishing houses and companies in
Armenia cover a variety of topics, including general fiction and poetry,
Armenian history, the Armenian Genocide, and children’s literature.
The Armenia section will also present tourism, culture, and architectural
reference guides, encyclopedias, including `Encyclopedia of 1700 Years of
Christianity in Armenia.’ Most literature selection is bilingual, in English
and Armenian, and also includes works by classical Armenian authors in
Western Armenian.
When: The Book Expo is open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 19
and Saturday, May 20, and from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 21.
Registration and Tickets: Please consult the official website,
, or contact the organizers at 1-800-363-3631 for
ticketing and registration information.
Where: Booth 513, Lower Level, Book Expo at the Washington Convention
Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, DC 20001. The Convention
Center is located between 7th and 9th Streets NW and N Street and Mount
Vernon Place NW. For directions, please visit
p

THIRD NAVIGATION OF “CILICIA” TO START ON MAY 28
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The “Cilicia” vessel landed at present
at the Portsmouth port of London will start its third, four-months
navigation on May 28. As Karen Danielian, a member of the vessel
crew informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, the “Cilicia” vessel
built by analogy with merchant ships of the 13th century will sail
towards Scandinavian countries, then through the Baltic Sea to Saint
Petersburg. According to him, the “Cilicia” vessel will continue the
navigation along Russian channels, Volga river, the Sea of Azof and
will enter the Black Sea. Then the vessel will be moved to the Sevan
Lake and turned into a museum. K.Danielian mentioned that members
of the vessel crew will leave for London on May 14 to prepare for
the last stage of the navigation. To recap, “Cilicia” sailed along
Black, Marmora, Aegean, Cretan, Ionian and Adriatic seas in 2004,
went into the Atlantic Ocean in 2005, then sailing round Portugal,
Spain and other European countries, reached London.

ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMS TO MEET IN STRASBOURG
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.05.2006 15:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ May 18-19 Armenian and Azeri FMs will meet with OSCE
MG co-chairs in Strasbourg. In the words of Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov,
the co-chairs have new ideas on Karabakh settlement. “After discussions
at the meeting it will be clear whether talks between the Presidents
are necessary. There are some new, really interesting ideas that we
are working over, analyze, however some of these we cannot accept,”
he remarked. In his turn former acting President of Azerbaijan Yagub
Mammadov believe the meeting and attaining a specific practical peace
accord between Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev before the summer
depends on the decision that the Ministers will take first of all,
writes Ekho newspaper.

Zaman Online, Turkey
May 14 2006
French Company Trading with Turkey Warns France Against Genocide Bill
By Erkan Acar, Marseilles
Published: Sunday, May 14, 2006
zaman.com
Tension between Turkey and France is mounting over a bill to
criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide due for discussion in the
French Parliament on March 18.
French companies with commercial ties with Turkey are most concerned
over the escalation tensions between the two countries.
French companies are expending every effort to persuade French
parliamentarians to vote against the bill that they fear will cause
them to suffer immeasurable commercial losses from future embargoes
imposed by Turkey, as the bill is chiefly designed to win Armenian
votes.
The De Villepin administration received a strong warning over the
Armenian bill from Eurocopter, one of the world’s largest helicopter
manufacturers with French partners, as the company fears losing a
contract to supply attack helicopters to the Turkish military late
this summer.
Fabrice Breiger, chief executive of Eurocopter, pointed to the
temporary nature of the crises that will eventually be overcome by
ties of friendship between the two countries:
`I am not a politician; I am the manager of an international company.
But that does not necessarily mean that I am not familiar with news
articles; it also does not imply that company managers cannot form
ideas about what is going on outside. As European industrialists, we
conveyed the necessary messages to European countries.’
Turkey had planned to buy attack and exploration helicopters for its
fight against terrorism, as part of the ATAK Project launched in
1996.
The Project, expected to cost $1.5 billion, was delayed for five
years and the previous tender was cancelled during a Defense Industry
Executive Commission meeting in May 2004.
After the cancellation of the tender, studies began in search of a
new model that aimed at meeting the military’s needs in a shorter
time and make more cost effective use of Turkey’s domestic capacity.
For this purpose, a new tender invitation was released on 10 February
2005.
Several defense companies applied to participate in the tender that
closed in December 2005.
Those companies include: Eurocopter with the Tiger helicopter, the
Italian Agusta company with the A-129 Mangusta, Russia’s
Rosoboronexport with the MI-28 Havoc, and the South African Denel
Company with the CSH-2 Rooivalk helicopter.

REPUBLICANS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN
Lragir.am
12 May 06
Hrant Khachatryan, the leader of the Constitutional Right Union, said
in a news conference on May 12 that the attempt of breaking up the
faction of the Orinats Yerkir through businessmen, who proved
instrumental to this, may similarly be applied to Dashnaktsutiun and
the Republicans if the latter also try to play an individual game or
become more democratic. `At least over the past two years I have heard
separate members and influential members of Dashnaktsutiun and the
Republican Party say that the conditions of the clan for the
government parties are becoming increasingly severe,’ says Hrant
Khachatryan. He says a situation has occurred when owners of big
businesses, who are members of some political party, tend to look for
an exit.
The majority of owners of big businesses, who entered the government
with some political force, is in fact departing from their political
parties, their interests and name, and seeks to draw closer to the
president administration. I heard similar complaints from the
Republican Party, namely Hovik Abrahamyan. When we blame the
Republicans for this or that activity of Hovik Abrahamyan, they always
deny him. They say Hovik Abrahamyan is no more a Republican, it has
been a long time he is not with us,’ says Hrant Khachatryan. He
mentions that the existing reality reveals the imperfection of the
system:the government does not view political parties as a basis for
forming a systemof governance.

French businesses threatened by Turkish boycott (Les entreprises
francaises s’alarment des menaces de boycott de la Turquie)

Le Monde – France; May 12, 2006
The Franco-Turkish economic community has warned that, if the French
parliament adopts a bill on the Armenian genocide, scheduled for
reading on May 18, it may provoke a boycott of French goods in Turkey,
as well as a possible prohibition on French imports to the country and
the exclusion of French countries from Turkish calls for tender.
A list of more than 400 French brands for boycotting is already
circulating on the Internet as a protest against the bill. If it is
adopted, first in line could be the nuclear group Areva, which is a
candidate to build nuclear power stations in Turkey, and other
companies that deal with the government or armed forces. After that,
there could be a spontaneous boycott by the general public of French
consumer goods, such as the products of Danone or L’Oreal.
Original article by Guillaume Perrier
Abstracted from Le Monde

OFFERS FROM ARMENIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION ARE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY – AFFA
Author: Z.Safarov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 11 2006
“Offers from Armenian Football Federation (AFF) on elimination
matches between the two national teams may not be taken seriously,
reportedly said Fuad Asadov, Secretary General of AFFA, commenting
the forthcoming meeting among Azeri, Armenian delegations and UEFA
for possible match on neutral field.
Asadov said also he is skeptic with AFF’s assurances on ensuring
security to Azeri national team in case they arrive in Yerevan.
Alongside, he suggested organizing a match in some third country
quite possible. “We have an example of Israeli team that often plays
outside their homeland”, – Secretary General said.