Author: Khoyetsian Rose

YOUNG ORINATS YERKIR PARTY MEMBER ABOUT THE OLD MEMBERS
Panorama.am
15:24 16/05/06
Orinats Yerkir young members presented a symbol of a broken chair with
a paper with $ sign and several ?? stick on it with black ribbon. The
chair symbolizes the people who left Orinats Yerkir. The young members
assure that no rat movement is present among their lines. According to
youth department head of OY Samvel Faramanyan, no person has left the
party from their department. Moreoever, 500 new members joined. Tigran
Lazarian, department member, said that morality has not developed
within politics.
Young OY members have called extraordinary assemblies several times to
discuss the present situation. They issued a statement approving their
leader’s steps and rendering their support to him. Speaking on those
who left the party they write “such people are sometimes loved but are
never forgiven. We are sure that their steps are not only reflection
of being non-principle but also put en end to any human morality.”

STATEMENT OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC
Lragir.am
16 May 06
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
These days, tragic events took place in Shoushi 18 years ago which
played a significant role in the further escalation and increase of
the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict: on May 16-17, 1988, the leadership
of the Azerbaijani SSR via its emissaries and local Azerbaijani
authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Shoushi region started the
deportation of the Armenian population of the town of Shoushi. These
actions which became possible due to the impunity of the Armenian
pogroms organized the same year in the town of Sumgayit pursued the
aim to extirpate the Armenian element in Nagorno Karabakh.
Absence of adequate estimate, first of all, of the USSR leadership
to these actions which, according to international-legal norms were
an act of ethnic cleanings, allowed the Azerbaijani SSR authorities
to realize pogroms and deportation of the Armenian population of
the republic in 1988-91s (Khanlar, Kutkashen, Vartashen, Shamkhor
regions, the town of Mingechaur, etc. – November-December of 1988,
Kirovabad – November 1989, Baku – January 1990, “Kolco” operation –
April-June 1991) which actually created preconditions for the following
full-scale aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs focuses the attention of the
international community to the fact that the militaristic rhetoric and
charging of the atmosphere of xenophobia in the Azerbaijani society is
the continuation of the policy conducted by the Azerbaijani authorities
and calls to give a worthy evaluation to these events and recognize
the international-legal responsibility of the Azerbaijani Republic
for mass violation of the basic rights of the Armenian population of
the former Azerbaijani SSR and unleashing of aggressive war against
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, which will have immense significance
for strengthening the security and peace in the region and will allow
to approach the final solution of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

CONSTRUCTION OF INCOMPLETED APARTMENT BUILDINGS RESUMES IN TALIN
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
TALIN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. This year 12 families will move to new
apartments in the city of Talin of Aragatsotn marz. Arzuman Arzumanian,
the head of Karashintrans LLC, a company doing the construction
work, told NT correspondent about it. He said that in 2005, the last
remaining apartments were provided to 6 families. According to Talin
Mayor’s Office, there will be no incompleted apartment buildings
in Talin in the next 5 years – construction of such buildings will
be finished by that time. The construction of incompleted apartment
buildings in Talin has been resumed under the program on development
of Aragatsotn marz.

OSKANIAN: ANY OSCE MG PROPOSALS HAVE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIDES
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian did not rule out the
possibility of a Kocharian-Aliyev meeting, noting that much depend on
the outcomes of the meeting of Armenian and Azeri FMs and mediator’s
coming visit to the region.
Oskanian said the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are scheduled to visit the
region in late May. The Armenian FM said the mediators have presented
some new ideas to parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and these
will be discussed at his meeting with Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov
in Strasbourg this week within the session of the Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers.
Any proposals have both positive and negative sides and all disputed
issues should be solved in the course of talks. We will try to make
our stands maximally close,” the Armenian FM said, noting that much
will depend on the response of the Azeri party to the new proposals
of the mediators, Mediamax reports.

CONFRONT THE FACTS OF A LONG-AGO MASSACRE
Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
May 14, 2006 Sunday
Final Edition
Whether or not Prime Minister Stephen Harper was diplomatically wise
to acknowledge the 1915 mass killing of Armenians as a genocide may
be debatable. The fact that the annihilation of as many as 600,000
Armenians took place, and that it was the result of deliberate
decisions of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, is not.
Harper cannot be faulted for wishing to put an end to the international
pretence that the word “genocide” does not apply, and that the Turkish
government of the time was not morally responsible.
What this 90-year-old horror has to do with modern Turks, and modern
Turkey, is not clear — in the same way that it is not clear why modern
residents of Balkan states take personally what their ancestors are
accused of doing from time to time.
But if we are to learn from history, we must make sure we remember
it — all of it — accurately, whether we like what it says about
our forebears or not.
The facts of the Armenian tragedy are rooted in war. Reacting to
evidence that Russia was recruiting Armenian subjects of the Ottoman
Empire to fight against it, an estimated 1.7 million Armenians were
sent into internal exile, and historians say at least a third died
of starvation in the desert or were killed by Turkish troops.
Yes, the Canadian government should do its best to get along with the
countries of the world, and to respect their various sensitivities,
just as we expect them to treat us in return. But that shouldn’t mean
having to accept as truth something that isn’t.

CONVERSE BANK PLANS TO MAKE PROFIT OF 2 BLN DRAMS THIS YEAR
YEREVAN, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. This year Converse Bank plans to make a
profit of about 2 bln drams (about 4.5 mln USD). Director General of
the Converse Bank Artak Hanesian said during the May 12 press
conference that it is expected that the bank’s assets will increase by
15%, its overall capital – by 25.2%, and credit portfolio – by 7.8% by
late 2006. The mortgage credits are envisaged to increase almost
2.6fold. According to A. Hanesian, it is quite possible that the
annual interest rates of deposits with the bank (currently making
4-7%) will soon rise by one percentage point. He said that 2006 was
declared Year of Customer by the Converse Bank. In this connection the
bank will develop the institution of individual servicing, join the
Europay international payment and settlement system and start
servicing Visa cards by its cash dispensers. Besides, the bank will
open 5 new branches this year, including 3 ones in Yerevan. It was
noted that in 2006, the bank envisages to introduce quality-management
ISO 9001:2000 and financial monitoring systems in line with
international standards.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Pact of Stability in South Caucasus Discussed in
Brussels

12.05.2006 14:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The discussions of the Pact of
Stability in the South Caucasus started in Brussels
May 12. Romanian parliamentarian Adrian Severin will
give a report and present the principal approaches of
security providing. Upon completion of the discussions
a report will be elaborated. The discussions have been
arranged by the PACE Political Committee.
Representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, EU
and G8 take part in them, reported Prime News.

ARMENIAN SPEAKER READY TO SEND IN HIS RESIGNATION?
Regnum, Russia
May 11 2006
“It will be correct, if Artur Bagdassaryan (Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament, leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party – REGNUM) resigns,
and the party leaves the coalition,” Secretary of the Orinats Yerkir
faction Egine Bisharyan has told the press on Thursday.
According to her, members of the party and Bagdassaryan agree to this
position. At the same time, she noted that the party was prepared for
action, and no matter, whether the political force is represented
in the parliament by 13, 7 or 3 MPs, it will act in an efficient
and coordinated way. According to Bisharyan, leaving the party by
MPs-businessmen was a political action taken “from above.”
It is worth mentioning that for the recent five days five
MPs-businessmen left the Orinats Yerkir faction.

Today, Azerbaijan
May 9 2006
Elmar Mammadyarov: “Co-chairmen have new ideas about the NK conflict
settlement”

09 May 2006 [20:05] – Today.Az

“Date of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents is not known yet,” Elmar
Mammadyarov, Foreign Affairs Minister, told in his speech to the
media.
According to APA, Minister also stated that OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairmen have new ideas on settlement of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Mr. Mammadyarov said that both ministers of foreign affairs
will meet with co-chairmen in the framework of the Council of Europe
Political Committee session on May, 18-19 upon their consent.
“It will be known whether there is a need for the meeting of
presidents after discussions. Yet the agenda of the meeting is not
known. It is still early to hope about the next meeting of the
presidents. What we need to do is to continue talks.”
Saying that talks are going on based on Prague Process, the Minister
said that though there are some attractive items some of them are
unacceptable: “It is still early to give details.”

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Noam Chomsky visits Lebanon

Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet, Znet
Tuesday, 9 May, 2006 @ 6:25 PM
Beirut, Lebanon – Noam Chomsky, one of world’s most important
intellectuals, is currently visiting Lebanon.
Chomsky is an internationally esteemed academic, scholar and activist
with a unique passion for the Middle East. His illustrious
bibliography contains volumes on the very subject. The legendary
Chomsky has been one of the harshest critics of United States foreign
policy, and his latest book Failed States is no exception.
Excited about his first trip to Lebanon, Noam Chomsky is looking to
learn as much about the country as possible by “riding around in taxi
cabs” to get a different view from the one that “President George Bush
has from Texas.”
Born in Philadelphia in 1928, Chomsky spent his undergraduate and
graduate years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a
PhD in Linguistics in 1955. He was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard
University Society of Fellows and joined the staff of MIT (the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in 1955; in 1961 he was
appointed Full Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and
Linguistics, where he has worked ever since. In a recent interview by
Lebanese-Armenian Khatchig Mouradian, Chomsky discussed Lebanese
political affairs. Following is an excerpt from the interview:
Khatchig Mouradian – In an article entitled “Domestic Constituencies,”
you say: “It is always enlightening to seek out what is omitted in
propaganda campaigns.” Can you expand on what is omitted in the US
propaganda campaign on Lebanon and Syria after the assassination of
former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in February 2005?
Noam Chomsky – The only thing being discussed is that there was an
assassination and Syria was involved in it. How come Syria is in
Lebanon in the first place? Why did the US welcome Syria in Lebanon in
1976? Why did George Bush I support Syrian presence and domination and
influence in Lebanon in 1991 as part of his campaign against Iraq? Why
did the US support the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982? Why did
the US support Israel’s 22 year occupation of parts of Lebanon, an
occupation in violation of Security Council resolutions? All these
topics, and many others, are missing from the discussion.
In fact, the general principle is that anything that places US actions
in a questionable light is omitted, with very rare exceptions. So if
you blame something on an enemy, then you can discuss it, and Syria,
right now is the official enemy. That doesn’t necessarily mean that
the charges against Syria are wrong. It just means that everything
else is omitted.