Author: Maghakian Mike

FIRST FEATURE FILM ON ARTSAKH WAR SHOT

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The historic events
that happened in the years of Artsakh war were presented in the “Fate”
full-length feature film, the premiere of which will take place on
June 11 at the Moscow cinema of Yerevan.

As Gor Vardanian, the actor playing the film’s leading part and the
author of the film’s scenario, reported at the June 9 press
conference, this film distinguishes itself among the other films shot
with his participation with its subject and goals. He mentioned that
this is the first feature film on the Artsakh liberation war. The plot
of the film that has passed a preliminary stage of three years is
based on real historic facts.

The film heroes also have their prototypes in real life. The main
hero, Gor, embodies the image of a patriotic fighter and nation’s
defender. Suffering a grave loss, he finds strength to resist and to
fight against the enemy. The enemy, with which he had fought in the
same army in Afghanistan. The main hero goes through a deep
psychological drama.

The film has a great educational importance, especially in the issue
of forming the image of the Armenian fighter and the national hero
among the new generation. “No one is born a hero, people become heroes
by the order of the time and the circumstances,” the film’s exclusive
producer Hayk Bakrjian is convinced. According to him, the film will
help the youth to get acquainted with not so far history of our
nation, the birth of the idea of national self-determination, the
formation of the national army and its victories.

The film was shot in Artsakh and in the U.S., by the version of
Hollywood films. At the initial stage the film staff had a
consultation and worked with more than 200 politicians and
servicemen-participants of the Nagorno Karabakh war, including General
Safonov.

Starting June 12, the film will be shown at Yerevan cinemas and on
June 13, the film’s Karabakh premiere will take place.

CHAIRMAN CAUCASUS FOUR PLAN ANOTHER MEETING

Prime News Agency, Georgia
June 8 2006

Tbilisi. June 08 (Prime-News) – Nino Burdjanadze, Chairwoman of the
Parliament of Georgia and Sergey Mironov, her Russian counterpart
agreed to initiate another meeting of the chairpersons of the
Caucasus Four.

During the Wednesday telephone conversation Sergey Mironov told Nino
Burdjanadze that meeting of the chairpersons of Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Russia has not been held for one and a half year for
objective reasons, Prime-News was told by representatives of the
Parliament of Georgia.

Nino Burdjanadze added that Georgia and Russia have a good chance to
start resolution of accumulated problems.

Sergey Mironov also welcomed the initiation by Mikheil Saakashvili,
President of Georgia on start of negotiations with Russia.

CHAIRMANSHIP IN PABSEC TO BE TRANSFERRED TO AZERBAIJAN
Author: A.Mammadov

TREND, Azerbaijan
June 8 2006

Today the 27th plenary meeting of the General Assembly of the
Parliamentary Assembly of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC)
was completed in Armenia.

According to the speaker of Armenian parliament Tigran Torosyan, the
work of the Assembly was beneficial and aimed at resolving unsettled
questions facing the countries of the region.

On the final day of the meeting, the participants adopted the agenda
of the next 28th meeting of General Assembly which will be held in
Baku in November 2006.

The agenda of the meeting included various issues related to
alternative energy resources and their possible application in the
Black Sea region, optimization of international conditions in studying,
mitigating and minimizing the disasters in the Black Sea region,
legal protection of intellectual property, globalization process and
potential threats of cultural diversity.

The chairmanship in PABSEC will be transferred from Armenia to
Azerbaijan in near 6 months.

RA DEFENSE MINISTER TO PAY FORMAL VISIT TO BELGIUM AND LITHUANIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.06.2006 13:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 12 a delegation headed by Armenian Defense
Minister Serge Sargsyan will depart for Belgium on a formal visit. June
14 the delegation will attend the NATO Headquarters; June 15-16 it
will be visiting Lithuania. RA Defense Minister’s Spokesman, Colonel
Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net, meetings with the Belgian
Defense Minister and the Chief of the Defense Staff as well as a
visit to the Royal Military School are scheduled.

June 14 Serge Sargsyan will take part in the sitting of the North
Atlantic Council during which the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership
Action Plan will be discussed. In Lithuania the Armenian delegation
will meet with the Lithuanian President, the Minister of Defense,
Chairman of the National Security and Defense Committee and also
attend some military units.

ANOTHER SENATOR ARRESTED FOR TAKING BRIBES

Russia Blog
June 7 2006

Photo: Chahmahchyan getting ready for a well-deserved “vacation”

This week the parliament of Kalmyk region was asked to fire their
federal Senator Levon Chahmahchyan, so that the FSB could press charges
when he is no longer immune from prosecution. Among other crimes,
the Senator was caught carrying $300,000 cash out of the offices of
the local company “Transaero”, for whom he had been doing favors. The
hundred dollar bills were marked this time, and his suitcase was full
of them, stacked neatly just like in a Hollywood movie.

Senator Chahmahchyan is of Armenian origin. The Armenian mafia has
always been very powerful in Russia. Many Armenians are dominant
players in the construction business which is booming in major Russian
cities. Several Armenians are close business partners with Moscow Mayor
Luzhkov’s wife, who along with her husband has become a billionaire
during his term in office.

Chahmahchyan’s son in law is a senior official at the Russian Ministry
of Finance. When he was first caught, Chahmahchya joked that this
was just a political game between him and “Transaero” executives,
but later in the day his son in law was arrested as well.

The Senator had just been elected the day before as the new president
of the Russian Armenian Association.

The Governor of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, doesn’t want to get
involved in the criminal case. Ilyumzhinov “doesn’t feel sorry for
the Senator who got caught and thinks that the Federal Assembly knows
what it’s doing.” Governor Ilyumzhinov is quite a character himself;
he is a very stylish billionaire, who has ruled the state of Kalmykia
for a decade without worrying about the Russian Constitution, which
imposes term limits. The Governor fancies $5,000 neck ties, $20,000
suits, riding white horses, and playing chess – everyone in Kalmykia
is required to play chess.

Elsewhere in Russia, corruption is causing unrest in the city of
Perm. Yesterday the citizens rushed into the City Council building
with the mayor inside. These angry citizens are trying to cancel
construction in their state park, which started few days ago. The state
park near the city is the only public space where Perm citizens can
enjoy the outdoors and fresh air; however, the park was leased by the
city to a construction company which is fencing off a major part of
it for building multi-million dollar homes. The homebuilders’ clients
include the local judge, mayor, chief of police, general prosecutor,
the Orthodox priest and other respectable mafia leaders in the region.

Local conservationists tried to block development by filing a lawsuit,
however the future home-owner/judge decided that there was nothing
wrong with fencing off this piece of public property and building
on it. This has been done many times before in many other Russian
regions. Russia Blog wishes the best of luck to the citizens of Perm
and feels sorry for them.

n_keeps_on_rolling_on.html

50 MILLION FOR THIS YEAR’S ‘GOLDEN APRICOT’
By Tamar Minasian

AZG Armenian Daily
08/06/2006

The Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs has allocated 50 million AMD
for the “Golden Apricot” International Film Festival. This sum is more
than that of last year by 50 percent and two years ago the festival
got only 3 million. Deputy culture minister, Karine Khodiakian,
says that such events are important insofar as they enable us to go
beyond our national boundaries to see what others have and compare
local productions with foreign ones.

Foundation of Filmmakers Without Borders international organization
will open doors for new events within the frameworks the “Golden
Apricot”. Susana Harutyunian, art director of “Golden Apricot”, said
yesterday that a two-day discussion this year will draw film workers
from 20 states.

Organizers note that to hold such festivals one needs 300 thousand
USD. The festival is important not only for presenting Armenian film
industry to our neighbors and communicating with foreign filmmakers but
also for creation of a film library of movies shown at the festival.

NEW ENGLAND’S YOUNG PROFESSIONALS MEET IN MASSACHUSETTS

ArmRadio.am
08.06.2006 12:05

AAA Board of Trustees Member Lu Ann Ohanian and her husband, Bruce
Ohanian, hosted an event for Armenian-American young professionals
at their home in Belmont, Massachusetts. Young professionals from
Massachusetts and Rhode Island gathered together to meet one another
and share their ideas for future events of the Armenian Assembly
of America.

The group welcomed Harout Semerdjian, Director of Public Relations
and Communications for KNOW GENOCIDE, a multi-ethnic coalition united
against genocide denial, founded by the Assembly. Semerdjian discussed
the pending federal lawsuit filed by the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations and others against the Massachusetts Board of Education to
insert materials in the State Curriculum Guide that deny the Armenian
Genocide. Attendees also discussed potential ideas for fundraising
events in the New England area. Bruce Ohanian encouraged the group
to be goal and mission oriented when planning such events.

“We are pleased to once again host such a committed group of young
professionals,” said Lu Ann Ohanian. “We encourage their continued
participation in the Assembly and look forward to future gatherings
to discuss Armenian-American concerns.”

“We thank the Ohanian’s and the young professionals for their
activism,” said Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “Their dedication
ensures a promising future for the Assembly and Armenia.”

MONITORING OF CONTACT LINE BETWEEN KARABAKH AND AZERI ARMED FORCES WITHOUT INCIDENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.06.2006 15:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 6 in compliance with an earlier agreement with
authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, an OSCE mission held a
planned monitoring at the contact line between Karabakh and Azeri Armed
Forces to the east of Seysulan settlement of the Mardakert region of
the NKR. Field Assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Peter Key (UK) and Jrzhi Aberle (the Czech Republic)
held the monitoring from the positions of the NKR Defense Army.

The monitoring was held in compliance with the schedule, no breaks
of the cease-fire regime were registered. However, the Azeri party
again failed to take the OSCE observers to its frontline.

Representatives of the MOD and MFA of NKR accompanies the mission
from the Karabakh side, reports the NKR MFA Press Service.

ARMEN HOVNANIAN: SODA JERK ROSE TO DRUGSTORE EXEC
By Stan Donaldson
Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit Free Press, MI
June 5 2006

Armen Hovnanian
It didn’t take long for Armen Hovnanian to know what he wanted to do
with his life.

At 13, while working as a soda jerk at a Detroit pharmacy in the 1940s,
he told his parents and siblings his dream of becoming a pharmacist.

Later, as a student at Central High School in Detroit, he worked
in a pharmacy after school to learn the ropes of the business. He
used that knowledge to become a leader in one of Michigan’s largest
drugstore chains during the 1970s.

“I always thought he was a brilliant man,” said his sister, Mary
Keoleian of Farmington Hills.

Mr. Hovnanian of Farmington Hills died Friday at Beaumont Hospital
in Royal Oak of emphysema. He was 76.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Mr. Hovnanian’s family moved to Detroit while
he was an infant.

After graduating high school in 1947, he attended the Detroit Institute
of Technology and graduated in 1951 with a pharmacy degree.

A short time later, he was drafted into the Army and served during
World War II for two years as a lab technician.

Mr. Hovnanian met his wife, Suzanne, while working for the Cunningham
Drugstore chain. They were married 33 years.

He was promoted to executive vice president of the company in 1971 and
was responsible for sales. He helped the store develop the concept
of a one-stop drugstore, which sold pharmacy items along with other
merchandise. He worked for the company for nearly 30 years.

He loved classical music and was a Detroit Tigers baseball fan.

In addition to his wife and sister, Mr. Hovnanian is survived by a son,
Michael; and two sisters.

A funeral service is set for 11 a.m. today at St. John’s Armenian
Church, 22001 Northwestern Highway, Southfield.

No cadre massacres expected at the National Assembly

ArmRadio.am
03.06.2006 15:40

After Arthur Baghdasaryan’s resignation most of the employees of the
Staff to the former NA Chairman, including Head of Staff and three
Advisers, filed their resignations, Head of Staff of the National
Assembly Hovhannes Zargaryan told `Radiolur.’ He added that all in all
490 people work at the National Assembly, including the technical
staff. The number of civil servants, whose activity is regulated by RA
Law on Civil Service, is 190.

Yesterday the newly elected NA Chairman Tigran Torosyan said that no
cadre massacres are expected at the National Assembly.