Author: Maghakian Mike

Dartmouth Conference Co-Chair: Karabakh Independent De Facto
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2006 01:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Dartmouth Conference format is unique
because joint Russian-American projects are few in number over
the difference in approaches towards regional conflicts, co-chair
of the Dartmouth Conference working group for regional conflicts
Vitaly Naumkin stated during round-table discussions in Stepanakert,
reported by the information and analytical department of the NKR
MFA. “The fact of our constructive cooperation in the course of many
years should arouse trust in the format. Nagorno Karabakh despite
all the difficulties was recognized as a party to conflict and this
is undoubtedly the achievement of the Dartmouth process. Certainly,
such approach demanded effort and bravery of the parties,” Naumkin
said. “We want to help people to speak and settle the issues of
peace but not war. This is the essence of peace building through new
relations between the people,” he said.
According to the diplomat, the intermediate status offered in the
document automatically recognized Nagorno Karabakh as an independent
side. “This appears as certain legitimization of Nagorno Karabakh as
a party with responsibilities and rights,” Naumkin said. “The idea of
intermediate status doesn’t suppose renunciation of anything. Nagorno
Karabakh is independent de facto. We just propose to join the peaceful
process. We view the intermediate status as the process of joining
the negotiations. In our documents we create a trilateral format where
Nagorno Karabakh appears as a full party,” the Russian diplomat stated.

Armenian ex-minister says Karabakh settlement part of USA’s Iran plan
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
25 Mar 06
Excerpt from Nikol Pashinyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Aykakan
Zhamanak on 25 March headlined “Unfortunately, there is no alternative
to Ter-Petrosyan”
An interview with former Interior Minister Vano Siradegyan.
[Passage omitted: Siradegyan on what he has been doing since leaving
the post]
[Correspondent] How do you assess today’s domestic political situation
in Armenia?
[Siradegyan] There has been no sign of a political life over the past
18 months. The political elite is evidently confused and is gradually
slipping into a state of panic. Incidentally, the opposition is in
more panic.
[Passage omitted: minor details]
[Correspondent] How do you assess the international position of Armenia
and, in particular, today’s situation around the Karabakh issue? Can
hostilities resume?
[Siradegyan] Those who support preserving the status quo in the matter
of Karabakh, i.e. political idlers, and those who have cashed in on
the blockade believe that the situation created around Iran will delay
the Karabakh issue even more. They think we shall be forgotten. But
quite the contrary is more likely. I am afraid that Iran’s problem
may be settled “stage by stage” and that Karabakh will be its first
stage. That is to say, Armenian troops will be removed from the left
bank of the River Araz.
One should not think that Washington is exhausted because of the
situation in Iraq. Nobody knows whether or not the occupation of
Iraq was the next stage after Afghanistan in the programme of Iranian
“problem settlement”. Anyway, the problem of the left bank is always
on the agenda. It becomes the third and even the fourth stage if we
take into account the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
The threat of war is serious because both political and diplomatic
resources of the authorities have been exhausted. One or two more
meetings will mean nothing. There are two ways out: either resignation
or war. I think that resignation is more possible.
[Passage omitted: Siradegyan speculates on domestic political
relations, possible development of events]

NO CHILDREN’S DRUG ADDICTION IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, MARCH 29. ARMINFO. There is no problem of children’s drug
addiction in Armenia, said On a joint press conference with the head
of CSTO drugs department Victor Cherkesov, the chief of the Police
of Armenia lieutenant-general Hayk Harutiunian.
At the same time the lieutenant-general admitted that single teenagers
are detained for illegal keeping and use of drugs (less than 4 persons
a year). He said this has never become a serious problem in Armenia
and never will. Mr. Harutiunian added that drugs addiction is alien
to the Armenian people traditionally. He stated that is spite of
growing interests of the criminals to transfer drugs through Armenia,
drug addiction remains on a low level in Armenia.

ARMENIA PLEDGES TO FULFIL RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL CORRUPTION WATCHDOG
Mediamax news agency
29 Mar 06
Yerevan, 29 March: Armenia has received 24 recommendations from the
Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe,
the head of the Armenian delegation to GRECO, Artur Osikyan, has said
at a news conference in Yerevan today.
He noted that these recommendations have been drawn up on the basis
of the report about the corruption situation in Armenia. He said that
the Armenian side pledged to fulfil the recommendations within the
next 18 months.
The Armenian president’s adviser on issues of fighting corruption,
Bagrat Yesayan, expressed hope that the ruling coalition will make
every effort to fulfil the recommendations. He said that 364 criminal
proceedings on corruption were instituted in Armenia in 2005, which
is 12 cases more than in 2004.
Bagrat Yesayan said that the damage from corruption totalled 3.4bn
drams [7.6m dollars] in 2005, 236.4m drams [524,000 dollars] of which
have been returned. He also noted that 97 Armenian officials were
charged with corruption in 2005.

ARMENIA SHOULD ADVANCE DEMOCRATIC REFORMS, US SECRETARY OF STATE
Artur Grigoryan, Karen Grigoryan, “Aylur”.
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
28 Mar 06
[Presenter] Armenia has signed an agreement with the Millennium
Challenge Corporation [MCC] at the State Department in Washington,
under which the US will provide 236.5 million dollars in assistance
over five years.
The bulk of the funds will be spent on reducing poverty in the
Armenian villages, restoring of infrastructure, roads and irrigation
system. It is said that this will improve the lives of about 1m
peoples. About 1m people live in the Armenian villages. The American
State Department confirmed that the price of this great present is
to continue democratic reforms in Armenia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan took part in the signing ceremony.
[Condoleezza Rice, captioned, speaking in English with Armenian
voice-over] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour
for me to greet the members of the Armenian delegation. This meeting is
a promising step in the US and Armenian partnership. The agreement is
also the embodiment of America’s transformational diplomacy because it
will empower Armenian people to better their own lives, to strengthen
their own communities and to transform their own future.
[Vardan Oskanyan, captioned, speaking in English with Armenian
voice-over] We welcome the US government’s decision to assist those
countries which pledge to govern justly, to encourage economic openness
and to invest in people.
[Passage omitted: correspondent reported about the details of the
programme and about a teleconference from Washington for Armenian
journalists]
[Vardan Oskanyan] The elections of 2007 and 2008 will be an examination
on democracy in Armenia. Our task is, until the elections, to partner
with the US and the European governments to implement the necessary
corrective steps to improve the conditions necessary for an honest
and fair expression of people’s voices.

STANDSTILL IN ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATION, DEADLOCK IN THE KARABAKH ISSUE (ANALYSIS)
Tatul Hakobyan
“Radiolur”[ArmRadio.am]
28.03.2006 18:15
On April 4, 1993 the Armenian-Turkish border was closed on Turkish
government ‘s decision. Soon it will be 13 years of the blockade. The
ground for the blockade was taking control of Kelbajar region by Armed
Forces of Nagorno-Karabakh. Preceding that, in late 1991 Ankara had
recognized Armenia’s independence and established diplomatic relations
proposing two preconditions: Armenia should refuse from its ambitions
regarding the Eastern regions of today’s Turkey and should recognize
the borders of contemporary Turkish state, as well as stop the campaign
for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In fact,
the withdrawal of forces from Kelbajar and later from the security
zone around Nagorno-Karabakh became the second precondition.
However, Ankara was not content itself with the blockade. In
1993 Turkey intended to penetrate into Armenia, about which
former Ambassador of Greece Leonidas Khrisantupolis wrote in his
recollections. Former head of the State National Security Agency of
Armenia Eduard Simonyants confirmed the statement.
Simonyants had stated in his talk with “Noyyan Tapan” Agency, “In
autumn 1993 Turkey was really intending to attack Armenia. And it
is not the sole case, for several times Armenian territory has been
under threat of Turkish attack.
The threat of invasion was really immense.”
In the recent 13 years there have been a number of meetings on the
level of Presidents and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey;
Armenian-Turkish relations, however, were not brought out of the
deadlock. Like 13 years ago, today Ankara does not refuse from
preconditions. On the other hand, however, Armenian-Turkish relations
have undergone certain transformations lately, to be more correct,
another component has been added to these relations, that is the
Karabakh issue.
The West is trying to include the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict and the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations in a
single package, i.e. to find a simultaneous solution to these two
most complex and extremely important issues for Armenia. Here, it
is important for us to understated the core of the solution, i.e. in
case we receive something useful in the Karabakh issue, what should
we give instead to Armenian-Turkish relations? And the opposite, if
we gain something in Armenian-Turkish relations, what and how much
should we yield in the Karabakh case?

INTERNATIONAL BANKING CONFERENCE IN YEREVAN TO DEAL WITH TRADE FINANCING
by Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 27, 2006 Monday 11:12 PM EST
Armenia’s trade financing matters of current importance are to
be discussed at an international banking conference opening here
on Tuesday.
The conference, which has been organised by the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Armeconombank,
the republic’s leading commercial bank, one quarter of the assets
of which belongs to the EBRD, is held within the framework of the
EBRD-devised trade assistance programme for the banks of Central and
Eastern Europe and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries.
The Programme is aimed at stepping up intra-regional and international
trade through encouragement of the activities of West European banks.
The EBRD, in particulr, assumes political and payment risks in favour
of Armenian companies that transact export-import operations.
The Conference is to be addressed by Central Bank executives and
officials of the Armenian government and various international
financial organisations.
The delegates of the banks of Russia, Austria, Belarus, Britain,
Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the United
Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Ukraine are to share their experience. The
guests are to get acquainted with the peculiarities of banking, tax
and customs legislation of the republic and its practical applications.
The forum has already attracted the attention of numerous companies
which operate in Armenia and are interested in the crediting of
their commercial activities. They operate in most diverse sectors of
the the economy ranging from engineering and communications to the
production of canned food and toys. A practical training seminar is
to be conducted for them with the participation of the experts of
the EBRD and other organisations.
The Armeconombank, which is the legal successor to the Armenian
republican bank of the Zhilsotsbank of the USSR (housing and social
development bank), was the republic’s first one to get reorganised
from the state-run bank into a joint-stock one. At present, it has
39,000 clients who are catered for in 40 branches of the bank.
On the strength of last year’s results, Armenia’s Central Bank
and the Ministry of Finance referred to the Armeconombank as the
republican government’s best agent in the management of the national
domestic debt.

FRANCE INCLUDES GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS EVEN IN MEDICAL BOOKS
By Emre Demir, Strasbourg
Zaman, Turkey
March 27 2006
In France, allegations on the so-called Armenian genocide have made
their way into medical books. It has been revealed that the so-called
genocide-advocate Armenian lobby holds the copyright of some books
used in French medical faculties.
In the prefaces of Axel Balian’s books, a book students must buy,
genocide allegations are included. In the book, the European Union’s
starting negotiations with Turkey is also criticized. The whole
income of Armenian Balian’s seven books is transferred to the Armenian
associations. Especially Turkish students studying in medicine faculty
have concerns over their money being transferred to the Armenian lobby.
In France, which officially recognized the so-called Armenian genocide
in 2001, doctors joined the debates over “genocide” after politicians
and historians. In Balian’s “Hepato-Gastro-Enterologie,” book, which
is used for stomach-intestine specialization, the European countries,
which started full membership negotiations with Ankara, are criticized.
There are some striking remarks in the preface: “The income of this
book will be transferred to the associations, which are trying to
evoke the ‘genocide’ took place in 1915. Few people remember the
1.5 million Armenians that lost their lives while fleeing and in the
camps. This book is prepared in the hope that those who seem ready
to make a ‘denying country member of the EU’, should also remember
the genocide.” The Armenian doctor has seven books on the same subject.
All of the books refer to the so called Armenian Genocide and the
Copyrights of the books were transferred to Armenian Foundations.
Turkish students, who are obliged to buy these books at medical
faculties, are unhappy because their money is transferred to “genocide”
foundations. Straoussgbourg Pasteur University Freshman student Fatih
Akin said: “We have to buy this book to pass the course; however, we
are not comfortable as our money is sent to the foundations making
genocide propaganda.” Akin also said it is interesting a medicine
book gives place to a political issue like this in its preface session.
Hosting about 500,000 Armenian immigrants France had passed a law
recognizing the so called Armenian Genocide in 2001. Armenians
are quite influential in France, which hosts the biggest number
of Armenians in Europe. Tension increases every year on April 24
in France, the Genocide commemoration day, and 450,000 Turks in
France become offended by these genocide discussions. Recently the
Turks living in Lyon had organized a protest march against the
second genocide statue in the city. Some events had taken place
after Armenians attacked Turks during the demonstrations and Lyon
Governorship explained it would not longer tolerate demonstrations
against the Armenian Genocide.
Armenian Diaspora defends the number of Armenians that died between
1915 and 1916, when the Emigration Law was implemented in the Ottoman
Empire, reaches 1,500,000. The Armenian Genocide claims have been
accepted by the parliaments of 15 countries so far.

AZG Armenian Daily #054, 25/03/2006

Anniversary
CHOREOGRAPHIC COLLAGE CELEBRATES ITS 80TH ANNIVERSARY
The Choreographic Collage is celebrating its 80th Anniversary. The
collage prepared a 2-hour long performance especially for this
occasion. Vilen Galstian, director of the collage, stated that the
performance had two parts – classical and folk dances.
Mr. Galstian stated that the collage has many problems, including
those of economic or organizational character. He stated that RA
Culture Ministry have already allocated about AMD 1 million 200
thousand on the occasion of the collage’s anniversary.
By Gohar Gevorgian

Today, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006
Tahir Karimov: No talks on Nagorno Karabakh conflict in Washington

25 March 2006 [00:21] – Today.Az

No talks are planned on the regulation of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem in US March 2006, Tahir Karimov, the adviser to the
Azerbaijani Embassy in US on political issues, stated.
As Trend reports, Karimov was commenting possibility of negotiations
or consultations of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the visit of
Vardan Oskanian, the Armenian Foreign Minister, to USA.
“As far as I know the Armenian Foreign Minister arrives in Washington
March 28 to discuss issues related to the program “Challenges of
Millennium”. No contacts with Azerbaijan are envisaged,” he stressed.
Media spread information about the meeting of Azerbaijani and
Armenian FMs in Washington late March.

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