Author: Maghakian Mike

AGREEMENT OVER KARABAKH ISSUE MAY BE REACHED AT KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 4 2005
04.08.2005 02:46
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “An agreement over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
may be reached at the recurrent meeting of the Azeri and Armenian
Presidents to be held August 26. The talks held within the past
year provide ground for an opinion of this kind,” Project Director
of International Crisis Group for Caucasus Sabine Freizer stated in
the air of RFE/RL. In her words, the population is not sufficiently
informed on the course of the talks, which results in discontent and
press speculations. “It is utterly important for the Governments
of Azerbaijan and Armenia to provide information to their country
population irrespective of whether an agreement is reached or not.
Otherwise the attitude of the population of both countries to any
arranged issues will be negative,” she said. The International Crisis
Group monthly report says during OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ visit
to the region there were optimistic conversations about peace. The
document says that the matter of the referendum in Karabakh was
discussed in the press, while the Azeri MFA denies it. The report
also notes that in spite of the public opinion in Azerbaijan still
being very critical, relative calmness is available in Armenia. It
notes that on the eve of the parliamentary election pressure over
Azerbaijan increases – the US, EU and OSCE make statements on the
need to hold free and fair election.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT VICE-SPEAKER: THE ONLY WAY FOR STABLE DEVELOPMENT IS EUROPEAN
ARKA News Agency
Aug 3 2005
YEREVAN, August 2. /ARKA/. The only way Armenia has for stable
development is European way, Armenian National Assembly Vice-Speaker
Tigran Torosyan said at Constitutional Guarantees of Stable Development
round-table discussion held Tuesday in Yerevan. In his words,
the republic’s geopolitical position and current challenges don’t
allow it to fall into soviet-era-like isolation. In his opinion,
Armenia Eurointegration process went on at a sluggish pace in
2004-2005. Torosyan sees the current constitution as the main obstacle
for that. He thinks although Armenia finds itself behind Poland, Czech
Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Baltic countries having reach
experience of democracy gained in pre-soviet epoch, the republic was
capable not to stay behind Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Torosyan
says that today, when a group of countries joined the European Union
and another group of countries became the EU aspirants, Armenia
found itself outside this row and the main obstacle is the current
constitution. Level of economic freedom in Armenia exceeds that in
some EU member countries. The Vice-Speaker noted that Armenia is
the only country, where gap between economic freedom and democracy
is so wide. In his explanation, the present constitution is not
hobbling economy, but barring democracy from developing. That’s why
constitutional reforms are so needed, Torosyn said. M.V. -0—
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Karabakh accuse Azeri media of adverse coverage
Nagornyy Karabakh Foreign Ministry, Stepanakert
2 Aug 05
Text of report by press release from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic on 2 August headlined “Commentary on
the publication of the article ‘NKR torpedoes the peace process” in
the 23 July issue of Zerkalo newspaper
Representatives of the Azerbaijani mass media, having no idea of the
details of the peace process on the Karabakh problem and its
political and legal aspects, publish articles in which information
from Stepanakert is misconstrued. As a result, an atmosphere
hindering the understanding of human values and consideration of any
alternative means and goals is created in Azerbaijani society.
There is no doubt that the search for a mutually profitable and fair
settlement of the Karabakh conflict is possible only via the
establishment of effective communications between the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR] and the Azerbaijani Republic.
In this connection, it should be re-emphasized that any settlement of
the Karabakh conflict, the current stage of which started with such a
humanitarian catastrophe as mass killings of Armenians in Sumqayit
and Baku, as well as further ethnic cleansing, deportation and
expulsion of nearly 500,000 Armenian citizens of the former
Azerbaijani SSR in 1988-1990, must, first of all, propose the
restoration of justice and reparation for moral and financial losses
to these people, including the recognition of their right to have
their motherland.
The Azerbaijani leadership is entirely responsible for unleashing
hostilities and for their results, including the issue of paying
reparations to all the refugees and internally displaced persons who
suffered from these actions, regardless of their nationality and
current citizenship.
Starting with a humanitarian catastrophe, the Karabakh conflict must
be settled only in the humanitarian dimension and in full accordance
with the fundamental principles and goals of international law.
[Signed] The information-analytical department of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic

ARMENIAN PRODUCTION FAIR TO BE ORGANIZED IN MOSCOW IN SEPTEMBER
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 1 2005
01.08.2005 07:02
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A fair of Armenian production will be organized
in Moscow’s Pushkin Square September 24-25. The event will take
place within the framework of the commercial-economic cooperation
established between Moscow authorities and the Armenian Government.
Mushegh Sargsyan, top official from the Armenian Development Agency,
stated that different Armenian produce will be presented at the fair.
The agency has sent invitations to over 300 businessmen 30 of which
have already displayed readiness to participate in the fair. Those
who have not received the invitation can apply to the agency on their
on initiative. M. Sargsyan noted that a large space is provided for
the organization of the fair, thus there will be no limitations in
the number of participants. The pavilions will be designed by Agency
representatives and will be provided to businessmen free of charge. A
similar fair of Russian products will be organized in Yerevan in
October, reported Armenpress.

El Pais, España
Sábado 30 Julio 2005
Malikian aborda un programa barroco en Bermeo
IGOR CUBILLO
Bilbao
El pasado mes de marzo Ara Malikian ofrecio un recital de fusion
flamenca acompanado por el guitarrista Jose Luis Monton en el palacio
Euskalduna de Bilbao, en el marco del programa Musiketan. Ese dia, el
violinista libanes, de familia armenia, solo mostro una de sus
facetas. Otra quedara al descubierto el proximo 1 de agosto en la
iglesia Andra Mari de Bermeo (20.00 horas; entrada gratuita), donde
repasara un programa barroco al frente del Ara Malikian Ensemble.
Los instrumentistas andaluces Jose Velez, al violin, Juan Francisco
Padilla, al laud, y Alfredo Barrales, a la viola, completan el
cuarteto de cuerda que lidera Malikian.
La formacion interpretara en el concierto previsto en Bermeo un
repertorio compuesto por piezas de Veracini (Sonata prima), Marin
Marais (L’Arabesque y La Reveuse), Vivaldi (Concierto en Re), Jean
Marie Leclair (Sonata VI y Sonata para dos violines y bajo continuo),
Couperin (Les Bergeries) y Tarquinio Merula (Ciaconna ).
Malikian, en la actualidad concertino de la Orquesta Sinfonica de
Madrid, recibio muchas de sus primeras clases en refugios antiaereos
de Beirut, hasta que con 14 anos consiguio una beca del gobierno
aleman para cursar estudios en la Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater
de Hannover. La Guildhall School of Music and Drama de Londres
tambien ha tenido como alumno a este violinista que ha estrenado
obras de autores contemporaneos como Franco Danatoni, Malcolm Lipkin,
Luciano Chailly, Ladislav Kupkovic, Loris Tjeknavorian, Lawrence
Roman y Yervand Yernakian.
Asimismo, hasta ahora ha fundado conjuntos como Malikian Ensemble,
Ensemble Nuevo Tango, Laureate Ensemble, Malikian String Quartet y
Camerata Creativa, y ha actuado en mas de 40 paises de los cinco
continentes.
Su pericia al violin ha sido requerida para las bandas sonoras de
largometrajes como Hable con ella, de Pedro Almodovar, y Otro barrio,
de Salvador Garcia Ruiz, y, pese a haber basado su formacion de corte
clasico, el musico tambien se ha sentido atraido por el jazz, el
flamenco y la musica de Oriente Medio.

Sports Features Communications (press release), FL
July 27 2005
International Rowing Federation
2005 World Rowing Junior Championships
Lausanne, 27 July 2005
Brandenburg, Germany 3 – 6 August 2005
A total of 690 athletes fro 51 countries are entered in the 2005
World Rowing Junior Championships which will be held from 3 to 5
August in Brandenburg, Germany
The largest number of entries comes in the men’s double scull, where
30 boats will be fighting for the medals. Host country Germany has
entered the highest number of boats, with a crew entered in each of
the 13 events.
Entries also include those of developing rowing countries such as
Armenia, with Makar Sargsyan the single sculler who raced last
week-end at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands racing again. Moldova will also be racing, with 13
athletes entered in five boat classes.
To compete in the World Rowing Junior Championships, rowers must be
18 years or under. An athlete can compete as a junior until 31st
December of the year in which s/he reaches the age of 18. After that
date s/he shall be classified an Under 23 rower.
The event will take place on the Beetzsee regatta course in
Brandenburg, approximately 70km outside of Berlin. The course was
last used for the Junior World Championships 20 years ago and has
since gone through extensive renovations, including a new finish
tower, new administrative buildings, boat houses, changing facilities
as well as the permanent big video screen.
Visit the official World Rowing website , for a
full list of entries, a racing timetable as well as an extensive boat
class preview. During racing, this website will provide live scoring,
race reports, press releases, start lists and full results.
For more detailed venue information, visit

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
July 26 2005
Armenian PM Meets Georgian Leadership
26/07/2005 09:56
Visiting Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan met with Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili and Parliamentary Chairperson Nino
Burjanadze on July 25 in Tbilisi.
Margaryan said after talks with Burjanadze that bilateral economic
cooperation and joint measure for social rehabilitation projects in
Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti region in southern Georgia were
discussed.
`In the course of this year USD 350,000 was already transferred [for
projects in Samtskhe-Javakheti] from the Armenian state budget,’
Margaryan told reporters. The funds were designed for construction of
schools and equipment.
Nino Burjanadze told reporters after talks that the Armenian PM
requested the Georgian side to speed up working over the issues
related with the ownership of the several churches in Javakheti and
in Tbilisi which are disputed between Armenian Apostolic and Georgian
Orthodox Churches.
Armenian Prime Minister, who arrived in Georgian on July 24 has
already visited Samtskhe-Javakheti region and met with his Georgian
counterpart Zurab Nogaideli.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian daily views reasons for Turkish defence minister’s visit to Azerbaijan
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow
21 Jul 05
Excerpt from report by Sohbat Mammadov in Russian newspaper
Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 21 July headlined “Ankara inspects Baku.
Turkey intends to bring military into Azerbaijan to guard pipelines
and interfere in Karabakh settlement”
The official visit to Baku by Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul
ends tomorrow [22 July]. [Passage omitted: schedule of Gonul’s visit]
Officially this visit is in return for [Azerbaijani Defence Minister]
Safar Abiyev’s visit to Turkey last year. However, independent analysts
are inclined to lend far more significance to it. Azerbaijani military
expert Uzeir Cafarov has said that any military contacts between Baku
and Ankara will contribute to strengthening the Azerbaijani armed
forces and speeding up the country’s integration into NATO.
“A few months ago a plan was adopted for individual cooperation
between Azerbaijan and the alliance. In line with this plan, our
country pledged to reform the army and bring it into line with the
NATO standards. Turkey is the country responsible for the monitoring
and fulfilment of this plan’s points,” the expert told journalists.
In his opinion, the fact that visits to Azerbaijan by Turkish military
delegations have become more frequent in recent weeks demonstrates that
“they probably have unplanned missions in our country”.
These missions may include, first, organizing and ensuring the
protection of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main oil export pipeline and
the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline is practically ready and is expected to be commissioned in
November. As for the gas pipeline, its construction is gaining momentum
and will be completed next year. These power lines are of strategic
importance both for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey as well as for
the countries of the West and the USA. Hence, NATO intends to deploy
mobile groups on the Absheron Peninsula to guard the pipelines. Turkey,
whose military experts are training Azerbaijani servicemen, has no
small role in this matter.
Another equally important task is the settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Official Ankara, while supporting
Azerbaijan’s position, is at the same time interested in normalizing
relations with Armenia. Hence, the Turkish defence minister discussed
with Azerbaijani leaders prospects for Ankara’s involvement in the
settlement of the conflict. This problem was discussed a few days
ago during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi. In the opinion
of Azerbaijani analysts, the defence minister had something to tell
[Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev about the results of the talks
in Sochi.
Anyway, during his meetings the Turkish defence minister pointed out
the need for the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict within
the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Police seize Bush grenade suspect
BBC News
2005/07/20
Police in Georgia have arrested a man suspected of throwing a grenade
towards US President George Bush during a visit to the former Soviet
republic in May.
Police at first raided a property in a suburb of the capital, Tbilisi,
but the man escaped after a shootout in which one policeman was killed,
police say.
The suspect was seized when police searched a nearby wood.
The grenade was thrown into a crowd as Mr Bush gave a speech in
Tbilisi, but it did not explode.
It was found 30m (100ft) from the stage when Mr Bush and Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili had stood. Both men spoke from behind
bullet-proof glass.
Support visit
Georgian officials say that Vova Arutyunov, 27, opened fire on the
police when they came to his house to question him.
Mr Arutyunov shot dead one of the policemen before escaping from his
flat in the Tbilisi suburb of Vashlisdzhvari.
He fled to a nearby wood, firing shots as the police encircled
him until he was finally captured two hours later and taken in for
questioning. Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told reporters that
he was wounded.
On Monday, Georgian police issued a picture of the man they wanted
and announced a 150,000 lari ($80,000, £45,000) reward for information
leading to his capture.
The man in the photograph had dark hair and wore dark glasses.
Mr Merabishvili said at the time that officials did not know who the
man was, but that he was believed to between 25 and 35 years old,
and 175-180cm tall (5ft 9in).
Mr Bush was visiting Georgia to bolster relations and express support
for democracy in the country following its Rose Revolution in 2003.
–Boundary_(ID_iu/kNYh3yF/ICj+BYSNTKg)–

ARMENIA DISPLAYS ITS CHEMICAL POTENTIAL
ArmenPress
July 12 2005
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS: Natalia Artsruni, deputy director of an
Armenian Development Agency (ADA) department in charge of investment
attraction, argued that Armenia’s chemical industry’s potential is
becoming more and more attractive for foreign investors, which she
said was largely due to participation in two international chemical
exhibitions- the first was Informex exhibition in the USA in January
and the second was ChemSpec fair in Germany in June.
She said participation in both exhibitions proved to be very
successful. “Visitors of the Armenian pavilions were surprised to
discover Armenia’s chemical potential and learning that its chemical
enterprises are capable of manufacturing around 5,000 chemical
compounds” she said. She said the Armenian pavilion in Germany was
visited by 200 people, adding that a preliminary agreement was made
with L’Oreal company.