Author: Maghakian Mike

REPUBLIC PARTY INTENDS TO COOPERATE WITH ANY POLITICAL FORCE IN
ARMENIA AWARE OF THE NECESSITY OF SERIOUS REFORMS IN THE COUNTRY
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26. ARMINFO. The Republic party intends to cooperate
with any political force in Armenia aware of the necessity of serious
reforms in the country. Armenian MP representing the opposition bloc
Justice, Head of the Political Council of the Republic party Albert
Bazeyan says at the Discussion Club Azdak, today.
He says that the party is glad for the leader of New Times party Aram
Karapetyan who has understood the necessity of reforms and change of
power, first of all, as yet a year ago he was speaking quite of the
opposite. As regards Leader of the National Unity party Artashes
Geghamyan, who has recently expressed intention to start revolution,
Bazeyan says that Geghamyan is an experienced politician having a
considerable electorate and has a right to act as he think
necessary. He adds that revolutions are not declared they are made in
practice.- M-

Athens News Agency, Greece
February 24, 2005
TENSION IN 53RD ASSEMBLY OF THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE
‘EU-TURKEY’
PARIS (ANA/O. Tsipira) – Religion, Armenia and Cyprus were the three
issues which prevailed in the meetings of the 53rd Assembly of the
Joint Parliamentary Committee “”EU-Turkey” which concluded in
Strasbourg on Thursday
During a press conference which closed the sessions, Dutch Committee
President Joost Lagendijk explained that the meetings of the Joint
Committee constitute a platform of dialogue and not a space of
decision-taking
“It is an opportunity for the Turkish deputies to understand why the
European Parliament continues to pressure for a solution to the
Cyprus issue, or for a recognition of the genocide of the Armenians.
At the same time, it was useful for the European deputies to see
better how the Turks deal with the issues and the solutions which
could found. From this point of view our meeting was successfull, not
because we reached some conclusions, but because we understood and
saw where the probems are exactly located and on which we will talk
about in the future,” Lagendijk said.” The problems appeared from the
first hours of the meeting, creating tension in the atmosphere,
something which outraged certain Eurodeputies, such as the German (of
Turkish origin) Vural Oger, to declare that “they poisoned the
dialogue.” French Eurodeputy Jacques Toubon asked whether the Council
and the Commission would take into consideration, before a final
decision on Turkey’s EU accession is taken, a European Parliament
resolution calling on Ankara to recognise the genocide of the
Armenians
Tension was also created by Cypriot Eurodeputy Marios Matsakis who
claimed that Turkey is accountable for three genocides, of the
Armenians, Kurds and Greeks.

PanArmenian News
Feb 23 2005
WEBSITE DEDICATED TO 90-TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE
CREATED
23.02.2005 16:43
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ About 50 specialists on the problem of the Armenian
Genocide will take part in organization of various measures dedicated
to the 90-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Armenpress news
agency reports. According to the group director, pro-rector of the
Yerevan State University Aram Simonian, exhibitions of photos and
documents testifying of the Genocide of 1915 will be opened, audio
and video cassettes with the records of those who witnessed that
crime will be issued as well as materials from German, Russian and
French archives will be published. On the initiative of the working
group a website, which is to be continually replenished with
corresponding documents, will be created. A scientific conference
with the participation of student and the teaching staff will be held
in the Artsakh State University in mid-April.

Boston Globe, MA
Feb 20 2005
A fresh new TV face at 70
By Donna Goodison
Years ago, Lorraine Seymourian was at one of the Armenian picnics
frequented by her family on Sunday afternoons, and her parents
couldn’t find her.

“There I was in the middle of a whole crowd of people, with dollar
bills all over me, because if they liked you, they put dollar bills
on you,” said Seymourian, who was about 5 at the time. “I was dancing
around, having a wonderful time and just doing my own little thing.”
Seymourian still has that flair for the theatrical today, at age 70.
“I’m always on stage in public life, no matter what I do,” said
Seymourian, stylishly dressed last week in flowing black pants slit
to the knee, a long black coat with fur collar and cuffs, and a
matching fur hat. “People never forget me, never.”
With a radio program already to her credit, the Newton resident last
month introduced her latest project — a television show. Taped
before a live audience, “Lorraine Entertains” airs at 7:30 a.m.
Fridays on Boston’s WBPX-TV (Channel 68), part of the PAX network.
The show doesn’t adhere to the typical sit-down talk show format,
according to its host.
“I don’t want that, and it’s not me,” said Seymourian, who prefers an
action-filled half-hour.
Tomorrow, she’ll tape a show at the West Suburban YMCA in Newton.
Mystery writers Kate Flora of Concord, Hallie Ephron of Milton, and
Jan Brogan of Westwood will read an original story they just created.
The mystery has a basic premise, protagonist, and suspects, but the
audience will have input on the direction it takes and guess the
murderer.
Other upcoming shows will feature the Massachusetts Film Bureau’s
Academy Awards Gala, and Armenian dancing and music at the Armenian
Library and Museum of America in Watertown.
Seymourian works 12- to 15-hour days and handles all aspects of her
shows — from signing advertisers to finding guests, locations, and
audiences.
“If they see me in person, I get the sponsor,” Seymourian said.
“Meeting them in person gives them the confidence in me of who I am.”
Indeed, Seymourian comes off as a dynamo whose vigor belies her age.
“I don’t believe in this age business,” she said. “I may not look it,
but I feel like I’m 35 years old.”
She still likes to flirt and date, she says, and ends many of her
thoughts with bursts of giggles. She’s not afraid to be outlandish or
open, even about her recent facelift.
“The camera can be very cruel,” she said. “With radio, you can get
away with it, but not video. I said, ‘Lorraine, you can’t be on the
air. You look horrible.’ ”
Seymourian got her start with Channel 68 a little more than a year
ago, when she started taping humorous celebrity vignettes for
one-minute spots that aired 10 times a week.
Many of those celebrities also were guests on her “Rendezvous With
Lorraine” radio show, which is broadcast online at
from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays. To make an
impression on the radio station’s owners, Seymourian arranged an
interview with Regis Philbin as her first guest three years ago.

“I called up, and I asked,” Seymourian said. “It was as simple as
that.”
Other celebrity guests have included Glenda Hatchett of the “Judge
Hatchett” television show, Mike Wallace, Harrison Ford, Sarah
Ferguson, and Cosmopolitan magazine founder Helen Gurley Brown, whom
she coaxed to perform an impromptu tap dance in her Gucci dress.
“I want to discover what nobody else knows about them,” Seymourian
said of her guests. “I want to know what makes them human. I’m not
out to get them.”
Hitting “below the belt” doesn’t fit the beliefs ingrained in
Seymourian since childhood, she says.
“I have my own rules: Be honest and never tell a lie,” she said.
“Honor my father and mother’s name. That’s very, very crucial to me.
That’s maybe why I didn’t become an actress. Professionally, I don’t
like to play the game.”
Seymourian grew up in Newton and headed to New York City to pursue an
acting career after studying drama at Emerson College.
“My father never liked the theater, and he didn’t want me to go to
New York, but he couldn’t stop me,” she said.
Seymourian studied in New York under renowned acting coach Stella
Adler, who recommended her for a spot in the midnight theater classes
taught by director Harold Clurman.
“People came from Broadway shows with their makeup on to take the
classes,” she said. “It was very exciting. I was the only novice
there.”
She appeared as the lead in an off-Broadway production of “Stage
Door” and made a national television appearance as a secretary in a
skit on the “The Bert Parks Show.”
Seymourian remained in New York only for a few years, though, before
returning home to work as a secretary for her father, founder of
Seymour’s Ice Cream company in Dorchester.
“I knew I wasn’t getting anywhere, and Daddy said, ‘Come and work for
me,’ ” Seymourian said. “I worked for him and wrote plays from 7 to 9
every night, because I couldn’t get theater out of my mind.”
Seymourian finally had a children’s play produced at the Charles
Playhouse in Boston, a musical adaptation of “The Wind in the
Willows,” for which she wrote the book and lyrics. In 1974, she
served as assistant choreographer and producer of the Boston Ballet’s
world premiere of “Tubby the Tuba” by choreographer Ron Cunningham.
She never married, although it’s something Seymourian says she might
consider in the next 10 years, noting that men like assertive women
with creative ideas who “go for it.” Meantime, she’ll do just that
and work on bringing her television and radio shows to the next
level.
“Someday, I’d like to be syndicated around the country with my
shows,” she said. “I love it and I’m good at it.”
To appear in the studio audience of Seymourian’s television show
tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at the West Surburban YMCA, contact Caryn
Surkes at 617-244-6050, ext. 3014. The event is free and open to the
public.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 22 2005
Health condition of 3 Azeri captives normal

Baku, February 21, AssA-Irada
Health condition of three Azerbaijani soldiers, who lost their way
close to Hasangaya village of Terter District and passed to the
Armenian side of the frontline on February 15, is normal, the ANS TV
quoted head of the mission of the International Committee of the Red
Cross in Khankandi, who recently visited the captives, as saying.
Talks on releasing the Azerbaijani soldiers – Hikmat Taghiyev, Khayal
Abdullayev and Ruslan Bakirov – from captivity are underway, a source
from the Ministry of Defence told AssA-Irada.*

SOCIETY SHOULD ASSESS JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
19 Feb 05
On February 15 the meeting of the board of the NKR Office of Public
Prosecutor took place, which discussed the results of work done
in 2004 and the statements of the qualification committee. At the
meeting were present NKR President A. Ghukassian, Public Prosecutor
M. Ghukassian, other representatives of the judicial system. The
meeting discussed the work of the police in the previous year, the
necessity and means of improving the effectiveness of the work of the
police. It was mentioned that in the previous year the office of the
public prosecutor conducted checking 115 times and revealed 403 cases
of infractions. According to the statement, the recorded infractions
are typical of almost all the regions with slight differences. Although
numbers are for the good work of the police, there are still unsolved
problems. The public prosecutors of the regions said, they do not
have necessary conditions for better work. For example, the regions of
Shahumian and Kashatagh do not have means of communication, telephone
and transport. Another important question is the problem of training
and qualifying specialists. In 2004 96 suits for protection of state
interests were filed with total claims of 61 million 787 thousand
drams, which were mainly satisfied by the court. The analysis of the
juvenile delinquency rates for 2003 and 2004 showed that in 2004
the rate of juvenile crime grew considerably. To compare, in 2003
17 adolescents committed 13 crimes, whereas in 2004 48 adolescents
committed 34 crimes. On the whole, 518 crimes were committed in NKR
in 2004 (decreasing by 87 against 2003, of these 391 are defined by
criminal law). The majority of delinquencies are connected with rental
of land, government loans. According to the statement of the public
prosecutor of the region of Martuni, the growth of the crime rate
is also determined by the social conditions of people. The majority
of people who committed theft are married men under 40 (who have
to supply their families). Promising to settle the problems which
directly depend on the government, the president of NKR mentioned the
importance of cooperation between the police, courts and the office
of the public prosecutor.
SRBUHI VANIAN.
19-02-2005

DISCRIMINATIONS BY THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
PanArmenian News Analysis
Feb 18 2005
Sergey Lavrov refused to honor the memory of soldiers who protected
the integrity of Georgia, but honored those who killed Baku Armenians
and Russian soldiers.
The official visit of Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to
Armenia finished. As a foreign minister, this was his first visit to
his mother’s homeland. Lavrov never concealed his Armenian origin.
This is why certain points of his south-Caucasian tour look
particularly strange.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ From Yerevan the Russian minister left for Tbilisi,
but not on an official visit as planned, but just on a working one.
It should be reminded that Georgian authorities reviewed the status
of the visit in reply to Sergey Lavrov’s refusal to lay a wreath
on the memorial to soldiers fallen in battle for the territorial
integrity of Georgia. According to political analysts that diplomatic
demarche will not strengthen the atmosphere of trust between Moscow
and Tbilisi. By the way Russian officials never avoided laying a
wreath on the memorial since it is required by unwritten norms of the
protocol. It should be noted that virtually all foreign guests of high
rank visiting to Yerevan laid wreaths to the monument of the victims
of Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. This was done even by the
representatives of countries not accepting that the events taken place
in 1915 were genocide. Particularly the president of Kyrgyzstan Askar
Akayev did not doubt the necessity to visit Tsitsernakaberd although
he realized that he would have certain troubles with Azerbaijan and
Turkey – partner countries from “Islamic conference”. The president
was not mistaken. Ankara and Baku sent notes of protest to Bishkek,
but protocol is a protocol…
No one doubts that the actions of Sergey Lavrov were a demarche.
Noteworthy for us is the argumentation brought by the Russian
minister. Explaining the inadmissibility of his presence at the
memorial in Georgia, he said that it would be incorrect to lay a
wreath on the memorial of those who fought against Abkhazia and Osetia
since Russia is a mediator in the settlement of Abkhazian – Osetian
conflict. “As a country that supports the settlement of the conflict,
Russia has to take into account its status. An action like that can
hardly be conductive to creating a proper atmosphere for productive
negotiations between conflict parties”, Sergey Lavrov stated.
This argumentation looks very strange since only two weeks ago, on
February 2, Sergey Lavrov laid a wreath on the “alley of shehids”
in Baku. Here are the graves of those who died in the war forced on
Karabakh by Azerbaijan. If the memorial in Tbilisi is built in memory
of the victims of military actions then in the “alley of shehids”
besides soldiers lie those who slaughtered peaceful Armenians in
Baku yet long before the war. Moreover in the “alley of shehids”
there are also bandits who killed Russian soldiers who came to Baku
in 1990 for protecting Armenians and establishing order. Thus, laying
a wreath in the “alley of shehids”, Lavrov not only desecrated the
memory of hundreds of slaughtered Armenians, but also the memory of
Russian soldiers who fell doing their duty.
For some reason the minister forgets that Russia is a mediator in the
settlement of Karabakh conflict. The Russian diplomat with Armenian
roots did not think that “an action like that will not contribute
to creating a proper atmosphere for productive negotiations between
conflict parties”. Most unpleasant is that such a step is made by a
representative of the country that is considered to be the strategic
partner of Armenia.
Artyom Yerkanyan
–Boundary_(ID_tiNEOI5x5+OfmSNfx7vlzQ)–

SWITZERLAND-ARMENIA UNION CALLED PRESIDENT OF SWISS CONFEDERATION TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
PanArmenian News
Feb 18 2005
18.02.2005 17:26
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Switzerland-Armenia Union called President of
the Swiss Confederation Samuel Schmidt to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide. In their statement the Union representatives reminded that
Geneva has recently recognized the Armenian Genocide while the Canton
leadership has not.

PRESS RELEASE
UN Department of Public Information, Yerevan Office
2 Petros Adamyan str., First Floor
Yerevan 375010, Armenia
Contact: Armine Halajyan, UN DPI Information Assistant
Tel.: (374 1) 560 212
Fax/Tel.: (374 1) 561 406
Millennium Development Goals-an Agenda for Human Development
Interview with Professor Jerzy Osiatynski, MDGs Advocate for
East and Central Europe and CIS Countries
UN DPI’s Information Assistant, Armine Halajyan, met Professor Osiatynski on
his second visit to Armenia, during which he was calling for a better
understanding of MDGs and how they mesh with the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP) and other Government policies. An economist by profession and
a professor of economics at the Institute of Economics in the Polish Academy
of Sciences, he has also enjoyed something of a political career as Minister
of Finance (1991-1992) and a member of Polish Parliament (1989-2001).
* Could you define the MDGs? What are they? Are they merely theoretical
guidelines or can they be employed in everyday life?
When the Millennium Declaration was signed by 190 nations in 2000, it was
billed at first as a concept or framework to help create national strategies
to deal with the basic challenges facing humanity in the UN member
countries. The 8 goals address the most critical issues: poverty, education,
health, gender, environment. Goal 8 differs slightly in that it recommends
public and private partnership, and global partnership towards achieving
those goals. Partnership at the global level calls for the rich to assist
the poor to meet those MDGs, while at the national level it challenges the
corporate sector to find ways to feel and be responsible in guiding public
goals, private business, private sector partners, and local and central
government towards achieving the other MDGs.
This means that the MDGs had to be formulated in broad terms so that all 190
countries could sign the declaration. However, it was and still is believed
that the goals need to be localized or domesticated by every country in
order to address specific issues; there is an effort in the Regional Bureau
for European Countries to take the broad theory of MDGs and work it into
more specific targets for each local area, taking into account the most
pressing needs of each.
Moreover, MDGs touch everyday life since the various strategies of social
development that are driven by them require the participation of all kinds
of stakeholders.
* Since this is your second visit to Armenia, you have some idea of how the
MDGs are being approached here. Armenia committed itself to these Goals when
it signed the declaration but parallel to this there is the PRSP process and
the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in which Armenia is included. How do
these various strategies and activities currently underway relate to each
other?
I think there has been great progress in Armenia towards developing a
poverty reduction strategy that goes far beyond a mere emphasis on economic
growth. Of course, it is true that as an economy grows, the average wage
increases and thus, as a rule, poverty is reduced. However, there is no
guarantee that this will occur-we have seen many cases in countries
transitioning from communism to democracy and market economy where national
economic growth has not led to a reduction in poverty. When the difference
between household incomes rapidly increases, you may have economic growth
but an increase in poverty. Moreover, we know that poverty is often a rural
phenomenon, especially where land is infertile and in mountainous regions;
economic growth is mainly concentrated in large urban areas. So, economic
growth alone cannot produce holistic development. That is why we have
recently seen a shift in thinking about development from emphasizing
economic growth towards stressing the need for human development and access
to education, health and other public services. Indeed, in many countries in
the region we see that respective poverty reduction strategies are
increasingly MDG-driven because the MDGs form an agenda for human
development-they include economic development but are not confined to it. So
in a sense you may say that there is huge overlap between the PRSP and MDGs
in Armenia. With time we will see more and more of this overlap.
* What is the current connection between these two? And what about the link
with the MCA, which is addressed to only 16 countries?
Estimates carried out under the Millennium project showed that poor
countries could only meet their respective localized Millennium Goals if
they received an annual transfer of around 50 billion dollars.
* Does that mean there are only 16 ‘poor’ countries?
No-there are many more. And, of course, there is poverty in rich states
too-in the US or EU countries, for example. Nevertheless, some months ago
the US Government decided to donate 2 billion dollars to help countries that
would otherwise struggle to meet the MDGs. We could say that we are now only
48 billion short! The US Government named 16 countries that would benefit
from this 2 billion. Quotas granted will not be uniform, but approximately
140-150 million dollars will be donated each year-a large sum, especially
for relatively small countries. The MCA exists to allocate the money to
projects that are mainly ensuring sustainable growth-you could say that
money will be given to eligible poor countries in order to promote economic
development. The money can be spent on projects proposed by Government,
local government or NGOs-the only condition is that the stakeholder must be
able to show that the money will be used to advance the MDGs. This is the
link. The MCA is not an alternative to the MDGs. In fact, those involved
need to show progress towards achieving MDGs if financial assistance is to
continue.
When the money was offered as a grant, all the governments of the 16
eligible countries immediately turned towards proposing projects that would
be oriented towards economic growth-not always MDG-oriented. This was a
mistake. And I suspect that this is one of the reasons why there are some
difficulties with grant allocations to Armenia. I believe that the projects
that will be accepted and approved will be those alleviating poverty in poor
localities and serving the wider achievement of all MDGs.
* Since you are the advocate for Eastern Europe and CIS countries, I wonder
what you can tell us about how our immediate neighbours, Georgia and
Azerbaijan, are doing in achieving the MDGs?
That is a difficult question to answer. I haven’t been to either of those
two countries and all I know about their progress is second-hand from
reading their documents. Obviously, I wouldn’t like to make any judgments
based on that sort of information. However, I would like to make a different
point in this context: the whole philosophy of the MDGs requires that the
political commitment of countries that signed the Millennium Declaration is
clearly visible. It is vital that there is evidence of progress in achieving
MDGs. In a sense, whether all targets and goals are reached is of secondary
importance. I am not saying reaching goals does not matter, but perhaps more
important is political commitment that brings progress significant enough to
be felt by the general public. We certainly do not want to put any emphasis
on cross-country comparisons. It is a national agenda for every country’s
government. It is an agenda for the whole nation or local government, or
NGOs. This is not a beauty contest! We want to see every country progressing
towards the goals according to their own specific needs with their own
specific agenda and their own policy instruments to address all these
issues. That is the essence of localizing the MDGs.
* How are MDGs prioritized? For Armenia, Goal 1 is the priority, as we had
mentioned earlier. But which goal comes next in your opinion?
Prioritization means that many countries have several strategies but there
are limited resources. All Government projects are subject to hard budget
constraints and thus they need to fit into the medium term budget
expenditure. In this context you need to decide how much you are willing to
spend on specific concerns. This is how I understand prioritization.
* Is there any advice you’d like to add-for the government or general
public?
I think Armenia still has a fair way to go before genuine participation is
ensured-and the same could be said for government and financial
decentralization. Responsibilities for delivering some public goods should
not be delegated without first decentralizing finances. It is absolutely
vital to do that.
Also, we are in a process that clearly takes a long time to bear
fruit-change is required within a whole generation. It is crucial that the
corporate culture of governance is revised. Good governance and elimination
of corruption might become a separate and a rather important additional goal
in Armenia, just as Albania decided to make it. This agenda as a separate
goal has its own policy instruments, own targets and own indicators. I think
it could make sense if the Albanian experience is carefully studied here and
taken into consideration.
The interview is published in issue #22 of the UN Armenia Office Bulletin to
be posted soon at
* * *

Aristakes sings Armenian anthem during international match
Amersfoortse Courant (Dutch regional newspaper)
February 13, 2005
NIJKERK – Aristakes from Nijkerk will perform in front of at least thirty
thousand listeners. The singer was asked by the Royal Dutch Football
Association (KNVB) to sing the Armenian national anthem during the
international football match Netherlands-Armenia.
With this, the singer of Armenian heritage, will be the center of attention
on March 30 during the international match that will be played in Eindhoven
in the stadium of football club PSV.
An employee of the KNVB asked Aristakes whether he would like to sing the
Armenian national anthem at the start of the match.
“I immediately sat behind a piano and played the song. He was instantly
captivated,” says the Nijkerkian singer. Aristakes promptly suggested to
sing the Dutch national anthem as well.
“In the current discussions on integration, I think this is a chance to show
how you can adapt yourself in a foreign country”, says the Armenian.
Whether the Dutch anthem will indeed sound from his throat on March 30 is
still to be confirmed by the KNVB. The singer is not nervous for his
contribution to the international football match. “During the anthem usually
only the players are shown.”
Aristakes Yessayan has been living in the Netherlands since 1956. In the
1980s, the singer born in Greece scored two Top-40 hits with the songs
“Diamond Forever” and “Don’t Wanna Live Without You”.
This week the Foundation Square Promotion Nijkerk, organiser of events in
downtown Nijkerk, announced that Aristakes is the new chairman of the
organization.
He replaces Bert van ‘t Hazeveld who wants to have more free time for his
administrative function at football club NSC.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress