Author: Maral Chavushian

REPAIRS OF KECHUT AND YEREVAN RESERVOIRS TO START THIS YEAR
YEREVAN, JULY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged to start this year
repairs of the Kechut and “Yerevan Lake” reservoirs. According to the
director of the Irrigation Systems Development Program’s
Implementation Office Adibek Ghazarian, the World Bank has provided a
loan of 6.8 mln USD for repairs of these and another 16 small
reservoirs. To recap, the most accident prone and the biggest
reservoirs of the country have been completely repaired within the
framework of the WB-funded 30-mln-dollar program on safety of the
Armenian reservoirs. The techical state of the remaining 60 ones was
examined and classified according to the degree of accident proneness.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REFERENDUM TO BE HELD IN NOVEMBER
A1plus
| 15:55:42 | 28-06-2005 | Politics |
“Armenia achieved unprecedented success in Strasbourg”, Armenian
National Assembly Vice Speaker, head of the Armenian delegation to
PACE Tigran Torosian stated when commenting on the PACE summer session.
Contrary to previous press conferences, Tigran Torosyan and Shavarsh
Kocharyan representing Justice faction showed solidarity.
According to Shavarsh Kocharyan Armenia has an unprecedented
opportunity to get out of crisis. In his words, conduction of normal
parliamentary elections is questioned in Azerbaijan; in Georgia the
authorities of the President have been expanded and pressure on the
local self-government bodies is exerted.
In his turn Tigran Torosyan said that the RA authorities have no
discrepancies with the Venice Commission on the key issues. In his
words, the reforms are carried out not by request of the Europeans
but are essential for the development of the republic.
“It is a vital issue and it is harmonic with the European system of
values”, Shavarsh Kocharyan noted adding that the Constitution is
more important than the relationships between the authorities and the
opposition. Due to this reason the parliamentary opposition intends
to stop boycotting and take part in the parliamentary debates.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 21:05:05 | 06-06-2005 | Regions |
THE ACCIDENT MADE THEM MORE CAREFUL
`The Vardaqar reservoir is under control now and there is no danger for the
resident’, said Shirak regional governor Romik Manoukyan to our colleagues
from the TV Company «Tsayg». Let us remind you that on June 4 at 3:00-3:30
a.m. there was an accident in the Vardaqar reservoir causing leakage of
water.
The reservoir had been under special control for the last two days. About
0.8 million square meters of water has been left out, and more than 1
million square meters must still be left out so that reconstruction works
can be realized in it.
At present all the reservoirs of the region are under control as in them
there is 5 times more water than needed.
By the order of the regional governor in all the reservoirs where there is
too much water in must be left out.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Outside view: Defusing a clash on Belarus
By Alexei Arbatov
Outside View Commentator
United Press International
June 1 2005
Moscow, Russia, May. 31 (UPI) — The West clearly demands that Belarus
should be freed of what it calls the last dictatorship in Europe.
I am afraid that Russia-West confrontation in this area could end in
a head-on clash.
The president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is not former Ukrainian
leader Leonid Kuchma: He will suppress the slightest sign of protest,
especially by young people. The West may intervene by providing help to
the protesters, forcing Lukashenko to seek assistance from Russia, and
the Kremlin will be hard put to deny it. After the defeat in Ukraine,
Belarus has become doubly important to it for communications, defense
and access to the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. Belarus is very
nearly the last ally of Russia in the former Soviet Union.
I do not think that Russia will send in troops. But there are
special operations units and internal troops. Moscow may intervene
if Lukashenko appeals for help and it is clear that his downfall will
send Belarus in Ukraine’s footsteps toward NATO without Russia.
This will mean NATO will be along the entire Russian border,
complicating the Kaliningrad situation and putting enormous pressure on
Vladimir Putin. He will have to think about how to maintain political
stability. Losing Belarus after Ukraine would be a new, serious blow
to his authority at home.
If Belarus falls, or if developments there provoke a Russia-West
confrontation, the domestic situation in Russia will be affected
immediately. The country will be unable to develop a market economy
and democracy if it is involved in a confrontation with the West.
The West will most probably not intervene in Belarus and the republic
will remain allied to Russia. In this case, the West will take its
“revenge” in Ukraine, the Baltic states and Georgia, and try to win
over Azerbaijan and Armenia. Russia and Belarus will be completely
surrounded by NATO countries.
NATO is neither an adversary nor a friend for Russia; it is a partner
and, though the two sides disagree on some points, they also have
many areas of interaction. But they will have to forget about it if
Belarus is hit by a “color revolution.”
If Russia develops relations with the opposition leaders of Belarus in
good time (and some of them are living overseas), a choice between
“Belarus with Lukashenko and with Russia” and “Belarus without
Lukashenko and without Russia” will not figure on the agenda. But this
would mean skating on very thin ice, because Lukashenko has actually
outlawed the opposition. To develop contacts with it would mean acting
against Lukashenko as the incumbent president. This would be difficult.
Revolutions, even such bloodless ones as recent color revolutions in
former Soviet republics, cannot develop without a breeding ground.
They need an ineffective and unpopular regime that is not supported
by the vast majority of the people. For example, Ukraine was almost
split by the time of its “orange revolution.”
When half of the population does not support the regime, this is
an alarming sign. It is a dangerous moment when external forces can
influence the situation. Opinion polls show that the majority of the
population and the political elite in Russia are more pro-etatist
than the president. And no liberal revolution can happen here. On the
contrary, nationalists and the radical Left might take to the streets,
but not the rightwing forces.
Besides, we must not forget history: In the 1990s the right-wing
liberals, who held ranking posts in the Russian power structure,
if not directly ruled it, failed to carry through the reforms. This
left people disillusioned. There was nothing of the kind in Ukraine
or Belarus.
Russia must decide with whom it will work. In my opinion, it should
work with the West and above all Greater Europe. Its relations with
NATO should be promoted to a stage where Russia will not fear the
accession of its close neighbors to the bloc. In other words, NATO
should cease to become a hostile organization for Russia, but this
depends both on NATO and Russia.
Their relations are crawling rather than moving, largely because
of Russian ministries, including defense ministry, but also because
of the West’s unclear approach to Russia. The West does not want to
outline unambiguous and lasting relations for NATO and the EU with
Russia. Better and deeper relations may be not a goal but a process.
Yet every process should have a goal, otherwise current policy will
be reduced to tactical steps that completely overshadow strategy.
—
(Alexei Arbatov is a non-voting member of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, and head of the International Security Center at the IMEMO
Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the RAS.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may
not necessarily represent the opinions of the RIA Novosti editorial
board. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti.)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MICHELLE LEGRAN: THE FRENCH WILL NEVER FORGIVE TURKEY
AZG Armenian Daily #099, 01/06/2005
Opinion
“Ankara will never be admitted to EU, as France will always be against
it. The French didn’t forget the Armenian Genocide and will never
forgive Turkey for seizing the Western Armenia,” Michelle Legran,
French composer said on May 30. He also stated that a country like
Turkey has no right to enter the European family, and if the French
Government and President Jacques Chirac try to impose anything on
the French people, a real revolution will begin.
The composer said in the interview to Izwestia newspaper that his
grandfather fled from the Western Armenia in 1915, reached France and
married a French woman there. “So I am an Armenian, too,” Legran said.
By Ruzan
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY REFUSES TO REGISTER BRAND OF YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY ARARAT
YEREVAN, MAY 23. ARMINFO. Turkey has refused to register the brand of
Yerevan Brandy Company ArArAt, President, Director General of YBC
Herve Caroff informs ARMINFO.
He says that the Turkish party has motivated it by the fact that the
top Ararat is in the territory of Turkey and does not belong to
Armenia, hereby the trademark of YBC with the brand ArArAt cannot be
registered in Turkey. Recently YBC has appealed against the refusal,
but its claim has not been satisfied, Herve Caroff says. He says the
policy of YBC aims registration of its trademarks in the markets it
intends to enter.
To note, the trademarks of YBC are registered in 48 countries, and its
production is sold to 25 countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Hellenic News of America
May 23 2005
Greek American Organizations’ Policy Statement on Armenia
WASHINGTON, DC– The American Hellenic Institute announced today that
the major Greek American membership organizations endorsed the policy
statement on Armenia prepared by the American Hellenic Institute.
These are: the Order of AHEPA, the Hellenic American National
Council, the Cyprus Federation of America, the Panepirotic Federation
of America, the Pan-Macedonian Association of America, the Evrytanian
Association of America and the American Hellenic Institute. The
endorsed statement, which is part of the 2005 Greek American Policy
Statements, follows:
Armenia
We support the Armenian American community’s efforts to secure full
recognition, proper commemoration, and a just resolution of the
Armenian Genocide.
In 2005, the 90th anniversary of the Genocide, the Administration
should, for the sake of U.S. interests and American values, finally
bring an end to all forms of U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of
this crime against all humanity. The President, in his annual April
24th remarks, should properly recognize the Armenian Genocide as a
clear instance of genocide, as defined by the United Nations Genocide
Convention.
The U.S. Congress should adopt legislation both recognizing the
Armenian Genocide and urging the American people to apply the lessons
of this tragedy to the cause of preventing future genocides.
Finally, Turkey must be pressured to acknowledge its genocidal crime
against the Armenian nation, to come to terms with this chapter in
its history, and, consistent with the Genocide Convention and other
relevant international legal instruments, to make full reparations to
the Armenian people.
We also support efforts to press Turkey to lift its illegal blockade
of Armenia and to end the mistreatment of the Armenian population in
Turkey.
We refer readers to Professor Peter Balakian’s recent book The
Burning Tigris, a remarkable history of the Armenian Genocide by the
Young Turk government in Turkey. Professor Balakian includes the
details of the humanitarian movement of leading American public
citizens and ordinary citizens to save the Armenians.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN MOUNTAINEERS WILL CONQUER EVEREST
A1plus
| 17:46:45 | 20-05-2005 | Social |
With the support of the UN Armenian office on May 3013 the RA Alpinism
Federation sent delegates to Elbrus. The mountain stands 5642 meters
tall. About 600 mountaineers from16 countries, mainly from CIS, took
part in the expedition. The main aim of the expedition was to celebrate
the 60th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, calling
people to peace and combat against terrorism from the top pf Elbrus.
The delegates from Armenia were Hayk Tonoyan and Tigran Khachaturyan
from Armenia, Lev Sarkisov from Georgia and Arthur Karapetyan from
Russia. The Armenian group dedicated the expedition to also to the
60th anniversary of the UN.
According to the RA Alpinism Federation President Hayk Tonoyan,
although the mountaineers reached Kabardino-Balkaria on May 5, they
were able to conquer the top only days later because of the unfavorable
weather conditions and an accident. During the expedition Alexander
Mikhailov, a mountaineer from Russia died in an accident. The reason
of death in not known, but one of the versions is cold.
During this month the Armenian mountaineers were to make an expedition
to Everest too, but because of the unfavorable weather conditions it
will take place in August-September.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Chaos in Azeri army led to Armenian occupation of Lacin – former commander
ANS TV, Baku
18 May 05
The suddenness of the attack and rapid advance of Armenian troops
were the reasons behind the occupation of Nagornyy Karabakh’s Lacin
District in 1992, then an Azerbaijani regiment commander, Arif Pasayev,
has said.
Speaking in the “Point of View” programme on ANS TV, Pasayev said
that chaos and confusion in the Azerbaijani army had resulted in the
occupation of the district by Armenians.
No further processing of the interview is planned.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan hands over two Armenian POWs
Space TV, Baku
11 May 05
[Presenter] Azerbaijan handed over two Armenians to the opposite side
on the Qazax-Idzhevan section of the border today. Interestingly, one
of them appeared in Azerbaijan for the second time. Our regional
correspondent has the details.
[Correspondent] Six POWs have been handed over to Armenia since
January. A Yezidi Kurd, Zograb Tamayan, born in 1985, and Volod
Karapetyan, born in 1960, were handed over to Armenia in Qazax’s Bala
Cafarli border village today.
Tamayan was taken prisoner in the village of Kamarli bordering on
Armenia’s Noyamberyan [District]. He claimed being tortured in the
Armenian army because of his ethnic background. He viewed his escape
to Azerbaijan as the only way to avoid tortures.
Karapetyan was taken prisoner in the Bala Cafarli village of Qazax
District bordering Idzhevan. The chief of the military police, Col
Rovsan Maharramov, headed the handover process on the Azerbaijani
side. The POWs were handed over to Samvel Asatryan, the deputy border
chief.
The POWs said that many deserted the Armenian army and discipline was
extremely poor.
I would like to add that Karapetyan was taken prisoner by the
Azerbaijani side for the second time. Although the POWs crossed the
Armenian border unnoticed, they were detained by the Azerbaijani side.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress