Author: Nadirian Emma

"ZHAMANAK YEREVAN" WILL NOT VISIT THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE

A1+
[04:16 pm] 30 June, 2006

The staff of the newspaper "Zhamanak Yerevan" has stopped the acts of
complaint opposite the Prosecutor’s Office which started a few days ago
when editor-in-chief of the newspaper Arman Babajanyan was arrested.

Tomorrow the newspaper staff will make a statement where they will
comment on their step and their future activity. They refused to
explaining anything today saying that everything till be clear after
tomorrow’s statement.

A NUMBER OF CULTURAL AND SCIENCE FIGURES AWARDED RA PRESIDENTIAL PRIZES

ArmRadio.am
28.06.2006 14:56

The ceremony of handing RA Presidential Awards to a number of
representatives of arts and science, who were granted awards according
to President Robert Kocharyan’s decree dated April 15.

In 2005 in the sphere of development of Natural Sciences President’s
Award was granted to Hambartsum Khachatryan and Sergey Hayrapetyan
for the series of scientific articles on "New sorbents and carriers
for liquid chromatography."

In the sphere of Technical Sciences and Information Technologies the
Award was granted to Stepan Lazarian for the "Expertise flow of clay
ground holes" monograph.

In the sphere of arts an Award was given to Felix Yeghiazaryan for
a series of portraits.

Varazdat Harutyunyan received the Award for the "Theory and History
of Armenian urban development and architecture" collection of articles.

In the medical sphere Mesrop Shatakhyan was awarded the prize.

In the sphere of development of Physics Prizes were Awarded to Felix
Aharonyan, Vardan Sahakyan and Ashot Akhperjanyan.

Laureates of the Prize in the sphere literature was Alexander Topchyan
for his "Even after Death" novel.

In the sphere of development of arts the Prize was awarded to Sergey
Sarinyan for his "Two centuries of Armenian literature" monograph.

POPULATION OF KASHATAGH DECLINES

Lragir.am
27 June 06

Over the past several years the population of the region of Kashatagh,
NKR has been declining. After the armistice the local government
had about 100 settlements populated, mainly thanks to extra sources
of funding and privileges. For instance, the people of Kashatagh did
not pay for electricity. Now there are no privileges, and some people
leave the region.

We cannot stop emigration because social conditions are very bad in
the region, says Hamlet Khachatryan, the head of the administration
of the region over the past two years.

According to the results of the latest census, 10 thousand people live
in the region. 51 out of 71 settlements do not have electricity supply.

Armo Tsatryan, the minister of territorial management and development
of infrastructures, affirmed that in 2006 another 12 communities will
have electricity. 140 million drams have been allocated for this
program. 50 million drams have been allocated for gasifying. This
year 35 families in the town of Berdzor will have electricity.

The settlement of Kashatagh is a strategic issue. In this context,
it is surprising that the population of the region is declining,
especially after the replacement of the head of the government of
the region. In other words, when the funding and governance of the
region is controlled by the NKR government. The former head of the
government of the region Alexan Hakobyan was completely independent
from the government of Karabakh. It is difficult to say whether it
was good or bad, at that time, however, the population grew and social
problems were solved quickly.

PROTEST ACTION LAUNCHED AGAINST THE VISIT OF CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS TO STANBUL ORGANIZED BY TURKISH AUTHORITIES: REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA

Panorama.am
14:16 27/06/06

The scandalous behavior of Turks in connection with the visit of
Catholicos of All Armenians to Istanbul is initiated by the Turkish
authorities, K. Avagyan, the representative of youth wing of Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA) told a press conference today.

In his words, such incidents one more time prove that Turkey is not
ready to repair relations with Armenia.

"It’s a peculiar response to those officials who try to tune relations
with Turkey and make pro-Turkish statements," K. Avagyan said.

In his turn, the chairman of youth organization "Nikol Aghbalyan"
Ishkhan Saghatelyan said that relations with Turkey may be regulated
only if the latter recognizes the Armenian genocide expressing the
disposition of Armenian Revolutionary Dashnak Party.

Condemning the act of Turkish neighbors, the youth wings of ARDP and
RPA issued a statement saying the myth of europanization of Turkey is
dismantled in the light of intolerance and vandalism. The statement
raises special concern that Turkish mass media educate intolerance
to Armenians and the Christian belief.

DERENIK GABRIELIAN ELECTED VICE-CHAIRMAN OF EUROPEAN BOXING UNION

Noyan Tapan
Jun 26 2006

MOSCOW, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Vice-Chairman of the Armenian Boxing
Republican Federation Derenik Gabrielian was elected as Vice-Chairman
of the European Boxing Union at the regular 10th Assembly of the
European Boxing Union held in Moscow. 29 of delegates of 45 countries
voted for him. And Russian Eduard Khusainov was elected as Chairman
of the European Boxing Union.

Bulgarian Academician Emil Zhechyev, former Chairman of the European
Boxing Union, was elected as Honorable Chairman of the organization.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 24 2006

GLO calls on Azerbaijan to quit the talks on settlement of the
conflict

[ 24 Jun. 2006 14:34 ]

"OSCE Minsk Group American co-chair Matthew Bryza’s statement shows
that settlement process is against Azerbaijan," Garabagh Liberation
Organization’s statement says.

The statement says that mediators don’t want to take into account the
occupation fact and recognize Armenia as an aggressor and to assess
its behavior.

"They defend Armenia’s position and despite refute of government
officials, we have on occasion stated that the talks are in dangerous
direction. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official’s mild attitude
after Mr. Bryza’s statement causes concern.

These points as well as participation of Azerbaijani government in
talks that is against us show that international organizations, world
powers and others try to give Nagorno Garabagh to Armenia forever".

GLO thinks that Azerbaijan should quit negotiations and should liberate
its occupied land by military means. /APA/

Today, Azerbaijan
June 24 2006

NATO Rose-Roth seminar debates on Nagorno Karabakh conflict

24 June 2006 [09:59] – Today.Az

Debate on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict was held during session of
the 63rd Rose-Roth seminar of NATO in Sochi.

Parliamentarian Malahat Hasanova reported from the seminar. The
seminar’s highlight was Russia-NATO relations in terms of security
issues in the South Caucasus.

Large discussions were held on each of the problems existing in the
South Caucasus at the seminar. Experts delivered reports on the
conflicts in the South Caucasus, and parliamentarians from
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia commented on these reports.

Vladimir Kazimirov’s report was debated before the discussions on the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister Tofig
Musayev delivered a speech.

Ms.Hasanova also said NATO representatives underscored in their
speeches that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is really causing a
problem to the region, APA reports.

"In general, the experts noted that Azerbaijan’s economy is
developing, and it is becoming a leader in the region. We brought to
the attention of participants Armenians’ continued provocative policy
and their causing massive fires in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. We stressed that their actions do not coincide with their
words," the parliamentarian said.

URL:

NKR’s AUTHORITY CONSISTENTLY INCREASING, NKR PREMIER STATES

Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 22 2006

STEPANAKERT, June 22. /ARKA/. The authority of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) as a de facto independent states is consistently
increasing, NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan stated at the
international scientific conference "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic: past,
present, future."

"This is chiefly accounted for by the fact that the people’s demand is
a fair one and is based on serious legal and historical underpinnings,"
Danielyan said.

According to him, various international structures, authoritative
political and public figures are in active contacts with the NKR
authorities and representatives of public and political organizations.

"Noteworthy is the fact that everybody is supporting the reforms being
implemented in the country. They are well aware of the difficulties of
economic development in conditions of blockade and unsettled conflict,"
Danielyan said.

In this context, the most topical issue is the admission of the
NKR’s independence.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is interested in developing both
bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the countries of
the region, and the fundamental principle of the NKR’s policy is
openness and willingness for cooperation with all countries, including
Azerbaijan," Danielyan said. P.T. -0–

TESSA HOFFMAN: SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT HINDERED BY ISOLATION OF NKR FROM THE NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS

ArmRadio.am
22.06.2006 15:00

"Despite the fact that the conference in Stepanakert is scientific,
and historical issues were discussed in the framework of it,
it is at the same time connected with human rights, the right
for self-determination, and it can be used as the most effective
opportunity to present own demands to the world," German Armenologist,
Doctor Tessa Hoffman declared during the conference. In the scientist’s
words, the progress in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict is
hindered by isolation of Nagorno-Karabakh from the negotiations process
and lack of analysis of the reasons of the conflict. Tessa Hoffman
considers that unlike the conflicts in Abkhazia and south Ossetia,
Russia’s role is not that essential in the Karabakh conflict.

WHO IS GOING TO DEFEND PILOTS?
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
20 June 06

Gradually, even quite unexpectedly, the cause of the crash of the
Armenian plane is getting an official formulation. It was unexpected
because in the beginning the dynamics of the search for A320,
which crashed near Sochi on May 3, did not promise that the black
boxes of the plane would be retrieved from the bottom of the sea
and deciphered. Before lifting the recorders, they had announced
that it is impossible to lift the recorders from the bottom but very
soon the black boxes were retrieved. Before deciphering it had been
announced that it would take 2 months. However, both recorders have
been deciphered within only a month. Even official releases are made,
which directly serve the goal of confirming that the cause was the
mistake of the pilot. Why are the Russians in a hurry? And why aren’t
the Armenians in a hurry to react to the information published so
far? Does the government of Armenia have only one duty before its
citizens – to organize funerals?

Generally, the participation of Armenia to the investigation of the
plane crash is rather strange. It appears that official Yerevan was
interested in the crash on the first few days, and then everything
was managed by official Moscow. The crash was in Russia, but the
aircraft of the Armenian airlines crashed, and the passengers were
mainly citizens of Armenia.

It was notable that after the deciphering of the recorder the Russian
minister of transport Levitin announced that Armenian specialists
would also participate in deciphering because the talk of the crew
is in Armenian. Hence, the Armenian specialists’ role in deciphering
was that of a translator, and if the crew had spoken Russian, the
Armenian specialists might not even have been informed about the
deciphering. Although, maybe it is worthwhile to thank the Russians
that they informed Armenia about retrieving the recorders from the
sea, because the Armenian state and non-state TV companies stayed in
Sochi until the retrieval of the black boxes and returned home before
the retrieval. Whereas it appeared very important how many times
"the Russians threw the net" to get the recorders.

The interest of the Armenian government arouses doubts. There is
a striking contrast between the reaction on the first few days and
the present silence. The prime minister says they are informed about
the investigation but they do not tell anything because nothing was
published officially. On May 3, hours past the crash, Serge Sargsyan,
the secretary of the National Security Council, the minister of
defense of Armenia, arrived in Sochi. It is, in fact, a top-level
reaction. Whereas, now it is difficult to imagine a more figurative
silence. Whereas, defending the citizens of Armenia is concerned,
moreover, citizens who cannot defend themselves anymore because they
died in the plane crash. And the victims are blamed for the crash,
by promoting slowly but tenaciously the suggestion that the crew made
a mistake, which is already acquiring a clearly official coloring. And
the national security is concerned.

The question has already gone beyond the scope of raising funds for
the families of victims, and it appears that there is nobody competent
for this new scope. And if there is such a person, they are already
interested in another scope where a plane would not reach. It may
run out of fuel or not find the destination.