Author: Nadirian Emma

Karabakh’s budget revenue up in first half of 2005

Mediamax news agency
22 Aug 05

YEREVAN

During the first half of 2005, the Nagornyy Karabakh republic’s (NKR)
state budget revenue totalled 3,470.8m drams [7.5m dollars], exceeding
the planned amount by 25.3 per cent.

Over the same period, budget expenditure totalled 8,467.6m drams
[18.2m dollars], or 77.3 per cent of the planned amount, the NKR
Ministry of Economy and Finance told Mediamax today.

NKR’s state budget revenue was up by 32.1 per cent, or 842.5m drams
[1.8m dollars], compared to the same period last year. Tax revenue
increased by 813.8m drams [1.7m dollars], making up 74.5 per cent of
the budget revenue over the first half of the year.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted Aug 22 2005

Azeri amb. urges US Congress to ignore calls for aiding separatist regime

Baku, August 19, AssA-Irada

The Azeri ambassador to the United States Hafiz Pashayev has
condemned two US Congressmen’s call for more assistance to Upper
Garabagh.
Co-chairs of the congressional taskforce on Armenian issues, Frank
Pallone from New Jersey and Joe Knollenberg from Michigan earlier
sought support from the Congress to ask President George Bush for
increasing aid to the separatist regime.
`The Pallone-Knollenberg appeal does not reflect the situation in the
region and the position of the international community on the Upper
Garabagh status issue. Upper Garabagh is an integral part of
Azerbaijan, which is recognized by the United Nations and other
international organizations. Therefore, the United States’ steps in
this regard should be strictly in line with Azerbaijan’s legal,
political and economic position’, the ambassador said in his letter
to the US Congress.
Pashayev called on Congressmen to honor the official policy of the
United States, which recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
At the stage of ongoing peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
any support to the Pallone-Knollenberg initiative would deal a blow
on the negotiating process, he wrote.
The ambassador recalled that Azerbaijan has already suffered from the
efforts of pro-Armenian congressmen. According to Section 907 to the
Freedom Support Act passed by the US Congress, Azerbaijan was the
only country devoid of US assistance. After the September 11 attacks
on the United States, however, the US government suspended the unfair
provision and showed the true essence of America’s interests,
Pashayev wrote, calling on Congressmen to consider these facts.*

PACE President urges dialogue between government, opposition and civil society in Armenia

PACE, Europe
Aug 19 2005

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President Rene van
der Linden today completed a two-day visit to Armenia, as part of his
visit to the South-Caucasus from 18-23 August at – as he stressed –
“a crucial time for the country”. He held frank and constructive
discussions with all the relevant actors including representatives of
civil society. The main issues discussed were constitutional reforms.

The President urged dialogue between the government, opposition and
civil society. The constitutional reform was a test case for further
democratic development in Armenia and of its willingness to fulfil
its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe, he said.

The success of the referendum would depend in particular on the
revision of voters’ lists, media independence and the organisation of
an effective public awareness raising campaign. The President appealed
to government and opposition parties to use the coming days to reach an
agreement on joint amendments, so as to attract the broadest support
for reform. He said that failure of the reform process would have
negative consequences for the country as a whole.

On the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh the President stated his intention
to enhance the possibility for parliamentary diplomacy available to
the countries’ PACE delegations as a complement to the primary means
of bilateral diplomacy and the Minsk Group process. He added that
democratic development in the two countries would create a better
climate for finding a solution.

He urged all political actors to enhance their efforts to ensure good
relations with Armenia’s neighbours.

US envoy says Armenia, Azerbaijan may be close to Karabakh settlement

Ayastani Anrapetutyun, Yerevan
18 Aug 05

Excellent opportunities have opened up for the parties to the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict to pave the way to a settlement, the USA’s Karabakh
mediator Steven Mann has said in exclusive interview with Armenian
Ayastani Anrapetutyun newspaper. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are
committed to peace, there is mutual understanding, and the parties
are close to an agreement on some issues, Mann said. The following
is an excerpt from the interview by Tsovinar Nazaryan in Ayastani
Anrapetutyun on 18 August headlined “No party to negotiating process
can get 100 per cent of what it wants”; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:

[Ayastani Anrapetutyun correspondent Tsovinar Nazaryan] Mr Ambassador,
could you please first assess the current stage of the Karabakh
peace process?

[Steven Mann] During the last 18 months the Karabakh peace talks
have substantially intensified and there have been significant
meetings between the [Armenian and Azerbaijani] foreign ministers
and presidents. The USA highly appreciates this process.

[Nazaryan] Why exactly 18 months?

[Mann] The Prague process started 18 months ago. The foreign ministers
and the presidents had then confidential meetings with the Minsk Group
co-chairs. Since then discussions within the Minsk Group framework
have grown into professional talks.

Parties should show political will

[Nazaryan] Could you please specify what the talks have arrived at
so far – especially as in order to have some opinion the public first
have to have some picture of what is going on.

[Mann] No official agreement has been reached during the period. There
is mutual understanding, and the parties are close to an agreement on
some issues. Of course, nobody wants to break the confidentiality of
the process. But agreement is possible if the parties show political
will. This will allow them to iron out their differences.

[Nazaryan] Is the Minsk Group interested in involving Nagornyy Karabakh
in the peace process or is it taking any steps to that effect as
obviously it is Nagornyy Karabakh’s fate that is being decided?

[Mann] The talks are continuing in the Armenia-Azerbaijan format.

[Nazaryan] Are there any settlement scenarios applicable to the
Karabakh conflict or can the Karabakh peace process be a model itself?

[Mann] The Karabakh conflict is a special and unique conflict. During
my work in the USA I dealt with some conflicts. There are some
similarities but each conflict is unique. Of course, we can learn
some lessons from the Balkan or Asian conflicts but this particular
conflict has its peculiar background and conditions.

[Nazaryan] Some other international organizations have lately shown
enhanced interest in the conflict, in particular the Council of Europe
and the EU. Do you think they might have more effective negotiating
resources than the OSCE and particularly the Minsk Group?

[Mann] The outsiders can help, promote the process but it is up to
the conflicting parties to find a solution. On behalf of the USA I
can say that we would very much like to see the conflict resolved. In
this situation the USA is a good friend for both countries.

[passage omitted: Mann on opening of US embassy in Armenia, working
in oil and gas sphere in Azerbaijan]

Parties committed to peace

[Nazaryan] What about the US support of Nagornyy Karabakh? Does it
imply a special attitude towards the republic?

[Mann] You should not see much in this. The USA is providing Nagornyy
Karabakh with small humanitarian assistance with no political
implications.

[Nazaryan] People in Azerbaijan often speak about oil factor in
the Karabakh peace process. What will be more decisive here – oil
or democracy?

[Mann] In order to resolve the conflict the parties will have to show
political will and commitment towards mutual concessions.

[Nazaryan] How could you assess the commitment of the parties for
peace in terms of their public and governments?

[Mann] The commitment of the presidents is obvious. I am convinced that
both [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan and [Azerbaijani President]
Ilham Aliyev sincerely want peace. As to the public, they obviously
want all but war. The history of the Caucasus is changing. And the
last we will have to see will hopefully be solutions presented to
the public for approval.

“Excellent opportunities” for future talks

[Nazaryan] Are you or the other Minsk Group co-chairs informed of the
limits of possible concessions by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagornyy
Karabakh?

[Mann] Lots of discussions are being held on this issue. There is
a good chance for each party to achieve most of its goals. Such
talks are very hard to hold but there are excellent opportunities
for further development. No party to a negotiating process can get
100 per cent of what it wants. But the parties to the Karabakh peace
process have real opportunities for paving a stable way to settlement
provided they show strong political will.

[Nazaryan] Could you specify what “excellent opportunities” you are
talking about? Are there proposals on paper? And generally, what do
you expect from the Kazan meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents?

[Mann] The “excellent” word would be better replaced by “reasonable”
and “professional”. I do not want to create an impression that this
all is very easy. This is a hard task but the parties have done much
in this direction. The USA is closely following the work carried out
since the beginning of the Prague Process. This period has laid the
foundations for the current stage leading to the Kazan meeting. The
USA expects the parties to use this opportunity for further dialogue
and talks – in the subsequent excellent periods as well.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fund for Armenian Relief
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Edina N. Bobelian
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

August 17, 2005
____________________

“DOING OUR PART TO HELP”
IN-KIND DONATIONS AID ARMENIA’S DEVELOPMENT

“After observing an operation at the University Hospital #1 in Yerevan,
my husband Roberto, who is a surgeon, was awed by the great lack of
medical supplies, the extremely outdated equipment, and the huge
difference in conditions under which Armenia’s doctors operate,”
explained Nadia Rodriguez. “For example, we were told that surgeons are
instructed not to use sterile gloves on patients who cannot afford the
extra $5 fee. By American standards, this is unbelievable! We wanted
to help improve the conditions in Armenia’s public hospitals for the
sake of both the patients and the doctors.”

Since February 2005, Mrs. Rodriguez, working with the Fund for Armenian
Relief (FAR), has coordinated with hospitals in the northeast to donate
supplies and equipment to Armenia. These range from such basics as
sterile gloves, blood tubes, and wound closure kits to more complicated
machinery such as fetal heart rate monitors, defibrillators, critical
care monitors and x-ray equipment. Mrs. Rodriguez has secured more than
$170,000 worth of gifts in-kind. “I hope this is only the beginning,”
she states.

“Since we had the contacts, my husband and I wanted to do our part to
help. Jeffrey Welsh, Vice President of resources and materials
management at Meridian Health, has been extremely helpful in offering
equipment for our cause. Through him and others we have been able to
secure equipment that is more modern than the equipment currently in use
by many U.S. hospitals! If only we knew more people that hold similar
positions in other hospitals throughout the US. Our goal is to have a
continuous flow, in bulk, of updated medical supplies to Armenia.”

The gifts in-kind identified by Mrs. Rodriguez complement FAR’s
Continuing Medical Education (CME) program. This program offers
post-graduate training opportunities to Armenia’s doctors in order to
enhance their skills and knowledge in their chosen fields of medicine.
The medical equipment and supplies will be distributed to the hospitals
and clinics where FAR trainees and their mentors practice.

IN-KIND DONATIONS

Gifts in-kind are contributions of material items made by a donor to
help support the operations or services provided by a nonprofit
organization. FAR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in
New York, accepts all in-kind donations, with the exception of medicine,
that would be needed, useful, and helpful to the people of Armenia and
Karabagh by the container-load.

Gifts in-kind have been particularly bountiful for FAR in 2005.

* Continuing a long tradition, New York’s Jack Torosian donated
valuable science and reference books to FAR for specialized schools and
universities in Armenia.
* More than $100,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies has been
collected by Dr. Raffi Avitisian and Serop Demirjian of Cleveland, OH to
be sent to Armenia for FAR’s CME Program.
* Dr. Dennis Vollman, of the Southgate Radiology & CT, Nuclear Medicine
and Ultrasound in Michigan, donated a CT scanner and an ultrasound unit,
valued at $85,000. This was not the first time Dr. Vollman worked with
FAR. He had sent medical equipment to Armenia through FAR immediately
after the 1988 earthquake.
* New York Presbyterian Hospital sent 800 epidural anesthesia kits,
amounting to close to $10,000, to Armenia’s public hospitals thanks to
the efforts of FAR Board member Dr. Edgar Housepian.
* Harry Minoian persuaded the Niagara Falls Board of Education to
donate approximately $300,000 worth of brand-new textbooks to Armenia
through FAR. The subjects of these books cover history, literature,
U.S. government and foreign languages, including English as a second
language, French and Spanish. FAR will distribute these much-needed
textbooks to its Ounjian School, Catholicos Vasken I School, Mathevosian
School, as well as other public schools with foreign language
specializations.
* Florida’s Lucine Harvey secured enough children’s goods, ranging from
basic necessities, like clothes, shoes, mattresses, pillows, towels,
soaps, and toothpaste, to school supplies to fun items, like toys and
bicycles, to fill three 40-foot containers. These diverse goods, valued
at more than $145,000, will benefit FAR’s Siranoosh summer camp in
Yeghegnadzor, the Yeghegnadzor college, the Dilijan Children’s Health
Center, and the Yerevan Children’s Reception and Orientation Center for
homeless children.
* Hagop Vartevarian of New Jersey contributed new bath towels and bed
sheets, worth more than $3,000, for FAR’s Vanadzor Old Age Home and the
State University Guest House in Yerevan.
* Gregory Manuelian of New York donated a professional digital camera
having a $1,000 market value for FAR’s Press Office in Armenia and
Karabagh.
* Mike Hovesepian, through Pennsylvania’s Global Rubber, Inc., gave
1,600 square feet of rubber mats worth $12,450, for a new playground
built by FAR at the Nork Orphanage in Yerevan.
* AmeriCares has donated 171,600 8-ounce bottles of Ensure, the
nutritional beverage, to FAR via UAF. A 40-foot container filled with
62,400 bottles (20 pallets) is currently on its way to Armenia to help
beneficiaries at FAR’s soup kitchens, the Old Age Homes in Vanadzor and
Gyumri as well as the Hagop S. Touloukian Senior Center in Gyumri. Two
more containers (packed with the remaining 35 pallets) will be sent to
Armenia shortly.
* AmeriCares also gave more than 9,200 bottles of children’s vitamins
(four pallets) to FAR via UAF. These essential supplements were
distributed to needy children through hospitals, polyclinics and youth
institutes.

Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served 10
million people through 130+ relief and development programs in Armenia
and Karabagh. It has channeled more than $250 million in humanitarian
assistance by implementing a wide range of projects including emergency
relief, construction, education, medical aid, and economic development.
FAR is dedicated to realizing the dream of a free, democratic,
prosperous, and culturally rich Armenia.

For more information about in-kind donations or to send contributions,
contact the Fund for Armenian Relief at 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY
10016; telephone (212) 889-5150, fax (212) 889-4849; ,
[email protected].

— 8/17/05

E-mail photo available upon request.

PHOTO CAPTION1: Dr. Roberto Rodriguez of Boston, MA (right) observed an
operation performed by Dr. Gevorg Yaghjyan (left) in University Hospital
#1 in Yerevan. That experience inspired him and his wife, Nadia, to
fundraise for gifts in-kind with the goal of having a continuous flow,
in bulk, of updated medical supplies to Armenia.

PHOTO CAPTION2: FAR Executive Director Garnik Nanagoulian (far left)
was impressed with the collection of medical gifts in-kind that Dr.
Raffi Avitisian (far right) and Serop Demirjian (second from left) of
Cleveland, OH were able to amass to send to Armenia for FAR’s CME
Program. They began looking for ways to help Armenia’s medical
professionals after mentoring Dr. Mushegh Israelyan (second from right)
from Karabagh.

# # #

Armenian students of foreign universities hold their forum in Armenia

Yerkir/arm
August 01, 2005

Fifty ethnic Armenian students of universities from US, United Kingdon,
France, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Georgia and Artsakh gathered in
Armenia for their 11th forum kicked off on July 21.

Lilit Galstian, director of the Hamazgayin Armenian Educational and
Cultural Union Yerevan office, says this is a new project of meeting
the homeland. “During 14 days, Armenian young people, who were born
and raised in the Diaspora, will have an opportunity to better know
their homeland, their roots and their identity.”

The young Diasporans were hosted at the Yerevan State University,
visited St. Echmiadzin, Garni, Geghard, Khor Virap and Noravank;
they paid a visit to the Paronian Theater, listened to the “Anush”
opera, were lectured on the Armenian arts, culture and history.

Doctor Hrant Margarian of the California University lectured on the
Armenian Genocide and the lost cultural monuments he had photographed
during his trips to the Western Armenia, where many of the Armenian
monuments have been either destroyed or turned into mosques.

Many of those young Armenians were in Armenia for the first time,
and while most of them have graduated from Armenian schools and spoke
Armenian, this was the first time they actually touched the soil of
the homeland.

Garin Yepremian and Talin Durian, both from California, say they
were thrilled by the mysterious service at the St. Echmiadzin, the
Armenian kids and schools. Victoria Barsumian from France says the
Armenian kochari (dance) electrified her; Seruzh Baghdasarian from
Lebanon said he loved Armenian lavash (bread) and cheese.

All of them say they are sure they would return, since they are
already missing Armenia though they have not left it yet.

President Vows to Ensure Democratic Parliament Poll

Baku Today / Assa Irada 13/08/2005 11:11

President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to ensure equal conditions for each
candidate running for the parliamentary elections due in November.

`We want to provide equal conditions for each candidate,’ President
Aliyev told the inaugural ceremony of a monument to the former
Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev in Sumgayit, 30 km west of Baku,
on Friday.

Aliyev called on local executive authorities not to interfere with the
election process. The pre-election situation in the country must be
more democratic and suitable conditions provided to hold rallies, he
said.

The President said that the international community is closely
following the upcoming legislative poll due to Azerbaijan’s being the
leading country in the region.

`We want the elections to be transparent. The Election Code and the
May 11 presidential decree on improving election practices allows
this.’

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh,
President Aliyev said that defense spending increased by 76% in 2005
and will go up next year as well. `Not a single patch of Azerbaijan’s
territory will remain under Armenian occupation,’ he said.

Russia ready for CIS summit

Baku, August 8, AssA-Irada

The Russian city of Kazan is ready to host the summit of the CIS heads
of state, Mayor of the city Kamil Ishagov has told reporters.

Ishagov said that final preparations in the hotel where the CIS
leaders will stay and in the hall to host the summit are close to
completion. Thousands of policemen, along with the special groups of
the Interior Ministry, will ensure the security of the delegations to
participate in the meeting on August 26, he said.

Issues related to improving the CIS structure, cooperation among
member states and fighting regional conflicts and terror will be
discussed at the event to be attended by President Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents will hold the next round of talks
on the Upper Garabagh conflict settlement during the summit.*

Mother, daughter cook up friendly rivalry at fair
By KIM SKORNOGOSKI, Tribune Staff Writer

Great Falls Tribune (Covering Great Falls and northcentral Montana)
August 4, 2005

Louise Hachigian ignores what the other 20 competitors concoct in
the wheat and barley cook-off.

All but one, anyway.

“Just her,” Hachigian said, holding up her hand to hide who she
pointed at. “I like to rock her boat.”

Yanking flour, measuring spoons and a mixer out of a plastic storage
tub nearby, Aimee Hachigian-Gould just as passionately wants to best
her mother.

For the past 20 years, the Ulm women have challenged each other in
culinary contests at the Montana State Fair, racking up dozens of
ribbons and prizes.

Sunday at the Spam cook-off, Aimee took second; her mom took third.

Louise Hachigian couldn’t compete in the fudge face-off Monday, having
won the year before. Judges decided Aimee’s fudge was this year’s best.

Throughout the week, they’ll see who’s the best with beef, pork,
yeast and chocolate cake.

The family hasn’t had to buy sugar in five years. They just use the
pounds won at the fair.

“Some years you’re going to get the blue, some the white, and sometimes
you walk,” Aimee Hachigian-Gould said. “It’s a competition for myself,
to see if I can do better than I did last year.”

Outside the live daily cook-offs, both women enter jams, jellies,
candies and baked treats at the State Fair.

With the clock ticking Tuesday, the two cooked side by side to see
whose wheat would reign.

Calling up an old family recipe, Aimee made Armenian lavash, a cracker
bread, to dip in hummus and baba ganoush, an eggplant-based sauce.

Louise aimed to please the judges’ sweet tooth, baking an apple and
almond tort with a wheat-flour crust.

Each woman approaches the competition differently ~W Louise is careful
and precise, where her daughter is a bit frantic, shouting orders to
her 12-year-old twin sons, Andrew and Brandon, who also competed in
the wheat- and barley-a-thon.

Louise came to the Family Living Center with her ingredients measured
in jars and containers in three plastic bags.

“I don’t wing it here ~W not at competition. At home I do,” Louise
said. “You can’t fool around.”

“No fear, ma,” Aimee shouts as she races by, a cooler in her
hands. “You just can’t have any fear.”

With just a half-hour to go, Aimee was digging around in her pickup
truck for a 3-foot-long, broomstick-thick roller to press her dough
so thin you could read a newspaper through it.

Andrew takes after his grandmother in his cooking style, carefully
following instructions until the end. Brandon tends to get distracted,
Louise notes.

The fraternal twins have a competition of their own, though neither
will say who’s better.

“It’s a draw,” Brandon said.

The boys first entered dishes in the fair at age 2, winning their
first ribbons the following year.

By 8, they persuaded the culinary department to waive the age
requirement and let them cook in one of the live, daily competitions.

“It’s part of the fun. It’s why I come,” Andrew said of the brotherly
rivalry.

The boys take sides as to who is the best cook when it comes to their
mother and grandmother; Andrew pairs up to assist Louise, and Brandon
is his mom’s partner in a yeast competition later in the fair.

“I suppose they’re really about the same,” Andrew said. “My mother
was taught by my grandmother, so I suppose it’s all the same.”

Even in the heat of battle, the mother and daughter lend each other
a hand ~W or an ingredient.

Louise dug out a rolling pin from Aimee’s storage tub. And late in
the contest while waiting for her tart to bake, she casually flipped a
piece of her daughter’s lavash frying on a grill while Aimee scrambled
to roll more dough.

And as she sweated to create an unbeatable tart, Louise stopped to
point out her daughter and grandson’s ribbons displayed in glass
cabinets.

“This is Aimee’s, and this is Aimee’s,” she said, pointing at canned
cauliflower and carrots.

Aimee won overall canning this year. Andrew won overall youth. And
Louise coyly points out, she won overall candy.

With wheat and barley judging wrapped up late Tuesday, the mother
and daughter officially tied for second place. However, judges gave
one woman a 92 and the other a 92.3.

To keep the rivalry alive, we won’t say who earned what score.

“It’s just so much fun,” Louise said.

“You’re doing it for yourself. I just put my whole heart into it,”
Aimee added.

AZERI PLANE LANDS IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

AZG Armenian Daily #141, 30/07/2005

Neighbors

What Will Be the response of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus?

On July 27, an Azerbaijani plane with 86 lawmakers, businessmen,
journalists and art workers aboard took off from Baku airport heading
for Northern Cyprus. The plane of Azeri Imair Airline landed in
Turkish-controlled Erjar Airport at 10.00 pm local time. This was the
start of air connection between Azerbaijan and “Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus”.

Turkish public TV and Yeni Safak newspaper informed on July 28 that
the Azeri representative to Northern Cyprus, Mustafa Evra, met the
Azeri delegation. Ahmed Erentok, chairman of Azerbaijan-Turkey
Business Group, told journalists that the visit will last three days
during which the sides will sign 8 protocols.

Answering journalists questions at the airport, owner of Imair Airline
Fuzuli Aleqberov said that there are technical issues to be settled in
order to launch regular flights between Azerbaijan and Northern
Cyprus.

On July 28, the Azeri delegation met the former and current presidents
of “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, minister of economy and
tourism and prime minister. Northern Cyprus-Azerbaijan business forum
will launch today.

Though the time of regular flights between Northern Cyprus and
Azerbaijan is unclear so far, one thing is evident: Turkey tries to
break the international isolation of the “Turkish Republic” through
Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev, on his part, is willingly
supporting Turkey despite the fact that he got no support from Turkish
authorities back in the presidential elections of 2003.

A conclusion to be drawn is that Azerbaijan’s support to Turkish
initiatives but a countermeasure to stand firm against the pressure of
the parliamentarian election this fall and a possible velvet
revolution.

Though Azerbaijan is hardly to recognize the “Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus”, it may well demand Turkey to keep closed its border
with Armenia against the favor of breaking Northern Cyprus’
isolation. It’s interesting what the response of EU member, Greece and
Cyprus, will be.

By Hakob Chakrian