Author: Nahapetian Boris

NKR PRESIDENT AND ARFD BUREAU MEMBERS DISCUSSED KARABAKH TALKS

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 27 2007

February 26 the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Arkady Ghoukassian
met with the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau members. The meåting was held
at the NKR Permanent Representation in RA in Yerevan.

According to the information DE FACTO got at the Press Service
of the NKR Permanent Representation in RA, in the course of the
meeting the interlocutors had discussed the issues referring to the
Karabakh talks. The parties also considered a number of issues of
mutual interest.

–Boundary_(ID_UtZEwLdQslNW2eCMJJUgkw)- –

MOST OF SOUTH CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES’ RENOWNED POLITICAL FIGURES CONSIDER THAT EUROPEAN INTEGRATION WILL CONTRIBUTE TO STRENGTHENING OF SECURITY IN REGION

Noyan Tapan
Feb 27 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The Region Research Center for
Investigative Journalists published trilingual book (in Armenian,
Russian and English) "Our Security and European Integration," the
presentation of which took place on February 27. As Laura Baghdasarian,
center’s director and program’s head, stated, the first part of
the book published with the support of the European Commission’s
delegation in Armenia presents interviews of representatives of
Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani ruling and opposition parties given
from 2006 November to 2007 January (interviews of five figures from
each country): including interviews of RPA Chairman, Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian, ANM Board Vice-Chairman Andranik Hovakimian,
Azerbaijani Yeni Azerbaijan Party’s Executive Secretary Ali Ahmedov,
Musavat Party Chairman Isa Gambar, Georgian United National Movement
Party’s International Secretary Irakli Kavtaradze, Chairman of Georgian
Traditionalists’ Union Akaki Asatiani. In L. Baghdasarian’s words,
only Azerbaijani Islamic Party Chairman Haji Hajiagha Nuriyev gave
a negative answer to the question, whether European integration
can contribute to strengthening of security in the region. In the
latter’s opinion, Azerbaijan’s independence should not be built
through European integration.

"According to solidary affirmation of all political figures, the main
threat to their countries’ security comes from unsettled interracial
conflicts," L. Baghdasarian said. The materials of Internet conference
held on the same subject with participation of experts of South
Caucasian countries are presented in the second part of the book.

PEOPLE’S PARTY TO RUN FOR THE ELECTIONS ALONE

A1+
[05:36 pm] 26 February, 2007

The sitting of the People’s Party Board scheduled on February 26 was
canceled because of some technical problems. To note, the sitting
will affirm the party’s decision to run for the elections alone. The
issue of proportional system is still under consideration.

"Our stance is the following; we have always said that we are ready to
run for the elections alone. On the other hand, we are convinced that
all the oppositional parties must cooparate and support each other
to prevent election frauds before, during and after the elections",
Ruzan Khachatryan, member of the party’s board informed A1+.

She says Stepan Demirchyan is not against alliances.

Furthermore, Demirchyan’s accepts the proposal of "Alternative"
Public-Political Initiative to run for the elections in alliance in
case the front involves all the oppositional forces.

But it is already known that "National Unity" and Orinats Yerkir Party
will participate in the elections alone that’s why the question cannot
be discussed further on.

During the consultations of People’s Party, Heritage Party and
Hanrapetutyun Stepan Demirchyan made another proposal- to involve
Raffi Hovannesian in the alliance but it implied the principle of
alliance formation and proportion and was inadmissible for the other
three parties, Ruzan Khachatryan added.

Ken Davitian is enjoying, very much, his Hollywood high five

San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Page F-4

By Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times

Hollywood — When you think of Ken Davitian, you probably think of him
naked, obese and pendulous, nearly suffocating the tall but waifish
Sacha Baron Cohen in their famous naked hotel room fight in the hit
movie "Borat."

But there is so much more to Davitian, the 53-year-old actor who so
completely inhabited the part of Borat’s humorless Kazakh producer
Azamat Bagatov that in industry meetings, people even now don’t
realize he is a thoroughly local American actor.

"Last week, I met with executives at Disney," said Davitian, who
speaks slowly and deliberately. "They said, ‘We wanted to call you in
because we thought you’d already gone back to some foreign land. We
had no idea you were an American actor.’

"And I said, ‘But I was in ‘Holes’ — one of your movies!" (He played
the pig farmer Igor Barkov in the 2003 Disney adaptation of Louis
Sachar’s popular teen novel.)

As it happens, Davitian, who always yearned for the life of a
Hollywood actor, grew up in East Los Angeles and now owns a sandwich
joint called the Dip in the San Fernando Valley, where he lives
modestly with his family.

It was like that at the "Borat" audition too, Davitian said. When his
28-year-old son, Robert, a cinema major at California State University
Northridge, heard that "the great Larry Charles from ‘Seinfeld’ " was
directing a picture with the guy from "Da Ali G Show," he insisted his
dad read for the part of the "frumpy Eastern European."

"My perfect character!" said Davitian, sitting on a white pleather
banquette one recent morning in an empty nightclub in the Hollywood &
Highland complex, where the Oscar ceremony is being held Sunday night.
The club is next door to Davitian’s second Dip location. "All my
relatives are frumpy Eastern Europeans, Armenians with accents. This
is the character I have been doing since I was a child," he said,
lapsing into broken English to prove it.

Davitian, who has been riding high since "Borat" became a movie
phenomenon last fall, has arrived at his moment in the sun through a
rather circuitous route.

Though he studied theater arts in college and later had a small role
in an Albert Brooks movie (he ended up on the cutting-room floor),
Davitian went into his family’s waste-management business and for
years made a good living picking up other people’s trash.

"With the rubbish money that was coming in," he said, "we were doing
very well."

And then he made a disastrous business foray into Mexico, securing a
waste-management contract for a suburb of Mexico City. According to
legal documents, this would prove an enterprise for which his company
was ill prepared, and Davitian maintains he was victimized by a
corrupt system. The fiasco ended in multinational litigation, trade
arbitration and bankruptcy.

But he also had years of restaurant experience, so with help from his
father-in-law, he and his family opened a cafe in Burbank called
Gotham Grounds and later, the Dip.

His two sons and wife went to work, and he decided to put as much
energy as he could into getting his acting career off the ground. He
took acting classes and about seven years ago began getting cast more
often, mostly guest spots on TV shows.

At the "Borat" audition in front of Baron Cohen, director Charles and
writer Dan Mazer, Davitian showed up in character, wearing the
ill-fitting beige suit he later wore in most of the movie, his 8-by-10
head shot folded to fit in his pocket. "I did the audition in
character without giving them a resume or telling them I am an
American actor," Davitian said.

When it was over, in perfectly enunciated English, Davitian announced:
" ‘Thank you very much, gentlemen. If you liked the audition, please
call me, I had a great time.’ They stopped me, and said, ‘Wait a
minute …’ "

As they say, the rest is history, with one particular scene conferring
cinematic immortality: the horrifying naked fight. It begins in a
hotel room, spills into a hotel elevator and ends with his character
tumbling off a low stage in a hotel ballroom during a banquet for
mortgage brokers.

It was this scene that Baron Cohen relived at last month’s Golden
Globes, accepting for best actor in a comedy or musical. He recalled
how "my 300-pound co-star decided to sit on my face and squeeze the
oxygen from my lungs" and the awful, "rancid" predicament he was then
faced with.

Though he worked for close to scale on "Borat," which cost an
estimated $18 million and has grossed $247 million, Davitian has no
regrets.

"I am doing ‘ER’ next week. Special guest. First time for me — no
audition, no nothing. They called and said, ‘We want you.’ People are
calling. This has the potential to change my life."

i?f=/c/a/2007/02/24/DDGFJOA4KV1.DTL&type=movie s

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
Feb 23 2007

The Moody’s Rating brought `Armeconombank’ out on the world financial
map, CB Chairman thinks

Yerevan, February 23 /Mediamax/. Having been assigned a rating by the
Moody’s Investors Service, `Armeconombank’ will be able to attract
long-term assets at low interest rates.

Mediamax reports that the Executive Director of the Bank David
Sukiasian said this in Yerevan today, commenting on the `Moody’s
Investors Service’ Agency’s assigning an E+ financial stability
rating (stability forecast) and B1 on long-term deposits in drams and
in foreign currency to `Armeconombank’.

As the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Tigran Sarkisian
stated, the assignation of a rating means that `from now on
`Armeconombank’ is displayed the world financial map’, and the
potential investors will be able to really assess the risk of the
bank.

According to the CB Chairman, receiving a rating also strengthens the
positions of `Armeconombank’ in the banking system of Armenia.

Mediamax recalls that in early November of 2006, the International
Fitch Ratings Agency assigned VTB-Armenia Bank (VTBA) ratings of
Issuer Default ‘BB’, Short-term ‘B’, Individual ‘D/E’ and Support
‘3’.

`ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ and `Inecobank’ informed Mediamax in an
interview in autumn of 2006 that they were holding negotiations with
Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Rating Agencies.
5 other Armenian banks (`Ararat Bank’, Armenian Development Bank,
`Prometey’ Bank, `ITB International Trade Bank’ and `Unibank’)
informed that they were planning to turn for a rating to
international rating agencies by the end of 2006 or in 2007.

In June 2006 Fitch assigned Armenia BB- (BB minus) sovereign credit
rating with a Stable Outlook. In mid August it revised upwards the
Country Ceiling for Armenia to BB level.

In July 2006, the Moody’s Investors Service International rating
agency assigned Armenia Ba2 rating.

Robert Kocharyan: Our economy is open to everyone

armradio.am
24.02.2007 12:40

Armenia has very good relations with Russia, which include a number of
fields, RA President Robert Kocharyan said in an interview aired on
`France 24′ today, ITAR-TASS reports.

`We have no problems with Russia, and it is possibly conditioned by the
fact that we do not create artificial obstacles proceeding from
political considerations.’ `That is why I don’t think it would be wise
to restrict the participation of Russian capital in Armenia,’ said
President Kocharyan. `On the contrary, we welcome all kinds of capital
investments. However, no one has ever said that only Russian Companies
can have access to this or that field: our economy is open to
everyone.’

Burbank Leader
Feb 24 2007

Schiff meets with students

Series of meetings is meant to encourage participation and diversity
in service, congressman says.
By Anthony Kim

Glendale Community College board member Vahe Perooman, right, joins
Rep. Adam Schiff at a Glendale Community College breakfast on Friday
and tells his story of coming to America from Iran.

GLENDALE – An elite group of student leaders talked politics over
breakfast with Rep. Adam Schiff Friday morning at Glendale Community
College’s culinary arts department.

Schiff invited about 25 Armenian-American students from high schools
in his district to promote diversity in public service, Schiff said.
The congressman met with Asian-American student leaders in San
Gabriel on Thursday, and hosted meetings with African-American and
Latino students in October.

"We wanted to encourage more participation in public service," said
Schiff, whose congressional district includes Glendale and Burbank.

City officials, commissioners, local clergy members and community
college trustees also had their morning meal with the students.
Students from Glendale, Crescenta Valley, Burbank, John Marshall
Fundamental and John Muir high schools were there to discuss public
service.

After brief introductions from college board President Armine
Hacopian and college President Audre Levy, Schiff stood at the front
of the room listening as every student shared his or her aspirations
and background.

– POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:
Scott introduces map for college
– Schiff meets with students
– BURBANK CITY COUNCIL MEETING WRAP-UP
– Search for market site is on

Sona Karakashian, 17, a senior at Clark Magnet High School, said she
loved campaigning for Assemblyman Paul Krekorian during the last
election cycle and that getting into politics is her dream.

"Maybe I can become a politician and serve the community of Glendale
someday," Sona said.

Romina Keshishyan, 18, said being president of Glendale High School’s
Junior State of America chapter – a nationwide political organization
for high schools – got her deeply interested in government and
politics. advertisement

But she still is not quite sure about what career to pursue.

"All of us here are undecided in what we want to do," Romina said.
"We just have a mutual interest in politics. I just want to know what
motivated [Schiff] to become congressman."

Many of the students had medical school on their minds rather than
politics.

Glendale High School student body Vice President Nare Kupelian, 17,
said she was interested in politics until TV show Grey’s Anatomy
sparked an interest in medicine.

"Now I’m debating on med school and politics," she said.

The community leaders shared their own experiences with the students
and the paths they took to achieve their positions.

Father Vazken Atmajian, from St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in
Glendale, was one of the many Armenian leaders at the breakfast
offering inspiration to the students.

"The opportunities are out there and you have to be ready to take the
opportunity…. Get educated as much as you can," he said. "Get
physical nourishment and spiritual nourishment."

QUESTIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
24 Feb 07

During the recent meeting of the NKR parliament Member of Parliament
Maxim Mirzoyan inquired about the difficult condition the Arvard
Company owned by the Anivian family is in, and what steps will be
taken to improve it. The minister of territorial administration and
development of industrial infrastructures Armo Tsatrian said the
owners of the company decide what will be with the company. `As for
the processing line Mr. Mirzoyan mentioned, it was worked out for a
year and 318 tons of dry starter was produced. This technology is not
effective in Karabakh because there is no sufficient raw material and
specialists,’ said the minister. Member of Parliament Sergey Ohanian
expressed worry about the reconstruction of the hospital of Martuni
funded by Armenia Foundation. He said the hospital was to be
reconstructed by a company based in Kapan, Armenia. The hospital
temporality moved into another building. `However, the reconstruction
of the hospital has stopped. When will it be resumed?’ Sergey Ohanian
asked. The minister of urban planning Marat Hakobjanian said the NKR
Prime Minister set up a commission. A study showed that the building
should be demolished, but considering financial problems, Armenia
Foundation decided to make a new project of the hospital
building. `The ministry proposes reconstruction of the hospital
building or construction of a new building. After the estimations of
costs one of these two options will be chosen. Armenia Foundation is
supposed to deal with this problem considering its financial
capacity,’ said Marat Hakobjanian.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
24-02-2007

‘CIVIC PATRIOTISM’ IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE

The Messenger, Georgia
Feb 20 2007

On a recent visit to the Georgian controlled villages of South Ossetia
President Saakashvili emphasised that "Georgian patriotism is not about
ethnicity". The president spoke at length of the "civic condition" that
he believes makes a Georgian a Georgian. Saakashvili stressed that he
wanted to create a Georgia where all citizens were patriots regardless
of their ethnic origin, and we could not agree more with him.

Georgia is, and always has been, a multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic,
and multi-confessional place. The earliest records of Georgia in
western histories speak of how ancient explorers had to hire dozens of
interpreters in certain towns, and while that isn’t necessary today,
it is easy to forget that a fairly large chunk of Georgia’s population
today-more than ten percent-would need a translator or interpreter
if they wanted to go to court deal with the local authorities.

Georgia’s large Armenian and Azeri minorities are put at a large
disadvantage by not knowing Georgian, the state language in which
all official business is legally required to be carried out in. From
independence until the Rose Revolution the integration of these
minorities was at best ignored, and at worst they bore the brunt of
Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s ultra-nationalist campaign. Things are better
now, but integration efforts spearheaded by Tbilisi have often been
poorly thought out and implemented-only further alienating the people
they were designed to help.

One such example is the well meant but ultimately foolish plan to
send teachers of Georgian as a foreign language to the economically
depressed Armenian populated areas of Javakheti. The teachers were
given high salaries to compensate for the move to the harsh conditions
of Javakheti, but when the locals saw these Georgians from the capital
being paid much, much more than local teachers, they naturally took it
as favouritism and another example of discrimination by the central
authorities.

In spite of the new government’s more pro-active stance on integration,
some of the their policies have been deeply counterproductive, such
as enforcing the law whereby all official business-including criminal
cases-must be conducted in Georgian. This means that in areas where
minorities make up more than 90 percent of the population, there are
no minority officials, lawyers or judges.

The constitution of the short lived Democratic Republic of Georgia
allowed minorities, in areas where they made up more than 20 percent
of the population, to conduct official state business in their mother
tongue, as is the case in many other multi-ethnic European states
like Romania and Macedonia.

If the government are serious about creating a civic form of patriotism
in Georgia it is essential they do not put the long neglected ethnic
minorities of the country at further disadvantage.

The existing generation of Armenians and Azeri’s cannot be expected
to master Georgian, and their children only will if they see while
growing up that they have a future in Georgia the nation while not
being in Georgian the nationality.

Georgia has no conflicts with either its Azeri or Armenian minorities,
so imagine what message a decent and equitable integration strategy
with full respect for language and culture would send to the conflict
zones.

Perhaps the government should take a hint from its pre-Soviet
predecessor.

109 DOCTORS AND NURSES TO BE TRAINED IN 2007 TO GET FAMILY DOCTOR’S PROFESSION

Noyan Tapan
Feb 20 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. 39 doctors and 70 nurses working
in Yerevan will be trained to get family doctor’s profession during
2007 within the framework of the World Bank credit program on health
care system modernization.

As Armen Soghoyan, the Chief of the Yerevan Mayor’s Office Department
for Health Care and Social Security stated at the February 19 press
conference, 196 distict therapeutics, pediatricians and 146 nurses
were trained till now.

A.Soghoyan mentioned that the program of modernization of the Surb
Astvatsamayr (The Blessed Virgin) and Surb Grigor Lusavorich (Saint
Gregory the Illuminator) medical centers is continued. In his words,
it is envisaged to finish this year the reconstruction works of the
maternity hospital of the Surb Grigor Lusavorich medical center for
which about 500 thousand dollars will be spent.

Besides, a boiler-house at the cost of 200 thousand dollars will
be built for the polyclinic building of the hospital, and about
30 thousand dollars will be allocated for rendering medical waste
materials harmless. It was also mentioned that the construction
works of the Surb Astvatsamayr medical center will finish in the
spring. Programs on introduction of information technologies and
management of waste materials will also be implemented. By the way,
the hospital was provided in 2006 with super modern medical equipment.