Author: Nahapetian Samvel

POLES AXE ARMENIA

Australian FourFourTwo, Australia
March 29 2007

Poland 1 Armenia 0

Poland extended their lead at the top of Group A despite making hard
work of a poor Armenia side.

A home win always seemed the most likely result with top playing
bottom and the gulf in class told in the 26th minute when man-of-
the-match Maciej Zurawski scored the decisive goal to give the Poles
a five-point lead after Portugal’s draw with Serbia.

The striker looked lively from the off and tested Roman Berezovsky
within three minutes with a right-footed effort from 12 yards.

Soon after Poland defender Dariusz Dudka was inches away from giving
the home side the lead when he headed Lukasz Gargula’s eighth-minute
corner over the bar.

Armenia took 21 minutes to call Polish number one Artur Boruc into
action, but the Celtic goalkeeper had little trouble taking Levon
Pachajyan’s inswinging corner from the left.

Boruc’s Hoops team-mate Zurawski continued to look a danger and was
again denied by Berezovsky with a vicious right-footer from the edge
of the area.

But soon the Celtic striker got the goal his efforts deserved when he
coolly steered Michal Zewlakow left-wing cross into the bottom-right
corner from 12 yards.

It was Zurawski who continued to take the game to the Armenians and
twice in the space of a minute he almost registered his second of
the game.

First Berezovsky came to the rescue with a smart save to deny the
striker from 20 yards before Armenian defender Karen Dokhoyan did
well to get in the way of his effort from similar range.

Berezovsky continued to be the busiest player on the field and
in the 40th minute he was again called into action to deny Jakub
Blaszczykowski’s shot from the left channel.

Pachajyan registered a shot for the home side in the 51st minute
but his 30-yard strike was always rising and finished well above
the crossbar.

But it was the Poles who always looked the more likely to double
the advantage.

Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s well struck shot was just over Berezovsky’s
bar and a minute later Blaszczykowski’s fierce drive from 20 yards
fizzed just wide of the left post.

ARMENIAN AND UKRAINIAN FMS DISCUSSED GUAM INITIATIVE ON FROZEN CONFLICTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.03.2007 19:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On March 28, Foreign Minister Oskanian received
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Minister
came to Armenia to take part in the funeral ceremony of Andranik
Margaryan, the Prime Minister of Armenia.

On behalf of Ukraine’s President and Government, Mr. Yatsenyuk
presented his condolences to the Armenian people. Minister Oskanian
thanked him for visit and the sympathy expressed. He noted the
importance of the continuing historical relationship between Armenia
and Ukraine, stressing the progressive cooperation in trade and
economy.

During the meeting, the two discussed the prospects of cooperation
within international organizations. The two also spoke of GUAM’s
initiative to introduce a resolution on frozen conflicts into the
UN General Assembly. To this end, Minister Oskanian briefed to his
colleague on the latest developments in the Nagorno Karabakh peace
process.

Minister Oskanian and Minister Yatsenyuk also exchanged views on
regional issues as well as on the Kosovo issue, recently presented
at the UN Security Council, the RA MFA press office reports.

CONDOLENCE BOOK OPENED IN GEORGIA

ArmRadio.am
28.03.2007 15:41

The Ambassadors of Great Britain, Sweden, France and Romania, and
Chinese Charge d’Affaires of China in Georgia visited the Armenian
Embassy in Tbilisi today to express their condolences on the death
of the Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. The leader of the
Armenian Diocese in Georgia Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and clergymen also
visited the Embassy.

RA Ambassador to Georgia Hrach Silvanyan told Armenpress that Georgian
Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili is also expected to visit the
Embassy.

According to him, a memorial service will be held on Saturday.

Let us remind that the Georgian delegation headed by Prime Minister
Zurab Noghaideli is in Armenia.

Program of Actions in Case of Detection of H5N1 Virus Allows to Prevent Its
Further Spread in Armenia: Expert

Arminfo
2007-03-27 14:30:00

Despite the fact that presently the virus of bird flu is not revealed
in Armenia, it is incorrect to completely rule out its penetration
into the Republic’s territory, the Head of the state Veterinary
Inspection of RA Ministry of Agriculture Grizha Bagyan said at the
opening of exercises in Yerevan on operative response to the epidemic
of bird flu.

He noted that one of the factors that considerably reduced the risk of
H5N1 virus spread in the country is a tight control of the import of
birds and bird products to Armenia. "In the International Bureau of
Epizooty (France), we thoroughly verify all the data about detection
of new sources of the bird flu virus spread in the world, and the
permission for import of bird products from one or another
producer-country is based only on their conclusion", G. Bagyan
said. Moreover, the disinfection works are still carried out in the
boundary checkpoints. According to Bagyan, all the necessary
information about a spring migration of birds has already been
received and analyzed. Moreover, schedule of measures for the
epidemic-fight is clearly determined. "The program of actions will
allow us to prevent the further spread of H5N1 virus in Armenia in
case of its detection", G. Bagyan stressed.

To note, no cases of the bird flu disease were registered in the
Republic as of today.

Agence France Presse — English
March 27, 2007 Tuesday 5:24 PM GMT

Armenian church chief snubs Turkish invitation

The head of Armenia’s Apostolic Church has declined an invitation
from Turkey to attend the opening of a restored Armenian church, his
office announced Tuesday.

Catholicos Karekin II would not be attending because the restored
church was being converted into a museum and the ceremony would be a
non-religious one, the church said in a statement.

The Church of the Holy Cross was built on Akhtamar Island in Lake
Van, eastern Turkey, in the 10th century but abandoned after the
World War I killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule.

Restored by the Turkish authorities, it is due to be opened on
Thursday.

Relations between Turkey and Armenia are still strained over the
Ottoman-era killings, which took place between 1915 and 1917.

Yerevan describes the killings as genocide, a label that Turkey, the
Ottoman Empire’s successor, categorically rejects.

The murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who supported
the genocide position, has further strained relations. He was shot
dead in Istanbul on January 19.

Earlier this month, lawyers for his family filed a motion for a
judicial probe into officials they accused of being implicated in the
murder.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Today Armenia passes to summertime
24.03.2007 16:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During the night of March 24 to 25
Armenia passes to summertime. At 2:00 am it is
necessary to move forward hands of clock for an hour.

The country usualy passes to wintertime on the last
Sunday of October (the hands of clock are moved back
for an hour). And on the last Sunday of March Armenia
passes to summertime.

ARMENPRESS

DEATH OF ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER IS A GREAT LOSS, SAYS
ARMENIAN NA SPEAKER TIGRAN TOROSIAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS: Armenian National
Assembly Speaker, the deputy head of the Armenian
Republican Party Tigran Torosian said today that the
death of the Armenian Prime Minister, chairman of the
Armenian Republican Party Andranik Margarian is a
great loss for the country, the party and his friends
as thanks to his contribution, the country and the
party have achieved successes.
He said Andranik Margarian was not only a great
state-political figure but he was a person ready to
listen to his opponent and rival and each citizen. `A
person who embodied tolerance and care towards
people,’ Torosian said.
`It is really a great loss for all of us but I
think that the party, his friends must find strength
in themselves and do everything to complete the work
we have started together. It will be our best tribute
to the memory of Andranik Margarian,’ Torosian said,
expressing assurance that the party will be able to
find strength and get over this great loss and finish
the works started together.

RICE AVOIDS ANSWERING QUESTIONS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Yerkir
22.03.2007 17:27

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday
the U.S. should not be involved in a dispute between Turkey and
Armenia over whether the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians almost
a century ago constituted genocide, AP reported.

Under questioning the sponsor of a House resolution that would
declare that Turkey’s Ottoman predecessor state committed genocide,
Rice avoided answering whether she believed there was any basis for
historical debate on the matter.

"What we’ve encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have
joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts
to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it,"
she told House Appropriations subcommittee.

"I don’t think it helps that process of reconciliation for the United
States to enter this debate at that level."

"Madame Secretary, your comments that there should be some kind of
debate or discussion about the genocide suggests that you have a
question about whether genocide occurred," said the resolution’s
sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

The Bush administration, which has heard threats from top Turkish
officials that passage of Schiff’s resolution would damage relations,
has been trying to quash it.

"I believe that this is something that the Turks and Armenians are best
to address," Rice told Schiff at the hearing on the State Department’s
spending for foreign operations.

Later in the day, Shciff said that the US has to press Turkey to
recognize the undeniable fact of the Armenian genocide.

ARMENIAN LEADER SAYS POWER PLANT PROJECT TO "OPEN NEW PAGE" IN TIES WITH IRAN

Mediamax news agency
19 Mar 07

Yerevan, 19 March: The Armenian and Iranian energy ministers signed an
intergovernmental agreement in Meghri today on the joint construction
and exploitation of a hydroelectric power plant on River Aras.

As the special correspondent of Mediamax reports from Meghri, the
signing of the document took place after putting into operation the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, in which the presidents of Armenia and Iran,
Robert Kocharyan and Mahmud Ahmadinezhad participated.

Speaking at a news conference, Robert Kocharyan said that the
construction of a joint power plant "will open a new page in
Armenian-Iranian relations".

He stressed that 15 years ago there was nothing in Meghri evidencing
Armenian-Iranian relations and that the two sides were separated with
a barbed wire.

"Today, there are many things here evidencing our growing relations. By
the bridge, on which I met the Iranian president today, 600,000 tons
of cargo was transported last year," the Armenian president said.

Robert Kocharyan highlighted that economic cooperation between Armenia
and Iran had started including large infrastructure projects.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad said that he had discussed with
Robert Kocharyan the issues of cooperation in the sphere of energy,
transport, communication and water industry.

AHMADINEJAD: IRAN-ARMENIA JOINT PROJECTS BROADEN MUTUAL TIES

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran
March 19 2007

Teheran, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that
any cooperation and joint ventures between Iran and Armenia will
develop the relations of two nations.

According to a report released by the Presidential Office Media
Department, the statement was made during Ahmadinejad’s talks with
his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan at Nordouz border area on
the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.

The president added that the strong will and firm determination of
Iranian and Armenian officials is highly significant in broadening
of bilateral relations in all fields.

Turning to Iran and Armenia as neighboring and friendly countries, he
said, "Expansion of relations has always been faced by administrative
problems and a number of other obstacles. But such a strong resolve
will eventually overcome all difficulties." Expressing his satisfaction
with the implementation of one of the joint projects between the
two states, he said that Iran’s numerous potentials in different
fields such as energy, establishment of refinery, railway and
power plant as well as cooperation in the domains of communication,
telecommunication and export of various products have prepared the
ground for transferring the relevant experience to Armenia.

Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad declared the country’s readiness
for cooperation in this regard.