Author: Nalchajian Markos

ARMENIAN LEADER PAYS FARM VISIT, AS OPPOSITION RALLIES AGAINST HIM

Public Television of Armenia
10 Apr 04

(Presenter) President Kocharyan today visited the Agroservice farm,
which he first visited when he was prime minister. Agroservice is one
of the republic’s largest farms and keeps pure-bred Caucasus Grey
cows.

(Correspondent over video of farm) Agroservice is one the largest of
six farms in the republic which survived the transition period’s
experiments and by reorganizing continues to breed pure-bred Caucasus
cows. The company, which was formed on the basis of the old one, is
implementing economic programmes and has successful results. When
President Kocharyan was prime minister, he visited the farm for the
first time and promised the farmers he would visit again.

Improving the stock of native cows for more than 15 years, Agroservice
has today started an artificial insemination programme with the
American Schmidt breed. Agriculture Minister David Lokyan is pleased
with the results.

(Agriculture Minister David Lokyan, captioned at the farm) I think
that we shall have one more joint programme with the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization by the end of the year, called the
Improvement of the Genetic Resources of Caucasus Grey Cows, as a
result of which we shall provide small farms with pure-bred cows,
which is a basis for reducing poverty in our rural areas.

(Passage omitted: farmers speak about the farm, increasing the milk
yield)

(Robert Kocharyan, captioned at the farm) This was the first farm that
I visited when I was prime minister. This was the first and only such
farm. But similar farms are developing today with technology and have
a promising future. We have discussed possible programmes connected
with energy. If we try to consider a pilot programme and attempt to
implement it, we shall have interesting results.

(Correspondent over video of opening ceremony on Araks river) A
construction project for the century was commissioned today in Armavir
Region. This is the reconstruction of the Armavir main water reservoir
on the Araks river. As it is a border river, according to
international law Armenia and Turkey should use the water equally. The
water reservoir was reconstructed through joint financing, 870,000
dollars, by the Armenian government and World Bank.

(Robert Kocharyan) It is sufficient to look at the map to see the
whole length of the water reservoir. This is a serious construction
project, which means saving energy and it will also give farmers the
opportunity to use the river water, which is very useful. Construction
work will also be continued, we have a programme worth more than 3m
dollars.

(Correspondent) Experts say that the reconstruction of the water
reservoir, which was built in the 1930s, has resolved the problem of
more than 35,000 hectares of land in Armavir Region. It will allow the
irrigation of salt areas and in spring, when the three blocs at
Metsamor (nuclear power station) will be closed, it will be possible
to produce more than 6m kW of energy.

Lilit Setrakyan, “Aylur”.

Seattle Times, WA
April 9, 2004

Book Review
Cruelty becomes the refuge of a refugee

By Ellen Emry Heltzel
Special to The Seattle Times

“In Paradise there is no past,” observes the young Catholic, Rachel,
in Micheline Aharonian Marcom’s highly acclaimed first novel, “Three
Apples Fell from Heaven.” She is speaking from the grave after
drowning herself to avoid being raped by Turkish soldiers. For her,
hell is the pain of memory.

In her new novel, “The Daydreaming Boy” (Riverhead Books, $23.95),
Marcom reprises this theme, her subject once again the Ottoman
Empire’s 1915 genocide against the Armenians. This time, the story
remains in the land of the living, told by a fictional narrator who’s
looking back a half century after the killings.

Vahé Tcheubjian – curiously, he bears the same name as the person to
whom the book is dedicated – lives in Beirut, Lebanon. He is both an
unexceptional figure and a tragic one, describing himself as “a
smallish man, a man whose middle has begun to soften and protrude,
his long toes hidden in scuffed dress shoes.” Beneath this bland
exterior, however, lies a person “undone by history.”

Vahé has lived a life of suppressing the events that scarred him and
destroyed his family. At the age of 7, his father was bludgeoned to
death and his mother delivered to an unknown fate, while he was sent
by boxcar to Lebanon and the Bird’s Nest Orphanage. There, he grew up
among what he calls the “Adams in the wasteland” – child refugees who
have been pulled from their homes and herded together in a
survival-of-the-fittest environment.

Author appearance

Micheline Aharonian Marcom will read from “The Daydreaming Boy,” 7:30
p.m. Tuesday, Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., Seattle; free
(206-624-6600 or ).

Vahé remembers how he ached with loneliness. He wrote letters to the
mother who never replied. He cherished the weekly assembly-line
baths, a brisk scrubdown by a dour-looking matron, because it gave
him the chance to recall maternal touch.

After leaving the orphanage, he worked as a carpenter and got
married. But, as a middle-aged man, Vahé can’t stop thinking about
Vostanig, the outcast who was sexually and physically abused by the
other boys, including himself, at the Bird’s Nest. “The stranger: he
was all of us, the damned exiled race in its puny and starved and
pathetic scabbed body,” he recalls. “How we longed to kill him.”

For years, Vahé made a habit of visiting the Beirut zoo on Sundays,
where he shared a smoke with the tobacco-loving chimp Jumba. But
before handing over the cigarette, he would poke its burning end into
the chimp’s flesh, exacting his price. If there’s any doubt that Vahé
is a deeply damaged man, this gratuitous cruelty dispels it.

Jumba and his fellow primates are an ongoing motif in the book, their
captivity and behavior reflecting how Vahé perceives a hostile world.
A newspaper article datelined South Africa announces the discovery
that man and gorilla share the same brain size and capacity,
underscoring the primal connection. The metaphor threatens to
overpower the story, but Vahé is too compelling to ignore.

Vahé has learned to translate his grief and emptiness into lust,
braiding sex and violence together, as he was taught. Having been
victimized himself, he becomes victimizer, as indicated by this
simple exchange with the servant girl, Béatrice:

” ‘Would you like a chocolate?’

” ‘No, merci.’

” ‘No, merci? Here, take it. I’ve bought these chocolates and I would
like for you to take it.’ She is still looking at the floor and I’ve
grabbed her hand and push the gold truffles into her small hand … ”

But dialogue is the exception in a story built mostly on interior
dialogue, using poetic, even mnemonic, devices that reflect how
memory works. For Vahé, the past returns in intermittent blasts, like
power surges traveling down the neural pathways. Through his eyes we
see the lies and obfuscations gradually fall away.

“The Daydreaming Boy” probes Vahé’s interior life, displaying his
cruel, hungry sensibility, and eventually locates the sources of his
pain. What remains is a man who sees himself for what he is, “the
ragged round left by absence of affection and knowing.”

Ellen Emry Heltzel is a book critic and writer who lives in Portland,
Ore. With Margo Hammond, she writes the weekly column Book Babes,
which can be found at

Armenian opposition party reports kidnap attempts

Arminfo
5 Apr 04

YEREVAN

The Anrapetutyun [Republic] party has published a list of its members,
who have been unlawfully arrested and taken to police stations, over
the past several days.

On 4 and 5 April, the houses of some 20 party members were
searched. The party members themselves – including Suren Surenyants,
member of the party’s political board, and leaders of the party’s town
and community bodies – were taken unlawfully to police stations,
Anrapetutyun told Arminfo news agency. Some of them have now been
released and criminal cases have been launched against others.

Moreover, attempts were made to kidnap some party activists,
Anrapetutyun said. There were attempts to abduct Aramazd Zakaryan,
member of the political board of the Anrapetutyun; and two members of
the People’s Party of Armenia, Usik Grigoryan (in the town of
Charentsavan) and Karen Lazarian (in Gyumri).

Russia, Saint-Petersburg
Date: 2004.04.04 17:36

Batumi and Tblisi: War of Words Intensifies

The situation in Adjaria is continuing to worsen. Parliamentary elections
were held in Georgia on March 28, the results of which have inspired some
justifiable uncertainty. The head of the Adjarian autonomous republic, Aslan
Abashidze, explained his view of the prevailing situation in Georgia, and
gave his prognosis for the future.

————————————————————————

According to preliminary voting results, supporters of Mikhail Saakashvili
received an overwhelming majority of the seats in the new parliament, while
the party you head, the ‘Union of Democratic Rebirth,’ was unable to reach
the requisite 7% barrier.
If Mikhail Saakashvili tries to prevent Rebirth from being represented in
parliament, he will suffer a backlash. One cannot simply leave Adjaria by
the wayside in this way. International observers did not register any voting
irregularities by our side. The national democrats are celebrating a victory
obtained by wholly fraudulent means. Polling stations in Adjaria were the
scene of a complete disregard for the rules.

We avoided a serious confrontation because they had already planned in
advance to announce falsified results of the voting in the republic. That is
why for all practical purposes Rebirth did not even wage an election
campaign, merely a few meetings with voters. Of the 15 members of the local
election commission, 12 were representatives of Saaashvili’s party. And how
much money they distributed to the people to vote for the national
democrats! Evidence is plentiful, and that is precisely why the Georgian
finance minister, Zurab Nogaideli, was detained in Adjaria.

And despite everything, we won. Now they are sitting on their own funeral
dirge and celebrating some sort of ‘victory.’ In comparison with the
presidential elections, Saakashvili lost 28% here. Indeed, how can anyone
vote for him when the president calls the people of Adjaria ‘baboons’ and
idiots, while from the national democratic camp one constantly hears
threats, promises to stamp out, kill, exile and chase Adjaris into the
hills, and so on? We purposely did not emphasize all of that. But maybe we
should have, so that people would wake up faster.

Does the leadership of the ‘Rebirth’ party plan to contest the election
results?

Everything will go to the Constitutional Court in due course. The elections
were doomed to fail from the start, were doomed to be fraudulent. In order
to win, the national democrats invented an extraordinary mechanism – the
pre-registration of voters, whereas according to Article 28 of the
Constitution, it is clearly stated that voting rights can be restricted in
only two circumstances — if a citizen of Georgia is ruled to be incompetent
by a court, or if he is serving a prison term.

This anti-constitutional decision also violates the law on elections. Thus,
for the 273,431 voters of Adjaria, only 80,000 pre-registration forms were
issued. Their validity expired on March 23, and only on that day were an
additional 50,000 forms sent. Only 130,000 voters participated in the
polling, which means that we were not provided with 51,900 ballots. Under
pressure from the Council of Europe, they were finally delivered at 4:00
P.M. on voting day, but we were already unable to distribute them to the
polling stations. All of these machinations made our elections undemocratic.

We also have documentary evidence of mass fraud during the presidential
elections (Aslan Abashidze here presented the summary protocol of the
Georgian Central Election Commission on regional voting results – Y.A.).
They were so blatant, that on average Mikhail Saakashvili received 116.9% of
the votes. In Rustav, 139.2% voted for him! Similar results were seen in all
the other regions and large towns, with the exception of Alhapalaki, where
he got 92.5% — smart people, those Armenians — and in Marneuli, which is
predominantly Azerbaijani, where he got 96.2%.

What is this, fraudulent elections or a fraudulent president? Saakashvili
knows all of this perfectly well. When I asked him directly, I got a
remarkable answer. The people, mind you, have assessed their new president,
and they are not about to change their minds. I would not have shown these
documents if he had stopped.

You mentioned the possibility of holding a vote of no confidence on the
results of the elections. With what aim are you preparing to organize it?

Someone has to speak with authority in defense of democracy, peace and
stability. The current rulers of Georgia are striving to trample underfoot
everyone and everything. This is unambiguously clear, and those who consider
that possibility skeptically will share that view soon enough. What Mikhail
Saakashvili is doing now is what Eduard Shevernadze did, only more
secretively and cunningly. Experience has shown him where such actions can
go unpunished, and where it will end badly, but in the end even he has lost
his intuition.

The current government has from the very beginning gone off half-cocked. In
four months, nothing has been said about raising pensions and salaries, as
promised during the election campaign. For now, many welcome the ‘war on
corruption,’ the arrest of famous politicians and businessmen. Tomorrow,
when they start knocking on every door, people will come to their senses.
People are already beginning to sober up.

Is it possible to reach an agreement with Tbilisi?

We are fulfilling what we have promised, but the center is not. We have not
seen any movement towards reconciliation from their side. Tbilisi withdrew
the license of the Morskoi bank, as the result of which the payment of
salaries and pensions in the republic have been delayed. Criminal
investigations have been launched against those whom the national democrats
do not like, for example, the Adjari minister of internal affairs, Dzhemal
Gogitidze, and several others. But they did not act against the president,
but against the steps he has taken. Saakashvili should have launched a crimi
nal investigation against himself, as the leader of the so-called ‘rose
revolution,’ inasmuch as he forced the legally elected president to remove
himself from office. But you see, for him this is permitted.

The policy of ‘squeezing’ Adjaria out of Georgia has been going on for a
long time, but neither Shevernadze nor any other power will be able to do
it. Today’s Georgian leadership has no base, which is why it emphasizes
confrontation with Adjaria. We count only on our own strength, and we will
do all that is necessary in order to preserve the peace and prevent any
collisions. We have learned to be prepared for any eventuality already since
1991, and we try not to forget the lessons of history.

I have always respected people who avoided war. In 1991, 1995 and 1998, we
were unable to do so. We will try to do so now, to refrain from
confrontation and the forceful resolution of the conflict. Mikhail
Saakashvili repeats every day that he will not leave Adjaria alone. Our
responsibility is to protect the population. We remember how they entered
into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and we don’t want that to happen again.

Saakashvili is demanding the disarmament of ‘illegal armed groups,’ and that
his representatives be allowed to work in the port of Batumi and at the
customs point in Sarpi, as well as to lift the state of emergency in
Adjaria.

I also want many things. The state of emergency has now been lifted. If the
situation warrants, it will be reinstated.

The opposition movement ‘Our Adjaria,’ which supports the ‘National
Movement – Democrats,’ have as their goal your removal from power, and they
promise to accomplish this by the summer.

Elections for the head of the autonomous republic will go ahead precisely in
that month and on that day prescribed for in the constitution of Adjaria.

In other words, you are determined not to allow a repetition of the ‘rose
revolution’ which the opposition is calling for?

We will castrate the ‘revolution,’ and that will be the end of that.

Interview by Yana Amelina, Rosbalt, Batumi-Moscow
Translated by Alex Anderson

————————————————————————
©2001-2002 Rosbalt News Agency

ITAR-TASS News Agency
April 1, 2004 Thursday 4:09 AM Eastern Time

Armenia DM to discuss railway transportation tariffs in Tbilisi

By Tengiz Pachkoria

TBILISI

Armenian Defense Minister and Secretary of the Security Council Serzh
Sarkisyan currently on a visit in the Georgian capital will discuss
“the reduction of railway transportation tariffs from Georgia to
Armenia” with the Georgian leadership. Railway transport from the
ports of Poti and Batumi and other Georgian regions will be
discussed.

“The issue was discussed during Mikhail Saakashvili’s visit to
Yerevan in March this year,” Sarkisyan told journalists on Thursday.
“The Georgian authorities treat our request with understanding to
consider tariff cuts, and I think that we would discuss it again,” he
emphasised.

Cargoes from various countries of the world are brought to Poti and
Batumi by sea and then to Armenia by railway.

Oregon Daily Emerald, OR
April 1 2004

Armenian musicians share folk tradition at Beall Concert Hall

Courtesy The Shoghaken Ensemble will present traditional Armenian
folk music at Beall Hall Sunday.

An octet of performers will visit campus this weekend to perform
Armenian music
By Natasha Chilingerian
Pulse Reporter

Few are familiar with the culture and history of Armenia, a small
Middle Eastern country surrounded by Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and
Georgia. The Armenians have a past which was both successful and
tragic — they produced original architecture, literature and
inventions, but they were victimized during the Armenian Genocide of
1915, in which more than 1 million Armenians were killed by the Turks
of the Ottoman Empire. But through the area’s ups and downs,
Armenians’ traditional folk music has persevered as a strong part of
their culture.
The music of Armenia will arrive at Beall Hall on Sunday with the
Shoghaken Ensemble, an octet of native Armenian performers who are
committed to keeping their ancient folk tradition alive. Radio show
host Gil Medovoy, who airs the group’s music regularly on his show
“Crossing Continents” in Davis, Calif., said the group displays a
high level of talent and knowledge.

“If they were put alongside the top Western classical musicians, they
would all stand at the same level,” Medovoy said.

The most prominent instrument used in Armenian folk music is the
somber double-reed flute called the duduk. Constructed from the trunk
of an apricot tree, the duduk sounds melancholy, ancient, and/or
biblical when played. New York City record producer Harold Hagopian,
who records the Shoghaken Ensemble on his record label, Traditional
Crossroads, said Armenians don’t always believe that the duduk sounds
forlorn.

“To Western ears, the duduk is on the dark side,” Hagopian said. “But
it sounds joyous to Armenians. (The Western world) often uses it to
depict something tragic or sad, and Armenians respond to that with,
‘What? This song is about a birth!'”

Other instruments played by the Shoghaken Ensemble include the
kamancheh, a fiddle which is bowed while resting on one knee, and the
kanun, a 72-string harp that is played while resting on the lap.
Armenian music employs a musical mode called “makam,” which is
characterized by organized ascending and descending melodic lines and
is typical throughout the Middle East. It generally uses a single
melodic line but is sometimes accompanied by a background drone.

There are distinct differences between the music of Eastern and
Western Armenia. The Eastern tradition, which the Shoghaken Ensemble
follows, normally uses a 6/8 rhythm and focuses on the duduk, while
the Western sound uses a 10/8 and features the ud (a short-necked
plucked lute instrument).

Armenians traditionally play music specifically for an event , such
as field plowing, funerals, baptisms and weddings. Wedding songs are
especially important, as Armenian weddings follow an elaborate series
of traditions, with a designated tune for each.

“Music is an integral part of their everyday life,” Hagopian said.
“Hardly any activity in Armenia doesn’t have music.”

Medovoy said most Armenian folk music exists today thanks to the
research of Komitas Vardapet, an ethnomusicologist who recorded and
taught the traditional music in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“(Vardapet) saved the essence of folk music from back then, and the
tradition is richer because of that,” he said. “He was able to
capture things first-hand.”

University Assistant Professor Mark Levy, who chose the Shoghaken
Ensemble as the third installment of the School of Music’s World
Music Series, said the show will give spectators a chance to
experience a culture most likely unknown to them.

“It will present beautiful music, and it will also be a geography
lesson and a window to a culture that people are not familiar with at
all,” he said.

The Shoghaken Ensemble will present historic music with all lyrics
sung in Armenian. The members will be in traditional village costumes
and will perform two lively folk dances. The show starts at 8 p.m.
and tickets are only available at the door for $10 for general
admission and $8 for students and seniors.

A1 Plus | 17:32:05 | 30-03-2004 | Politics |

HELSINKI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT BEATEN

President of Armenia’s Helsinki Association Mikael Danielyan was attacked
and beaten Tuesday outside his home by unidentified males.

He was rushed to a hospital with severe concussion.

—

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada
Contact; Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the Primate
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont-Quebec H2V 3H2
Tel; 514-276-9479, Fax; 514-276-9960
Email; [email protected], Website;

News From the Canadian Armenian Diocese

Bishop Bagrat Galstanian to participate in the Spiritual Supreme
Council meetings

Upon the invitation of His Holiness Karekin II Catholicos of All
Armenians His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, Primate of the
Canadian Armenian Diocese will be traveling to motherland Armenia, on
Monday 29th of March 2004, in order to attend the Spiritual Supreme
Council Meetings in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Due to this
emergency meeting, His Eminence’s pastoral visitations will be
rescheduled after his return from the Mother See.

Unfortunately, Bishop Galstanian will not be able to attend the
luncheon organized by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of
Montreal, His Eminence Andrew Hutchison to honor the Armenian Primate
of Canada.

Saintly Women’s Day in the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada

On Saturday March 20, 2004 Saintly Women’s’ day was celebrated in the
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese. Celebrations were
held in Montreal (Province of Quebec) and in Hamilton (Province of
Ontario).

For Ladies Guild Committees in the Province of Quebec the celebration
was held at St Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral. Present
were the Pastor Rev Fr Vazgen Boyajyan and over 100 women from Laval,
Quebec City and Montreal area. During the Sunrise office of the
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church Rev Fr Vazgen Boyajyan read Bishop
Bagrat Galstanian’s Greeting on this unique occasion. After the Church
service a reception held at Marie Manoogian Hall. This year the Life
of St Sahakadoukhd was presented by Mrs. Verjin Assadourian.

For Ladies Guild Committees in the Province of Ontario the celebration
was held at St Mary Armenian Apostolic Church of Hamilton. Present
were the Primate, His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian and Pastors of
Ontario Armenian Churches. The Sunrise ceremony of the Armenian Church
was officiated during which, Bishop Galstanian greeted the
participants and blessed them. During the reception followed at the
Church Hall the Life of St Sahakadoukhd was presented by Mrs. Seta
Guzuyan.

Reverend Father Hayrik Hovhannisyan arrives at Armenian Holy Apostolic
Church Canadian Diocese

It is with deep spiritual joy that we learned about the appointment of
Reverend Father Hayrik Hovhannisyan by His Holiness Karekin II
Catholicos of All Armenians to serve the Canadian Armenian Diocese.

Reverend Father Hayrik Hovhannisyan is a member of the Brotherhood of
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Rev Fr Hayrik Hovhannisyan was
born on March 1st, 1975 in Yerevan, Armenian. His baptismal name was
Hovik. In 2001 he graduated from the Gevorkian Theological Seminary of
the Mother See with Honors and was ordained a celibate priest in 2003
by His Eminence Archbishop David Sahakian. He was renamed
Fr. Hayrik. Before his ordination to the rank of celibate priesthood
Father Hayrik Hovhannisyan had served as chaplain at the Defense
Ministry of the Republic of Armenia.

His Eminece Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, Primate expressed his joy on
this occasion and thanked the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians His Holiness Karekin II. Fr Hayrik Hovhannisyan will be
attending special university program by the order of His Eminence
Bishop Bagrat Galstanian.

Bishop Bagrat Galstanian in Toronto

Friday March 26, 2004 His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian presided
over a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Holy Cross Armenian Day
School of Toronto. His Eminence has always been caring in this regard
and pays a very special attention to the role and the mission of
Armenian Schools in Diaspora.

His Eminence Bishop Galstanian celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday
March 28 and headed the Annual Assembly of the Parish of Holy Trinity
Armenian Apostolic Church of Toronto.

The Schedule of His Eminence Bishop Galstanian for the month of April

We hereby would like to present to the Clergy, Diocesan Council
members, Parish councils and faithful of the Armenian Holy Apostolic
Church, Diocese of Canada the Schedule of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat
Galstanian for the month of April 2004.-

March 29-April 5 Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
April 5- Diocesan Council meeting
April 8- Maundy Thursday Divine Liturgy Ceremony of the washing of the feet,
khavaroom, St Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral of Montreal.
April 9-Burial of our Lord St Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral
Montreal.
April 10- Easter Eve meeting with the Christian Education Council Sunday
School Department.
April 10- Divine Liturgy, Holy Trinity Armenian Church of Toronto
April 11- Easter (Zadik) St Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral of Montreal
April 12- Food Drive (In support of Sun Youth celebrating there “50-th
anniversary” a local charitable organization which helps less fortunate families.
Foods gathered on this occasion will be given to Sun Youth by the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of Canada on behalf of Canadian Armenian community).
April 18- New Sunday, Communion and Blessing of Alex Manoogian-Armen Quebec
Armenian school, Montreal St Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral.
April 22- Toy Drive (In support of the Montreal Children’s Hospital
celebrating “100 years of caring for Children”. Toys gathered will be donated to
Montreal Children’s Hospital. Bishop Galstanian, Clergy of the Diocese and Youth
council executive will be present).
April 23- Martyr’s Prayer and Ecumenical service commemoration of April 24th,
Armenian Genocide organized by Diocesan Youth Council and ACYOC’s of Montreal
and Laval. The key speaker will be the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of
Montreal His Eminence Archbishop Andrew Hutchison at Saint Gregory the
Illuminator Armenian Cathedral, Montreal.
April 24- Divine Liturgy Toronto Holy Trinity Armenian Church. Toronto Church
leaders and politicians will be present on this occasion.

Divan of the Diocese

ArmenPress
March 24 2004

INFORMATION AND TRAINING CENTER OPENS AT AGRICULTURE MINISTRY

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: Today, the Government of Armenia
and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) opened the
Information and Training Center at the Ministry of Agriculture and
signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the support that UNDP
will provide for the “First Agro-Forum” International Conference. Mr.
Samvel Avetisyan, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of
Armenia and Ms. Lise Grande, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident
Representative presided over the event.
By supporting the Information and Training Center, UNDP is
assisting the Ministry of Agriculture to strengthen its capacity in
information management. Internet services will be provided at the
Information Center, helping the Ministry access the most up-to-date
and important information on agricultural issues from around the
world, and training will be conducted to ensure that Ministry staff
have advanced information skills.
In addition to supporting the establishment of the new Center,
UNDP is also supporting the country’s “First Agro-Forum”
International Conference, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The aim of this important conference is to promote agricultural
development in Armenia by introducing the most progressive and
innovative agricultural methods from around the world. An official
website is being developed for the Conference and an information
campaign will be conducted. The fourth “AgroProdExpo” International
Exhibition will be held at the same time as the Conference.
According to Ms. Grande: “The development of agriculture in
Armenia cannot be underestimated. A large part of the population
lives in rural communities and agriculture is the main source of
income for many Armenian families. By strengthening the capacities of
the Ministry of Agriculture and helping to promote agricultural
development, we are helping to reduce poverty and inequality in
Armenia. We hope that the Ministry staff will use this new
Information Center to successfully communicate with the general
public, including the mass media.”
Mr. Avetisian noted: “Our cooperation with UNDP has a long
history, and we are grateful that resolution of the problems raised
by the Ministry is always supported by our counterpart. The
Information Center, the network and the website will promote the
Ministry of Agriculture worldwide, and we are confident that this
will help us forge effective partnerships with international and
local organizations, bilateral donors, foreign governments and
private companies.”
The “First Agro-Forum” International Conference and the fourth
“AgroProdExpo” International Exhibition will be held in Yerevan on
October 28-29, 2004.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 23, 2004 Tuesday 7:25 AM Eastern Time

Command staff exercise of Armenia army begins

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN, March 23

The command staff exercise of the Armenian Armed Forces began on the
whole territory of this Caucasian country on Tuesday.

The war games will last till Saturday, spokesman for the Defence
Minister Seiran Shakhsuvaryan told Itar-Tass. They are held as part
of the army combat training programme for 2004. Technical, rear and
medical units are involved in the drill. Armed Forces Chief of staff
and First Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Mikhail Arutyunyan
is in the head of the exercise.

The call-up of mobilization resources is held under the plan of the
drill in order to reinforce troops on Tuesday. This is one of issues
worked out at the first stage of the drill, the spokesman emphasized.