Author: Nanijanian Alex

PRESS RELEASE
Committee to Elect Paul Krekorian
Contact: Adrin Nazarian
859 Hollywood Way, PMB 105
Burbank CA 91505
(818) 848-7750 tel
(818) 848-7749 fax

July 6, 2005

Glendale Mayor Hosts Fundraiser For Paul Krekorian in State Assembly Race

Glendale, CA – Paul Krekorian, Burbank School Board President and the
leading candidate for California State Assembly in the 43rd district,
got another big boost when the Mayor of Glendale, Rafi Manoukian,
hosted a successful fundraiser for Krekorian in his home. The event
raised more than $35,000 toward Krekorian’s campaign.

Four of the five members of the Glendale City Council were present at
the event. Councilmembers Ara Najarian, Dave Weaver, and Bob
Yousefian joined Mayor Manoukian in showing their support and
encouragement for Krekorian’s bid for the Assembly. Glendale City
Clerk Ardy Kassakhian and Burbank City Councilmember Stacey Murphy
were also present to show their support. The large crowd also
included many city commissioners and community leaders. “I am deeply
honored that Mayor Manoukian and his wife Zovig opened their home in
support of this vitally important campaign,” Krekorian said after the
event. “We’ve received tremendous support from the civic and
community leaders of Glendale and Burbank, which gives me great
encouragement. I will continue to work hard to earn that support and
to stand up for the interests of our community in Sacramento.”

Krekorian is running for the State Assembly seat currently held by
Assemblymember Dario Frommer, who will be leaving the office because
of term limits. The district includes the communities of Glendale,
Burbank, North Hollywood, Silver Lake and Los Feliz, and is home to
the largest Armenian-American community in the United States.
Political analysts consider Krekorian the leading candidate in the
election, which will be held next June.

Mayor Manoukian spoke glowingly about Krekorian and emphasized to the
large crowd that he fully endorsed Krekorian and would work hard to
ensure his victory. Krekorian has also been endorsed by Burbank Mayor
Jef VanderBorght, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Congresswoman Linda
Sanchez, Senator Jackie Speier, Assemblymember Carol Liu and
Assemblymember Paul Koretz, among many others.

Krekorian spoke about his vision for California and thanked the
audience for their support and commitment. He also took a moment to
introduce his wife Tamar and their newest addition to the family, 7
week old son Andrew Levon Krekorian.

Krekorian supporters gather at Mayor Rafi Manoukian’s home. Front
row: Zovig Manoukian, Dalida Keuroghlian, Mayor Rafi Manoukian, Nigol
Manoukian. Back row: Mike Keuroghlian, Tamar Krekorian, Paul
Krekorian.

Pravda, Russia
July 7 2005

Strong Russia annoys USA
07/07/2005 10:06
The USA still can not understand that it did not win the Cold War

US Senate Committee for Appropriations has expressed concern about
the strengthening of Russia’s role in the countries of the former
Soviet Union. The Committee called on the State Department to convoke
an international conference on issues relating to the promotion of
democracy in the region. “Opposing a growing threat posed by Russia
to the countries which are in transition to democracy should be a
priority to the US,” says the statement. “The Committee points out
that successful democratic reforms in those countries will be of
crucial importance to support and promotion of democratic development
in other countries including Belarus,” says the cover letter to a
budgetary bill passed by the Committee. The 2006 budget of US
Department of State allows for $85 million to be allocated for
democracy and reform promotion programs in Russia. The committee
signed off on a total sum of $565 millions to be allocated for
support of democracy, economic reforms, supremacy of the law in the
countries of the former Soviet Union. The above sum is expected to
break down as follows: $95 million to be allocated for Ukraine; $75
millions for Armenia; $70.5 million for Georgia; $38 million for
Azerbaijan; $35 million for Kyrgyzstan; and $15 million for Belarus.

Different sizes of funds earmarked for democracy promotion are quite
noteworthy. On the one hand, $85 million will hardly make a
difference for Russia no matter what we are talking about. On the
other hand, $95 million for Ukraine and $75 million for Armenia look
like a big amount of money. The money could give a huge boost to
supporters of “orange” revolution in Ukraine. It could also disrupt
political stability in Armenia. Speaking to the press on the eve of
the Astana summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Uzbek
President Islam Karimov openly accused the American “directors” of
engineering upheavals in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Politicians and
common people alike in every Central Asian republic of the former
Soviet Union say explicitly that they have more trust in Russia
despite a wide variety of aid programs offered by the Americans.
Besides, US military presence in Central Asia is a source of concern
to China. During the summit meeting in Astana, members states of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization voiced their desire to effect
independent control over the situation in the region.

Konstantin Zatulin, the State Duma deputy and director of the
Institute of the CIS studies, says that funds allocated by the US for
the “promotion of democracy” aim to promote a US model of democracy
and spread US influence in the above countries. “United Russia or any
other pro-government party in Russia will not get a penny of those
funds, Ukraine’s opposition will get the money either,” said Mr.
Zatulin. It is obvious that the US has long put to good use a certain
pattern and methods for carrying out foreign policy operations.
Calling a government democratic or undemocratic is just a ritual to
the USA “After that they use the whole range of tools available for
toppling unfriendly regimes, huge funds involved in such operations
are beyond any comparison to those which are allocated officially,”
said Mr. Zatulin. “The Cold War is over, but some old habits die
hard,” added he.

Mr. Zatulin believes Russia should use similar methods. “Taking into
account that Russia has become a country with a multiparty political
system and market-oriented economy, Russia should cast aside its fake
shyness and use the weapons of the West in this field of activity,”
said he. Despite a significant difference in financial resources of
the two countries, Russia is much more interested in developing
democracy in the neighboring countries. Pro-Russian forces could only
step to the fore only when democracy is in place. “Why don’t we set
the ball in motion in the Baltic states?” said Mr. Zatulin.

“As regards Armenia, Russia’s only ally, the country is a principal
candidate for the next “color” revolution, the size of officially
allocated funds reflects a priority, but yet it is the tip of the
iceberg as I told you earlier,” said Mr. Zatulin with regard to a
“cost estimate” of US Senate Committee. Aleksei Zudin, head of
political sciences department of the Center of Political
Technologies, points out that Washington’s idea of democracy for the
countries of the former Soviet Union actually implies the
establishment of regimes which are dependent on the US “A political
instability zone is being built around Russia by stepping up
democratic developments which can not create strong political
institutions, on the contrary, political institutions can only grow
weaker as a result,” said Mr. Zudin.

Those who place an order for revolution and work behind the scenes
are fully aware of consequences. In other words, the instigators of
the “color” revolutions in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan had planned the
overthrowing of the authorities by force.

America has a number of priorities with regard to funds allocated for
the “promotion of democracy.” The size of funds will be commensurate
with those priorities. The White House is planning to make a serious
political effort in countries than border on Russia. Operations in
Russia are aimed at producing “irritating effects” only.

“The USA still can not understand that it did not win the Cold War,”
said Mr. Zudin. He believes that Americans are wrong to liken the
defeat of Nazi Germany to the collapse of communism. The dismantling
of Nazism brought out winners and losers, “democratic teachers” and
“democratic students.” The collapse of communism was caused by
internal factors, not the external ones. Nations who got rid of
communism without US assistance simply reject being lectured by
foreign “experts” on ways and pace of reforms they should follow.
They can not accept compulsory export of democratic institutions
either.

Mr. Zudin believes Russian-US relations are getting increasingly
paradoxical. Partnership and cooperation in some areas are
accompanied by the attempts aiming to put unilateral pressure on the
political process in other areas.

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

July 7 2005

OSCE Media Representative praises Turkey for changing penal code, but
remains concerned

VIENNA, 7 July 2005 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the
Media, Miklos Haraszti, today praised the Turkish authorities for
introducing important changes to the new Penal Code, following a
legal review his Office produced last May listing 23 provisions that
needed to be revoked.

However, “despite some improvements, the amendments do not
sufficiently eliminate threats to freedom of expression and to a free
press,” Mr Haraszti said.

The revised Turkish Penal Code was finally approved by parliament on
Wednesday, 29 June. It now has to be published in the Official
Gazette in order to enter into force.

Out of the 23 changes the OSCE Representative suggested in May, seven
provisions have been brought into line with media freedom principles.

A welcome improvement is the deletion of most of the provisions which
assumed stronger sanctions when the media was involved. Turkish
lawmakers acknowledged that information about crimes could be in the
interest of free discussion of public affairs.

Relating to Article 305 on “offences against fundamental national
interests”, the Representative noted with satisfaction that two
examples in the explanatory “Reasoning Document” – making it a crime
to demand the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus or to claim
that Armenians were exposed to genocide – have been removed.

On a negative note, however, Mr Haraszti observed three major areas
where media freedom remains endangered:

* the right of journalists to report and discuss on public-interest
issues is not secured;
* restrictions on access and disclosure of information have not been
lifted;
* defamation and insult provisions remain a criminal rather than a
civil offence, thereby leaving the free discussion of public affairs
at risk.

The Representative expressed his hope that modernisation of the
Turkish Penal Code would continue in the spirit of improving the
freedom of public scrutiny, while the provisions promoting
self-censorship would all be removed.

The original legal review can be found at

Armenian electoral body reduces number of constituencies

Arminfo
6 Jul 05

YEREVAN

The number of the electoral constituencies in the country has been
reduced from 65 to 41 in line with the amendments to the Armenian
Electoral Code. The Armenian Central Electoral Commission [CEC]
approved this decision today.

Under the decision, the number of the constituencies in Yerevan was
reduced from 18 to 13. The number of the constituencies decreased by
four in Ararat and Armavir Regions and by two in Aragatsotn
Region. The commission tried not to change the borders of the
constituencies while “expanding” them, the deputy chairman of the CEC,
Gamlet Abramyan, has said. [Passage omitted: geographical details of
the constituencies]

Today’s session of the CEC sparked off a fierce discussion provoked by
Feliks Khachatryan, a representative of the opposition Justice bloc in
the commission.

He said that for some reasons, the division into the constituencies
had been carried out by the chairman of the CEC, Garegin Azaryan, and
his deputy, Gamlet Abramyan, in secret from the other members of the
commission. The division was carried out unequally and illogically,
“for the purpose of securing unhampered election of a certain
candidate, and, as a result, not only territories of one region, but
also houses on the same side of a street in Yerevan were included into
various constituencies “, he added.

[Passage omitted: details of discussion]

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 4 2005

FIRST TECHNOLOGICAL VENTURE FOUNDATION TO BE ESTABLISHED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, July 4. /ARKA/. The first technological venture foundation
will be established in Armenia, Director of Enterprise Incubator
Foundation Bagrat Yengibaryan informed about it during today’s
press-conference. According to him, the issue is being negotiated in
the framework of World Bank Project for IT (Information Technologies)
development, with participation of donors and private investors.
“Negotiations are planned to be finished during upcoming months, and
it is planned to concretize issues of foundation’s establishment till
autumn”, Yengibaryan told. He mentioned that venture foundation will
be able to perform some management, and it will allow local investors
to direct their funds in profitable fields, including information
technologies. A.A. -0–

PRESS RELEASE
“YERKIR”, UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
FOR REPATRIATION AND SETTLEMENT
47 Bagramyan ave., ap. 10/A, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel. +(374 10) 26 28 75
Web:
Contact: Robert Tatoyan, [email protected]

Yerevan, July 4, 2005.

GRAND OPENING CEREMONY OF THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF `BOUNDARY CULTURE”
SERIES, DEDICATED TO THE EXPLORATION OF HANDABERD MONASTERY COMPLEX TOOK
PLACE ON THE 1ST OF JULY, 2005

On the 1st of July, 2005 at 3pm in Naregatsi Art Institute Yerevan
center on the initiative of Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of
NASRA, Union of Non-Governmental Organizations `Yerkir’ for
Repatriation and Settlement, Center for Cultural Studies `Kenats tsar’
took place the grand opening ceremony of the first Exhibition of
`Boundary culture” series, dedicated to the exploration of Handaberd
monastery complex near Knaravan village of Shahumyan region, MKR.

The speakers present were the president of `Yerkir’ Union Sevak
Artsruni, the director of Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of
NASRA Dr. Aram Kalantaryan, the head of Archeology and Ethnography
department in Yerevan State University Dr. Igit Garibyan, and the
president of `Kenats tsar’ Center for Cultural Studies’ NGO Dr. Hamlet
Petrosyan.

`Kenats tsar’ Center for Cultural Studies NGO is a member of the
`Yerkir’ Union. One of the main goals of the organization is the
research of ancient and modern culture expression of frontier areas of
Armenia.

The Exhibition will be open till July 10, 2005.

A1plus

| 21:10:53 | 01-07-2005 | Social |

JULY 3 – VARDEVAR

The Holiday which comes 98 days after the Easter is called the Vardevar in
the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is usually celebrated on July 28-August 1.
This holiday is the most beloved among children as the national habit on
this day is to pour water on each other.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL CASE HEARD IN PARIS

Pan Armenian News
30.06.2005 06:40

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Paris court has started consideration of the suit
Hay Dat (Armenian issue) Commission instituted in May 2003 against
Quid encyclopedia and Robert Lafon Publishers that are indicted in
“propaganda of denial of the Armenian Genocide,” reported the Yerkir
newspaper. Several French and Armenian organizations – the Council
of Armenian Organizations of France, Union of Jewish Students of
France – have cast their support to the Hay Dat Committee. The ruling
will be announced on July 6. The claim stems from an article in the
Encyclopedia “Turkey, some issues, Armenia: Turkey’s stand over the
Armenian Issue” that denies the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in
1915. The plaintiff demands to correct the article containing denial
of the Genocide.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 29, 2005, Wednesday

BEING FRIENDS AND BRANDISHING WEAPONS

SOURCE: Rossiiskaya Gazeta, June 26, 2005, pp. 1, 3

by Yuri Gavrilov

SERGEI IVANOV SPOKE OF MILITARY COOPERATION BETWEEN CIS COUNTRIES

“The prospects are good and long-term,” Defense Minister of Russia
Sergei Ivanov appraised the future of the Russian Nurek center in the
wake of the meeting of CIS Council of Defense Ministers in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan.

In fact, Ivanov’s words also apply to the relations between members
of the CIS Collective Security Treaty. Unfortunately, cooperation
among CIS countries as such is not that cloudless. The CIS United
Antiaircraft Defense System is the only viable structure after almost
15 years of its existence. No wonder 70% of the aggregate CIS
military budgets are spent on its improvement. Effectiveness of other
projects leaves much to be desired, while some of them are actually
history. Even the traditional exercise Combat Brotherhood is
gradually transforming into an element of combat training of six
countries of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization –
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
This state of affairs has a negative effect on security of the
post-Soviet zone because, as the Russian minister put it yesterday,
“the united system should not be viewed as just a means of
antiaircraft defense. It enables us to tackle counter-terrorism tasks
and help CIS aviation in emergencies.”

Ivanov spoke of the legend of Combat Brotherhood’2005 in Dushanbe.
Its first phase began on Telemba, a testing site behind Baikal in
Russia. It will end on July 10. The next two weeks will be
particularly hard on pilots, antiaircraft crews, radars of the Baltic
Fleet, and their counterparts from the Byelorussian national army.
The exercise will move to Saryshagan in Kazakhstan (August 5 to 12),
and units of two more armies will join Russians and Byelorussians.
Culmination of the exercise will take place in late summer with
Armenian, Byelorussian, Russian, and Tajik crews drilling cooperation
and interaction. Representatives of Kazakhstan will play the role of
observers this year.

The CIS United Antiaircraft Defense System is not the only one to be
perfected. Modernization of Nurek made the complex truly unique now,
Ivanov said. The center detects objects less then a meter in size in
outer space at a distance of up to 40,000 kilometers. Scientists and
military involved in the modernization program were awarded recently.
The land the complex is built on became property of the Russian
Federation several months ago. Ivanov even promised the status of a
military base for the 201st Russian Motorized Infantry Division
quartered in Tajikistan. It will happen this autumn, he said.

“The tasks and personnel of the base have been decided already,”
Ivanov said. “Completion of construction of the necessary
infrastructure is under way. We invest substantial sums in capital
construction and armament. After all, we all know the region the base
will operate in and the tasks it will have to perform – including
interaction with the Tajik Defense Ministry and border guards.”

Ivanov signed the agreement and acts on transfer of movables of the
new military structure, yesterday.

ILHAM ALIYEV MAKING DIVING LINES

YEREVAN, JUNE 29. ARMINFO. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is
sure in possibility of settling the Karabakh conflict and wants to
achieve it in a peace way. Ilham Aliyev expressed such an opinion in
his interview to the TV channel SNN-Turk.

In his opinion, the issue must be settled between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. “The given format is determined and the negotiations
are held just in this format. Armenia insistently tries to involve
Nagony Karabakh into the process, but we are against it.” He explains
such position of Baku by the fact that the “lands were occupied by
Karabakh and not Armenia.” The president thinks the present meetings on
settlement of the conflict are in a positive directions. He explains
it by the fact that “the international organizations and the OSCE
MG engaged in the given issue have understood that Azerbaijan will
never yield Nagorny Karabakh and will never put with the violation
of its territorial integrity.” In this connection, Ilham Aliyev
expresses readiness to provide Armenians residing in Karabakh
a status of high autonomy and ensure their security. “Including
jointly with international organizations. But Nagorny Karabakh is an
Azerbaijani land. The sovereignty of Azerbaijan must not be violated
and territorial integrity must be restored,” he says.

Not confused with his own illogic, Ilham Aliyev says that “400,000
Armenia live in Georgia, and they do not demand independence. They
live also 500,000 Azerbaijanis and they do not demand anything
either.” Developing his idea, President Aliyev says “if Armenians
want to create an autonomy in all the states they reside, a dozen
of Armenian states will occur in the world. It is illogic and
contradicts to the International Law.” He also says “there are
hopes in the negotiation process, but I cannot say whether there is
progress.” “Progress will be when we achieve agreements on this or
another issue. There are hopes as the processes in the world are
not in favor of Armenians, The political picture in the region is
changing. Azerbaijan as part of the EuroAtlantic community supports
very close ties with NATO, European Union, USA. Armenia wages other
policy and its allies are on the other side,” Aliyev explains.