Author: Ophelia Vardapetian

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2004
CONTACT: David Zenian
Email: [email protected]
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY WELCOMES POSITIVE COMPONENTS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S FY’06 BUDGET:
CALLS FOR UPWARD ADJUSTMENT OF AID TO ARMENIA
Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly today welcomed the positive
components of the Bush Administration’s Armenia-related foreign aid
allocations of the just-released FY 2006 budget, and especially the
parity it established in security aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan and
the reference to humanitarian assistance to Nagorno Karabakh.
The Assembly said that by establishing the principle of parity
in military funding — $5 million each to Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Foreign Military Financing and $750,000 each for International
Military Education and Training — and it’s first-ever reference to
Nagorno Karabakh in a proposed budget, the Bush Administration was in
effect sending a positive message to the region designed to enhance
its role as a key partner in the peace process.
FY 2006, while not setting a dollar amount, has asked — for the
first time in specific language — for funds to “support humanitarian
assistance to Nagorno Karabakh.”
“The Armenian Assembly welcomes the Bush Administration’s financial
allocations to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, and more so because it
has placed both Armenia and Azerbaijan on the same footing in as far
as military assistance is concerned and named Nagorno Karabakh as
a separate recipient of humanitarian assistance,” Assembly Board of
Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian said.
“We are particularly pleased to note that by establishing and
maintaining military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the
Administration has taken an effective step in maintaining its
credibility as an impartial and leading mediator in the Karabakh
peace process,” Barsamian said.
While underlining the overall positive aspects of the Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh-related budget allocations, the Assembly said one
area fell short of expectations. FY 2006, following a trend already
in progress, asked for $55 million in economic assistance to Armenia –
down from last fiscal year’s request of $62 million.
“We note this ongoing decline with disappointment, but we are
determined to advocate to Congress for increased funding just as we did
and succeeded in the previous budget cycles. The damaging and illegal
Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades have not ended,” Barsamian said.
After critical, year-long efforts from the Assembly’s friends on
the Hill, “not less than” $75 million in economic aid to Armenia was
approved within the framework of the FY 2005 Omnibus Spending Bill.
Details of the Bush Administration’s FY 2006 Budget described Armenia
as “one of the leading performers in Eurasia in economic and political
reform,” and said it was for this reason that “Armenia was one of
the two countries in the region deemed eligible to receive grants
from the Millennium Challenge Account.” But the Administration also
noted that “despite the gains produced by economic reforms, poverty
remains widespread” and said “the key now is effective implementation
of reform measures, particularly fighting corruption.”
The Administration’s characterizing of reforms in Armenia effectively
supported the earlier findings of the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street
Journal 2004 Index of Economic Freedom which last year placed Armenia
well ahead of its neighbors in terms of its business climate and the
Millennium Challenge Corporation’s recognition of Armenia as a country
whose past and present performance clearly meets its criteria of
“governing justly, investing in their people and promoting economic
freedom.”
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
### NR#2005-011
–Boundary_(ID_Ax3DsrcByrRL46LdbOOG+w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE mission interviews locals on their life in Karabakh – Armenian TV
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
2 Feb 05
[Presenter] The OSCE fact-finding mission has thanked the Nagornyy
Karabakh authorities for helping their mission. However, the
co-chairmen of the [OSCE] Minsk Group and the members of the
fact-finding mission are not pleased with their visit because the
facts that have been discovered and the documents presented to them in
Baku are not identical. Stepanakert [Xankandi] has repeatedly stated
that it has nothing to hide. This group, which is looking for people
who have settled there, covered a long distance to meet them.
The members of the mission visited Dadivank, one of the medieval
Armenian temples in Kalbacar District, and lit a candle
there. Incidentally, we should point that the US co-chairman of the
Minsk Group, Steven Mann, has already returned from Stepanakert and
left for Washington. The members of the mission visited Agdam without
Mann and saw for themselves that there is no state-run settlement
programme there.
[Correspondent over video of Agdam District and OSCE mission] The OSCE
fact-finding mission has visited Agdam District and several
residential areas around it. The convoy of vehicles first pulled over
near the Agdam mosque. The members of the mission looked at the
surrounding territory from the minaret of the mosque. It was difficult
to say what the mission was looking for in the rubble. They met a few
people who are barely surviving in Agdam. Saying that the
participation of non-authorized personnel was hampering their work,
the experts expressed their desire to talk to residents privately.
[Local resident Levon Arutyunyan] They asked where I was during the
conflict. I said I was in Armenia and then I came here. Then they
[the OSCE mission] wondered about our life here.
[Correspondent] The area where the Arutyunyan family are living at the
moment is called Nor Maraga. The residents of two villages of the
Leninavan state farm, which was one of the biggest and richest state
farms of Karabakh, settled here after they were forced to leave their
place of residence in 1992.
[Local resident Susanna Markosyan] We left our homes, came here and
now live in their flattened houses. Let them return our houses so that
we can go back and live there.
[Unidentified local resident] I am not receiving help from anywhere,
but they think we are getting help.
[Correspondent] The former Maraga residents told the experts about the
atrocities of the Azerbaijani OMON [Special Purpose Police Detachment]
in their village in April 1992. They said that 200 civilians were
brutally killed. A total of 194 people were taken captive and more
than 30 civilians were wounded. Only 400 of Maraga’s 5,000 residents
have settled in this liberated territory. The remaining Maraga
residents went to other countries like the residents of other villages
forced out of Azerbaijan. The members of the fact-finding mission
encountered the same situation in other settlements controlled by
Karabakh.
The head of the mission, Emily Margarethe Haber, answered journalists’
questions after that.
[Haber] I think that all conditions have been created for us to
accomplish our mission.
[Correspondent] Narine Agabalyan and Benik Garakhanyan, “Haylur”,
Stepanakert.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN READY FOR DIALOGUE WITH KARABAKH ARMENIANS ONLY AFTER
ARMENIAN TROOPS LEAVE OCCUPIED AZERI TERRITORIES
YEREVAN, JANUARY 29. ARMINFO. “Azerbaijan is ready for a dialogue with
the Karabakh Armenians but only after the Armenian troops are
withdrawn from the occupied Azeri territories,” says Azeri Deputy FM
Araz Azimov.
Zerkalo reports him as saying that the PACE resolution on Karabakh
“has given an unbiased picture of the occupation of and the ethnic
cleansing over Azeri territories.” Azimov says that now Armenia and
Azerbaijan are negotiating for stopping their military conflict and
eliminating its consequences. In due time Azerbaijan will start
negotiating with Karabakh’s Armenian community too but at the same
time with the local Azeri community who will return to Karabakh by
that time. This will be talks with own citizens and the public should
understand this, says Azimov.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Aberdeen Press and Journal
January 24, 2005
Icas helps armenia rebuild its economy
by Keith Findlay
Scotland’s prized reputation for financial prudence is helping the
former Soviet state of Armenia rebuild its economy. The Caucasus
republic aims to have its fledgling accountancy profession
rubber-stamped by international governing bodies in the next two
years and has enlisted the help of the world’s oldest accountancy
body – the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland.
Hundreds of young Armenian students are now being put through
professional exams as part of an international effort to encourage
investment in the country and secure its membership of the respected
International Federation of Accountants.
Armenia’s best-known exports are its fine brandy and cut diamonds,
but the economy has depended heavily on foreign aid since
independence in 1991.
It has been forced to rebuild its formerly Soviet-funded power
industry.
Neil Wallace, ICAS head of international services, has been leading
the project from Armenia’s capital Yerevan and is now seeing
Japanese, Korean, German and French investors looking for business
opportunities.
“It sounds a bit pie in the sky to say you can help people become
rich, but it does happen,” he said.
“If you can put in an accounting and auditing system in these
countries, it does help attract investment and you can see the
progress.” He added: “Whenever a country’s coming out of a period of
crisis, accountants are among the first people called in by the
international agencies because no one is going to invest in an
organisation unless they have an idea of its financial position or
projections.
“Joining IFAC will give credibility to members of Armenia’s local and
international institutes because they’ll be regarded as working to
the highest international standards.” ICAS, which celebrated its
150th anniversary last year, is collaborating with Armenia’s ministry
of finance to set up an independent body along the lines of the UK’s
Financial Reporting Council.
It is also helping the Armenian Association of Accountants and
Auditors to develop ethical standards, disciplinary procedures and
training resources.
“We’re the oldest professional accountancy body in the world and
probably the most respected,” Mr Wallace said. “Scotland has
generally got a solid reputation for producing good, honest
accountants and people tend to trust what we say.” ICAS is working on
similar projects in Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Poland and is
tendering for contracts in other countries around the world.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
Jan 24 2005
GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES PLAN MAJOR ROAD RECONSTRUCTION IN JAVAKHETI

AKHALKALAKI, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: A senior official of the
Georgian Department of Roads was quoted by A-Info news agency as
saying that Samtskhe-Javakheti, the predominantly Armenian-populated
region of South Georgia, will see a number of road building projects
this year.
Giorgy Tsereteli, deputy head of the department, reconfirmed
during a Saturday meeting at the region’s governor’s office that the
Tbilisi-Tsalka-Akhalkalaki-Kartsakh road will be repaired on funds
expected from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a
US-government-funded organization.
Tsreteli said some $105 million are earmarked also for the repair
of another key road in the region stretching from Akhalkalaki to
Akhaltsikha.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ESTONIA HANDS OUT EUR 511,000 IN FOREIGN AID IN 2004
Baltic News Service
December 24, 2004
TALLINN, Dec 24 — Estonia gave international development and foreign
aid to the tune of eight million kroons (EUR 511,000) from the state
budget in the outgoing year, mostly to support eastern and southeastern
Europe and southern Caucasus.
Estonia handed out a total of more than 1.5 million kroons in
humanitarian aid through international organizations, the daily
Postimees reported.
So Estonia supported victims of the Beslan hostage drama, civil war
refugees of the Sudanese Darfur area, earthquake victims in Iran
and children in the Russian Pskov region who were given hepatitis A
vaccine, Foreign Ministry press secretary Anneli Kimber reported.
Kimber added that 6.5 million kroons was spent on development aid,
which consisted in the transfer of material aid as well as technical
knowhow.
“So we have invited to Estonia public servants from Georgia, Uzbekistan
and Ukraine to share with them eurointegration experience, to inform
them how to negotiate with the World Trade Organization, and have
helped Armenia develop its emergency centers and communications
network,” Kimber said.
She said Estonia was sharing its experience in the sphere of public
administration, institutional development, development of the
information society, accession to international organizations and
environmental protection.
In the transfer of its knowhow Estonia mainly centers on areas where
processes similar to the reforms carried out in Estonia lie ahead or
are already in progress.
Next year the Foreign Minstry has set its foreign aid target at
the same level as this year, Kimber said. She said the main target
countries would be the same as previously, the most important of them
being Georgia and Ukraine.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA ACTIVELY WORKING OVER ARMENIA’S INCLUSION IN TRANSPORT CORRIDOR
NORTH-SOUTH
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15. ARMINFO. Russia is actively working over
Armenia’s inclusion in the international transport corridor
North-South. Speaker of State Duma of Russia Boris Gryzlov informed
during the meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Andranik Margarian.
ARMINFO was informed in the press office of the government, stressing
the importance of improvement of the transport communication between
the two states, Boris Gryzlov has also informed about the intensive
activities on launching the ferry train communication Caucasus – Poti,
as well as on restoration of the movement through the Abkhazian
section of the railway. In his opinion, it will be effective from the
point of view of the economy both for Armenia and Russia. Speaking of
Armenia’s involvement in regional and transport programs, Margarian
mentioned that Armenia expects assistance from Russian parliament
members in the issue of lifting the blockade, opening of
Armenian-Turkish border, as well as in the issue of resumption of the
railway communication Tbilisi-Gyumri-Kars.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Dutch police raid suspected militant camp
UPI
November 13, 2004 Saturday 7:38 PM EST
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 13 — Dutch police said Saturday they
made 29 arrests in a southern Netherlands raid at a suspected training
camp for Kurdish militants, CNN reported.
The police raided a campground believed to be used by militant group
Kurdish Workers Party. They said the camp may be linked to recent
arson attacks on churches and mosques.
The Dutch Justice Department’s international crime team said they
believe those arrested were preparing to relocate to Armenia to fight
for the party.
The Justice Department said five of those arrested were women.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SAMVEL MKRTCHIAN: OUR COOPERATION WITH NATO IS A KEY COMPONENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
Azg/arm
11 Nov 04
NATO Secretary General was in Yerevan last week within the frameworks
of his regional visit. At the press conference followed after his
meeting with President Kocharian, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer mentioned
about Armenia-NATO cooperation within Individual Partnership Action
Plan. What kind of Plan is this and where did Yerevan-Brussels
relations reach? Armenian ambassador to NATO Samvel Mkrtchian answers
those questions in an interview to Azg Daily.
– Cooperation with international structures generally starts
with applying the so-called principle of “cover approach” when an
institution carries out similarly policy for all the states of a
region. At a certain stage of cooperation the institution needs to
specify the frames and contents of cooperation. Certainly, not all
countries agree on the terms and demands of some programs. And NATO
has collaborated a new program for cooperation and partnership which
is called Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP). Now every state
engaged in Cooperation for Peace initiative within the frameworks
of IPAP may draw forward its suggestions. That means that a state
sets its priorities, evaluates its abilities and according to them
creates its own work program. If the opposite sides approves of the
program it may be put into action. We think of preparing the scheme
of our program by the end of this year and present it to NATO, after
which it will get approved and will be implemented.
РMr. Mkrtchian, Armenia̢~@~Ys accession to NATO is viewed as very
probable in near future, especially after Secretary Generaâ~@~Ys
visit. Is that possible that Armenia will some day declare, like
neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia, of its desire to join NATO?
– In our political statements we were always clear and realistic,
as opposed to others, and now we declare that NATO membership is not
on our political agenda now. We hew to the chosen line in developing
our relations with NATO. How far will our relations reach â~@~S
is another issue. But we do not consider NATO membership a priority
so far because we are realistic about geopolitical issues that our
region is facing. We also take into consideration our readiness and
Organizationâ~@~Ys willingness to see us as a member. Today NATO
also is not hankering for Armeniaâ~@~Ys membership.
РDo you mean Armenia is not meeting NATO̢~@~Ys standards today? Is
that the reason why Armenia does not speak out about joining NATO?
РNo, that is not what I mean. It̢~@~Ys a very subtle issue. Our
cooperation with NATO is a key component for national security but
here we also have Russia and Organization of Joint Safety Treaty
supporting us, as well as separate states such as USA with which we
cooperate in the sphere of defense.
РAs an ambassador you are going to represent Armenia̢~@~Ys interests
in Brussels. What are the aims Armenia pursuits in NATO?
– NATO is a multifaceted organization. Today Armenia and NATO cooperate
in the sphere of extreme situation controlling. We also develop our
relations in the sphere of science. NATO implements two very important
projects in our region. First one is researching rivers of the region,
and Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia will watch that the rivers are
not polluted. Second one is the project of virtual silk way through
which the 3 states will gain access to the Internet. Another primary
issue is secure regions safety by the help of NATO. The Organization
itself declares about this function and that becomes a precondition
for future development and prosperity. Development and deepening of
our cooperation will largely depend on the success of IPAP.
– NATO high officials are speaking well of Armenia lately. What is
the reason of NATOâ~@~Ys optimism?
РNATO representatives evaluate Armenia̢~@~Ys abilities and accuracy
very highly. Frankly speaking, NATO is interested in developing
relations with us as our cooperation is rather easy-going. Certainly,
there are limits to our abilities coming from general situation in
the region, including unsettled Karabakh conflict, that keep us back
fro taking additional steps. But our cooperation within the frameworks
of the possible is efficient and that attracts the opposite side.
By Tatoul Hakobian
–Boundary_(ID_b3+XNXQVxLCoqVUVRSGxdA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Monde
03 novembre 2004
M. Fabius toujours hostile à la Turquie dans l’Europe
LAURENT FABIUS a réitéré son opposition à l’entrée de la Turquie dans
l’Union européenne, dans deux entretiens parus, mardi 2 novembre,
dans le quotidien gratuit Metro et dans Nouvelles d’Arménie Magazine.
Le numéro deux du PS se dit « favorable à un partenariat privilégié
avec elle, mais pas à une adhésion ».
La Turquie pose « un problème de démocratie », a dit M. Fabius,
soulignant qu’elle ne reconnaissait pas le génocide arménien.
Il a aussi dénoncé comme « un leurre » la promesse de référendum
faite par Jacques Chirac. « Il serait bien plus judicieux et
démocratique de prendre une décision dès maintenant » en faveur du
partenariat, dit M. Fabius. L’ancien premier ministre affirme
également que l’adhésion de la Turquie coûterait 25 milliards d’euros
par an, « ce qui veut dire que nos régions n’auraient, elles, plus de
soutien ».
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress