Author: Tambiyan Samvel

THE PROSECUTOR PLANTING TREES ERADICATES FREE SPEECH
A1+
[06:31 pm] 27 June, 2006
Today the staff of “Zhamanak Yerevan” newspaper held a rally of
complaint opposite the RA Prosecuracy at 2 p.m. with suchlike posters
in protection to Arman Babajanyan, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper
who was arrested yesterday.
They demanded to release Arman Babajanyan and considered his arrest
illegal for a number of reasons.
Manouk Soukiasyan, executive director of the newspaper noted that
neither they nor Arman Babajanyan’s relatives granted him an advocate.
Rouben Sahakyan, president of the Advocates’ chamber informed the
strikers that nobody has turned them with such a request.
He also informed that they have already applied to many international
organizations and will apply to the European Embassies within
the day. They also got a message from Georgian legal and media
organizations in which they express their readiness to render their
assistance without going into details and they will follow the future
events attentively.
The strikers claim that they will go to the Prosecuracy every day
and continue their rally by the time Arman Babajanyan is set free.
As for the newspaper “it was published today, we are going to publish
it tomorrow as well and we are not inclined to stop our work,” assured
the strikers. By the way they wanted to meet Aghvan Hovsepyan, RA
Attorney General but they didn’t get a reply to their request today.

ARTUR BAGHDASARYAN: ARMENIA HAS OLIGARCHIC ECONOMY
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 25 2006
YEREVAN, June 26. /ARKA/. Armenia has oligarchic economy now, Chairman
of the Law-Governed Country (LGC) party Artur Baghdasaryan stated at
the 5th congress of the LGC Women’s Union.
“Armenia lack free economy, small and medium-sized business is not
developing,” he said.
According to Baghdasaryan, the centralization of power and money
aimed at “purchasing and taking control of everything in the country”
can be observed in Armenia.
According to him, this is confirmed by that fact that 70% of
revenues of Armenia’s state budge are formed due to 100 out of 52,500
enterprises registered in Armenia.
“In the entire world, small and medium-sized businesses provide 85%
of all budget revenues,” Baghdasaryan said.
“Oligarchic economy cannot provide good guarantees of the country’s
development,” he said.

ANKARA SHOULD RECOGNISE THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE: KAREKIN II
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
June 26 2006
Karekin II conducted a service on Sunday in the central church of
the Turkish Armenian Patriarchy.
NTVMSNBC & NEWS WIRES
Guncelleme: 16:00 TSÝ 26 Haziran 2006 PazartesiISTANBUL – Armenian
General Patriarch Karekin II, currently on a visit to Turkey, on
Sunday said that Ankara should recognise the so-called Armenian
genocide of 1915.
Speaking at a press conference after conducting a mass in an Armenian
church in Istanbul, Karekin II said the allegations of genocide against
the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian community had been studied for 90 years
by academics.
“For our people the genocide is not an issue of research,” he said.
“This is an incident that has happened and its has to be recognised.”
Karekin II said that Armenia was very willing to develop relations
with Turkey and stressed that if the two countries worked together
constructive solutions could be found to the problem.
In response to Turkey giving high points to Armenia in the Eurovision
Song Contest, Karekin II said that this should be seen as a positive
step.
–Boundary_(ID_SetT9OKH4arM32UUvmq t2w)–

ARMENIAN-AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKING PART IN TERJENIAN-THOMAS ASSEMBLY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN WASHINGTON
ArmRadio.am
26.06.2006 12:00
Twenty Armenian-American college students, including two from Armenia,
are taking part in the Terjenian-Thomas Assembly Internship Program
in Washington, while 14 others are enrolled in a similar program in
Yerevan, Armenia. Both groups will intern in their respective cities
while taking part in a series of cultural, social and educational
activities.
They hail from some of the most competitive schools in the country
and are pursuing degrees in political science, law and medicine,
and for the next two months they will take their first steps towards
professional careers and community leaderships as participants of
the Assembly’s summer intern programs.
Washington program participants will work in the offices of Senators
Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Representatives Frank
Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ed Royce (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Anthony
Weiner (D-NY), as well as federal government agencies, non-governmental
organizations (NGO), media outlets and think tanks. Yerevan interns
– the largest group in the program’s history – will intern with the
Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, the OSCE, the Nork Marsh
Medical Center, as well as with other Armenian government institutions
and NGOs.
While in Yerevan, interns will learn more about their ancestral home
through visits to historical and cultural sites in and around Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh. In addition to their internships, students meet
senior government officials and other prominent individuals. They
also have opportunities to meet socially with local Armenians.

This Is Lancashire, UK
June 23 2006
Suitor catches princess in the bath . . .
By Wes Wright
Iranian wall tile at Bolton Museum
AMONG the many works of art held in store by Bolton Museum and Art
Gallery is a beautiful Iranian wall tile.
Iran hits the headlines today because of its hardline leader and
nuclear ambitions. But before Ayatollah Khomeini led the Islamic
revolution of 1979, the country had a long history of visual arts,
including ceramic depictions of classic Persian stories. This week we
are focusing on this tile as part of our Hidden Treasures series,
which puts the spotlight on works of art or pieces of historical
importance which cannot be shown because of lack of space.
This exotic and detailed wall tile is one of the many artefacts in
store at Bolton Museum and Art Gallery which is unlikely to see the
light of day in the near future.
The work, entitled Khusraw sees Shirin Bathing, is a moulded and
glazed pottery tiledating back to the late 19th century.
continued…
Fiona Salvesen, keeper of art at Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, said:
“The tile depicts an episode from the poetic romance Krushaw and
Shirin by Nizanni (1632-1680).
“It illustrates the moment when the lovers cross paths and Khusraw
catches a glimpse of Shirin bathing. Khusraw and his companion are
shown on horseback, tentatively approaching the bathing maiden.
“The exotic and colourful flora and fauna of the courtyard heighten
the sensuality of the moment.
“As with examples from Western visual and literary culture, we see
that the act of washing can be transformed from a mere domestic act
into something altogether more significant, seductive and spiritual.
“This tile was probably made for the export market, rather than for a
specific interior within Iran. Images such as this were sought after
by Western collectors and enthusiasts of the exotic’ culture of the
Middle East.”
The gallery has several other examples of ceramics from the Middle
East which are currently out on display.
The romance of Khusraw, the son of the King of Iran, and Shirin is a
classic text of Persian literature. It tells the story of the
courtship of the pre-Islamic king Khusraw Parviz and the Armenian
princess Shirin.
Shirin and Khusraw fell in love by seeing each other in portraits,
but their first meeting was long delayed. Before Shirin agreed to
marry Khusraw, there were obstacles to overcome, including the
vanquishing of Farhad, a rival for Shirin’s affections.
The poet Nizami created the romance for a local ruler in North-west
Iran in 1184, and from the 15th century manuscripts containing the
poem were often illustrated with miniature paintings and later
ceramics, including tiles.
calnews/display.var.805469.0.suitor_catches_prince ss_in_the_bath.php

ITALIAN EMBASSY REFUSES TO GRANT VISA TO ARMENIAN PHYSICIAN FOR PARTICIPATION IN WORLD SPORT GAMES OF MEDICS
Yerevan, June 20. ArmInfo. Italian Embassy in Armenia refused to grant
an entry visa to Dmitry Haroutunyan, who was to participate in the
chess tournament of World Sport Games of Medics. Vahe Ter-Minasyan,
PR Manager of the Armenian Medical Association told journalists.
V. Ter-Minasyan did not name the reason of the refusal as they received
no explanations from the Embassy, he said. The Italian Embassy to
Armenia told ArmInfo an application for a visa can be rejected only
for a sound reason. However, the Embassy did not explain the reason.
To note, the Games are scheduled for July 1-8 in an Italian town of
Montecatini, Tuscany province. Armenia was invited to the Games for
the first time. Dmitry Haroutunyan, attending physician of Yerevan
State Medical University Department for Infectious Diseases, passed the
selection tour and was to leave for Italy to participate in the Games.

MARC PERRIN DE BRICHAMBAUT:THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES TO RESOLVE THE KARABAKH ISSUE IN A PEACEFUL WAY
ArmRadio.am
22.06.2006 13:11
There are still opportunities to resolve the Karabakh issue in a
peaceful way, OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.
It is important to continue the dialogue after the Bucharest talks, he
declared reminding that today in Vienna the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
will report to the Permanent Council of the Organization. “Therefore,
no one can say that the process has been suspended. I think the
international community is interested in the resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Various ways of resolution of the
issue will be discussed. We can only hope that everything will proceed
well. At the same time it is hard to predict whether the conflict will
be resolved in the current year or not,” the OSCE Secretary General
said. Simultaneously, Brichambaut expressed his appreciation for the
activity f the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
To remind, today Mattew Bryza will be presented to the OSCE Permanent
Council as new Co-Chair of the Minsk Group.

TURKISH REGIONAL POLICY CAPTIVE OF RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.06.2006 15:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “In fact, Turkey’s regional policy, which got stuck
on Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, promotes freezing of the
Azeri-Armenian conflict,” Turkish researcher Burcu Gultekin writes in
a book titled Prospects of Regional Cooperation in NATO South-Eastern
Borders: Development of the Turkish-Russian Cooperation in the South
Caucasus. In the author’s opinion, policy of prevalence of interests
of “security at the expense of economy” between Turkey and Azerbaijan
strongly limits Turkish diplomacy in the region. “Turkish regional
policy has become captive of relations with Azerbaijan, i.e. pro-Azeri
position is the price to be paid for implementation of the BTC oil
pipeline,” she believes.
In Burcu Gultekin’s opinion, opening of borders may promote improvement
of Turkey’s image in the Armenian society, lead relations between the
two countries out of today’s crisis. The book also reads, “In 1920
the Soviet authorities joined Nakhichevan with Azerbaijan in spite
of the protest of Armenia. Georgia, Armenia, Nakhichevan, situated
on the Caucasus-Turkey border, are a knot of network communication
and are situated in the center of North-South and East-West corridors.
The Caucasus has the potential of becoming a bridge between Turkey
and Russia,” the research book says.
The Turkish scholar comes against international transport projects,
planned in the region, i.e. East-West: Kars-Akhalkalaki and
North-South: Kazvin-Resht-Astara leaving out Armenia. “It would be
expedient to restore and use the already available Kars-Gyumri and
Sochi-Sukhumi-Yerevan-Julfa railways.
Burcu Gultekin believes that laying new railways will only aggravate
the situation in the region and will freeze the conflicts available.
The book caused acute negative response in Azerbaijan.

PUBLIC ORGANIZATION CONDUCTS AN ACTION TO ATTRACT ATTENTION TO REFUGEE PROBLEMS
Panorama.am
15:08 20/06/06
June 20 is the day of refugees around the world.
Seiran Martirosyan, coordinating council member of Kringo public
organization told a press conference today that there are more than 20
mln refugees across the world, 1,5 mln of them living in Caucasus. The
PO does not have information how many refugees there are in Armenia
right now. However, the organization is concerned that the refugees
in Armenia should be provided with housing. Kringo has organized an
action today to attract the attention of public officials to the
problems of refugees. They have distributed house designs made of
paper to children who have made houses and handed out to people. The
PO has also sent e-mail messages to different organizations on the
state of refugees.

FOURTH OF IT-SPECIALISTS IN ARMENIA INVOLVED IN EDUCATION PROGRAM OF ENTERPRISE INCUBATOR FOUNDATION
Yerevan, June 19. ArmInfo. Over one thousand of specialists who
participated in educational programs of Enterprise Incubator Foundation
(EIF) for the last three years successfully work in the sphere,
Head of EIF Bagrat Yengibaryan told ArmInfo.
He said 70% of these specialists are students of Yerevan State
University, Yerevan State Engineering University, and Armenian-Russian
(Slavonic) University, the remaining part are specialists who took
retraining courses. B. Yengibaryan said despite this high indicator,
the country’s IT sector still needs specialists.
To solve this problem, EIF intends to double the participants of its
programs, especially, those involved in long-term programs. He said
the participants of long-term programs not only master the up-to-date
technologies of chip-design but also get basic knowledge.
To note, within 4 years of its operation, EIF opened 10 specialized
branches at higher education universities of Armenia with support of
international organizations, including 6 branches independently.
These are such well-known organizations as Lycos, Intermec, Bremen
University.