Author: Tambiyan Samvel

NAGORNO-KARABAKH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 3RD CONVOCATION TO HOLD ITS
LAST PLENARY SESSION ON JUNE 22
STEPANAKERT, June 22. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly of
the 3rd convocation will hold its last plenary session. According to
NKR NA Press Service, the following issues of the agenda will be
discussed by the parliament: the draft bill on the decision of NKR NA
on Approval of the Annual Report on the Execution of NKR State Budget
for 2004″, the information of NKR Ministry of Finance and Economy on
Execution of NKR State Budget in Q 1, 2005, draft bill on Fixed
Payments for Petrol and Diesel Fuel, draft bill on making amendments
to the NKR law on Tax on Trade, draft bill on making amendments and
additions to the NKR law on Fixed Payments, comments of NKR NA, and
statement of the NKR NA Chairman. Also questions addressed to the
government and statements by deputies are envisaged.
To remind, NKR NA of the third convocation had two factions: “Artsakh
Democratic Party” and ARF “Dashnaktsutyun”. The first included 19
members, the second – 8. Six of them had the status of independent
deputies. According to preliminary data, the new parliament includes
12 members from the ruling “Artsakh Democratic Party”, 10 – from “Free
Motherland” party, 3 – from ARF “Dasnaktsutyun-Movement 88” opposition
bloc. 8 Deputies are considered to be independent. A.H. -0–

Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)
June 22 2005
ARMENIA: GOLD WORKERS CAVE IN
Bizarre twist in labour dispute at gold mining company leaves
management calling all the shots.
By Susanna Petrosian in Sotk
An unprecedented walk out by Armenian gold workers ended in failure
when management fired the strikers then hired them back under the
same conditions they were protesting.
Almost 500 workers from the Ararat Gold Recovery Company’s Sotk mine
went on strike May 11 to demand a better working environment and
improved safety procedures following the deaths of two people at
another AGRC mine in April.
`The conditions we work under are worse than those of prisoners of
war,’ said Armen Saakian, chairman of the union representing AGRC’s
staff. `We work 12 hours a day at a height of 2,370 metres, we have
no canteen, drinking water or other basic infrastructure. The miners
work to put bread on the table, just to be able to get up and go to
work the next day.’
Five days after the strike began, however, they were locked out by
management and fired. They have now all been rehired – minus the 80
strike leaders.
Demands including the abolition of three-month contracts, talks on a
collective pay agreement and improved conditions in the workplace
still haven’t been met. Management has, however, agreed to review
salaries, which have suffered because of the fall in strength of the
dollar.
AGRC director Vardan Vardanian said working conditions at Sotk were
no worse than at comparable businesses in Armenia. He said the
strikers were fired because they were absent from work without good
reason.
`When workers make demands which are not related to the company’s
work, there can be only one reaction – the course we took,’ he told
IWPR.
`The workers simply do not know the law. We haven’t done anything
illegal …Now they are all working normally. They realise this is
not the way to behave.’
Stepan Barseghian, the governor of Gegarkunik district, where the
mine is located, also considers the dispute over, saying that `thanks
to the talks, we have managed to reinstate people in their jobs’.
The workers, however, remain deeply unhappy, saying they were in
effect given no option but to sign new contracts under the old
working conditions, while the strike leaders have not been rehired.
`The leadership is just as intransigent as it always was, which shows
the indifference of our government,’ Armen Sahakian told IWPR. `No
one gives a damn about us.’
Another worker, who asked to remain anonymous, complained that the
Sotk gold workers feel `abandoned in their own country to the mercy
of fate’ and were angry that the government did not step in to help.
Even though the right to strike is enshrined in the Armenian
constitution, the government has stayed firmly out of the dispute.
`We have no official information about conditions at the Sotk mine.
We get everything from you journalists,’ said the press secretary for
the ministry of labour and social issues Hasmik Khachatrian.
At the ministry of trade and economic development, officials who
asked not to be named, told IWPR that it was not up to ministry to
get involved in the dispute, since AGRC is a private company owned by
India’s Sterlite Industries Limited.
This attitude has angered trade unionists like Anastas Pahlevanian
who said the union is prepared to take the case of the 80 fired
workers to the European Court of Human Rights.
`AGRC’s leadership wants to break people and it is only too happy to
take advantage of the government’s indifference,’ said Pahlevanian.
Fellow union leader Yevgeny Kozhemyakin told IWPR that the
extraordinary events in Sotk are best explained by Armenia’s high
unemployment rate, which gives management power over workers who are
unlikely to find another job.
AGRC is also facing controversy on other fronts – particularly for
its environmental record.
It was criticised for a plan to move its Ararat gold enrichment plant
to Sotk even though the mine is located in the environmentally
sensitive Lake Sevan basin.
The ministry of the environment rejected the proposal on the grounds
that ore processing is prohibited in the basin, but Vardanian hopes
the move can still be made.
`One gets the impression no one cares about gold mining in Armenia,’
he said. `As for the law, it is not so cut and dry. Laws can always
be changed, for one reason or another.’
Today the government is considering another AGRC project proposal for
the construction of an 80 million US dollar gold enrichment plant
near the Sotk mine, but this time outside the boundary of the Lake
Sevan basin.
The idea is under review but local environmentalist Rafael
Hovhannesian pledged to `battle with the same determination as we did
for the first project, without question’.
The people who live in the villages of Ararat and Banavan next to the
existing Ararat gold enrichment plant also accuse AGRC of
contravening environmental laws.
The head of the Ararat village administration told IWPR that
villagers were worried about a large, pink cloud, which is blown from
the plant over the fields and the nearby village. The substance is
thought to be potassium cyanide.
`There is a reddish-pink dust everywhere, and most importantly it is
in our lungs, and our children also swallow it,’ said Armen Torosian,
an unemployed villager.
The environment minister Vartan Aivazian is certain that AGRC has
`ecological problems’. `I am talking about on-going processes which
can affect the water and soil,’ said the minister.
In response to the complaints, Vardanian said, `Potassium cyanide is
not the most dangerous substance produced by industry in Armenia.’
He blamed the local population for ignoring a `sanitary zone’ around
the Ararat factory where they had been told not to farm, `In this
zone they are grazing cattle and catching fish.’
Susanna Petrosian is a journalist with the Noyan Tapan news agency in
Yerevan.

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS VISITS ARMENIAN CHURCH IN SACRAMENTO
YEREVAN, June 21. /ARKA/. Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II has
visited the Armenian church of Saint Hakob in Sacramento. The press
service of the Holy Echmiadzin reports that about 300 believers were
looking forward to Garegin II’s arrival. He conveyed the blessing of
the Mother See to them, urging them to remain committed to their
Christian faith and maintain ties with the Holy Echmiadzin. P.T. -0–

ARMENIAN GOSPEL ASSOCIATION CONTINUES IMPLEMENTION OF ITS PROGRAMS IN
ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 20, RA President Robert
Kocharian received the Armenian Gospel Association’s delegation headed
by Doctor Hrayr Aharonian, the Chairman of the Association. Noyan
Tapan was informed about this by the RA President’s Press
Office. R.Kocharian mentioned with satisfaction that meetings with the
Armenian Gospels are of regular character. The President highly
estimated educational, charity programs implemented by the Gospel
Church and mentioned that succsession in an initiated affair is always
noticeable. Speaking about future plans of the Gospel Church, Rene
Levonian, Armenia’s Representative of the Armenian Gospel World
Council and the Armenian Gospel Association, the Chairman of the
Armenian Gospel Church informed that they will continue numerous
programs concerning education, culture, sport, and the social sphere
which include both capital and different marzes of the republic. He
also said that they are intended to start development programs in
future.

A1plus
| 17:35:30 | 20-06-2005 | Regions |
THE BURNS FAMILY HELPS MOTHERS AND CHILDREN
On 21 June Miss Thorda Abbott-Watt, the British Ambassador, and Mrs Rebecca
Kohler, Chief of Party of Project NOVA, will visit Tavush Marz to donate
medical equipment and supplies worth $25,000 to three hospitals. Mr Armen
Ghularyan, the Tavush Marzpet and Dr Karine Dovlatbekyan, the Head of the
Department of Health and Social Affairs, will accompany them. The donation
includes an incubator, a sonograph machine, medical supplies and related
clinical training.
The donation will be given to the Tavoush region. Tavush is one of the most
remote marzes in the country, with a population of 120,000, of which 60%
live in rural areas. The region has suffered disproportionately from the
socio-economic changes of the last fifteen years. It has higher than average
infant mortality and childhood anemia rates and there is limited access to
specialized care for many rural families. Approximately 1000 infants are
born each year in the marz.
The USAID-supported Project NOVA is providing the equipment and clinical
training in co-operation with the British Embassy. The British Embassy also
supports efforts to strengthen the marz-wide infrastructure and community
development through the DfID ARDEP programme.

Pan Armenian News
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SIGNED LAW ON BUILDING STORAGE FOR PROCESSED NUCLEAR FUEL
21.06.2005 02:25
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian yesterday signed the
Law on building of storage for nuclear fuel processed at the Armenian
Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the Press Service of the Armenian leader told
PanARMENIAN.Net. The first storage of the king for the Armenian NPP was
built in Armenia in 2000. The law in question provides for building of a
second storage with an exploitation term of about 50 years. As the Armenian
Minister of Energy reported earlier, the building of the new depository will
cost some 10 million euros. It should be reminded that the Armenian NPP is
conveyed to trust management of Inter RAO UES CJSC, which is a branch
establishment of RAO UES of Russia and Rosenergoatom Concern, for 5 years.
The EU insists on the closure of the NPP and has suggested to allocate 100
million euros to that end. The Armenian party considers the NPP can function
for at least 15 years, as well as alternative energy sources should be found
before conservation and some $1 billion will be needed for that, Regnum news
agency reported.

Nagorno Karabakh holds parliamentary polls
Agence France Presse — English
June 19, 2005 Sunday 6:50 AM GMT
STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan June 19 — Parliamentary polls opened Sunday in
the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno Karabakh, a mostly Armenian
enclave within Azerbaijan, in the face of strong opposition from
Azeri authorities.
Seven parties and 185 candidates are vying for places in Nagorno
Karabakh’s fourth parliament, with two thirds of the parliament’s 33
seats to be elected directly and one third under a proportional system.
Nagorno Karabakh’s authorities have said the vote is a chance to
prove to the world the territory’s independence.
On the eve of polling Nagorno Karabakh’s leader, Arkady Gukasyan,
promised “an honest and transparent vote.”
It was essential, Gukasyan said, that the vote come up to European
standards in order to avoid harming Nagorno Karabakh’s image and
“the process of peaceful settlement with Azerbaijan.”
“All attempts at violations, whoever the author, will be denounced and
initiators punished with the full severity of the law,” Gukasyan said.
However no foreign governments have sent observer missions, reflecting
the territory’s unresolved status, although some 100 non-governmental
monitors are attending, including from Iran, Russia, Ukraine and the
United States as well as the Central Asian former Soviet republics
and Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia republic.
Nagorno Karabakh is widely seen as propped up by Armenia, which
fought a war with Azerbaijan over the territory in 1993 and 1994,
leaving an estimated 25,000 people dead.
Azerbaijan’s authorities have denounced the vote as illegitimate and
Turkey, long at odds with Armenia and a stauch supporter of Azerbaijan,
also criticised the poll on Friday.
In his pre-election comments, Gukasyan rounded on opposition parties,
accusing them of “insinuations” and “libel” during campaigning,
a reference to charges that senior Karabakh officials had abused
their positions in order to win support.
“False rumors were circulated that the authorities sanctioned pressure
on the electorate, threatened people… this didn’t and couldn’t
happen,” Gukasyan said.
Ahead of the current poll, Armenia said it was ready to give up
seven other regions of Azerbaijan it occupied during the fighting,
once Nagorno Karabakh’s status has been settled.
Preliminary poll results are expected late Monday or early Tuesday.
For the results to be declared valid at least 25 percent of the 89,000
people eligible to vote must turn out.
The parliament is elected for a five-year term.

AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA AND ARMENIA SIGN TRIPARTITE MEMORANDUM ON CREATION OF INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF SOUTH CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES
TBILISI, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Yesterday a tripartite memorandum on
creation of Inter-parliamentary Assembly of South Caucasian countries
was signed at the Georgian parliament. After the ceremony of signing
negotiations were conducted among Georgian Parliamentary Speaker
Nino Burjanadze, Milli Majlis deputy Siyavush Novruzov and RA NA
Vice-Speaker Tigran Torosian. In her interview to the APA agency Nino
Burjanadze called the signing of the memorandum an important event. “We
took an important step on the way of creation of an Inter-parliamentary
Assembly of South Caucasian countries. I am glad that both Azeri
and Armenian parties signed this memorandum. We are sure that the
Inter-parliamentary Assembly of South Caucasian countries created on
the basis and positive experience of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly
of Baltic countries will assist to formation of our relations, will
play a key role in solution of problems among our countries, as well
as will assist to come up with a united front in solution of some
problems at international organizations.” Nino Burjanadze called the
signing of the document by Azerbaijan and Armenia a positive step
in spite of the fact that both states are at war. “In a one word,
the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of South Caucasian countries will
create conditions for all of 3 states to come up with a united
front in negotiations with the European Union, NATO and European
structures. With this we can show the countries of the world that
in spite of existence of problems among South Caucasian countries,
we can come up with a united position.” Siyavush Novruzov said:
“Our today’s meeting once more showed that in order to solve the
problems existing in the South Caucasus and first of all the Karabakh
conflict important for Azerbaijan we should hold joint discussions
and find ways of solution of the problems.” Tigran Torosian reminded
in his interview that deputies of all of 3 countries have declared
about their readiness for cooperation for several times: “We worked
jointly within the framework of the South Caucasian Parliament
during the last 3 years. I am sure that we have done much during
this period. I want to especially mention that we achieved turning
of the idea of South Caucasian Parliament into the idea of creation
of an Inter-parliamentary Assembly of South Caucasian countries. The
common goal within the framework of the assembly is integration to
Europe. And joint activity can bring a large profit here. I want to
mention that our parliaments still have much to do in order that the
Inter-parliamentary Assembly created today on paper shouldn’t remain
only an idea but turn into an organization doing a concrete work. And
as for difficulties and misunderstandings existing in our region,
I am sure that they can be solved no matter how difficult they are.”

Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave holds parliamentary elections
AP Worldstream; Jun 19, 2005
The Armenian-controlled enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh held parliamentary
elections on Sunday, with the ruling party and an opposition group
expected to win the most seats.
Candidates and parties are contesting 33 seats in the legislature of
the region, which has been in the hands of ethnic Armenians since a
war against Azerbaijani forces ended with a 1994 cease-fire.
No political settlement has been reached despite international efforts,
and the threat of a new armed conflict persists.
Observers believe the ruling Democratic Party of Artsakh and the
Dashnaktsutyun-Movement 88 bloc have the best chances in the election.
The bloc says the enclave’s leadership is not tough enough on asserting
its self-proclaimed independence and claims it is too willing to
consider ceding Azerbaijani territory it controls outside the borders
of the region.

Azerbaijan News Service
June 17 2005
MILLI MAJLIS ADDRESSED TO PACE
2005-06-17 15:19
Milli Majlis began its session with address to Parliamentary Assembly
of Council of Europe. Deputies stated international community and
Council of Europe should be indifferent to Daqliq Qarabaq’s being
controlled by separatist powers and to attempts of the separatists
to hold parliamentary elections in Daqliq Qarabaq on June 19.
Parliamentarians proposed to address such appeals to parliaments
of states that are going to send election observation missions to
Azerbaijan. There appeared differences among the parliamentarians
during discussion of Electoral Code. While deputies from opposition
demanded to make changes in staffs of election commissions, others
didn’t consider it reasonable.