Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

RA CHIEF POLICE OFFICER CONFERED TITLE OF COLONEL GENERAL
Noyan Tapan
Apr 17 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN. On the occasion of the 5th anniversary
of formation of the RA Police, RA President Robert Kocharian gave
rewards to police servicemen. At the ceremony organized on April
15, Haik Haroutiunian, the RA Chief Police Officer, Lieutenant
General of the Police was confered title of the Colonel General,
Ararat Mahtesian, the First Deputy of the RA Chief Police Officer,
Major General of the Police, Hovhannes Varian, the Deputy Chief
Police Officer, Major General of the Police were confered titles
of Lieutenant General of the Police. Haik Militonian, the General
Department Chief of the RA Police Criminal Secret Service, Police
Colonel was confered title of the Major General. Ashot Gizirian,
the Chief of the RA Police General Department of Struggle against
Organized Crime, Major General of the Police, and Eduard Ghazarian,
the Headquarters Chief of the RA Police, Major General of the Police
were rewarded with the fist level medal “For Service to Fatherland,”
and Alvina Zakarian, the Passports and Visas Department Chief of the
RA Police, Police Colonel, Gagik Minasian, the Staff Department Chief
of the RA Police, Police Colonel were rewarded with second level medals
“For Service to Fatherland.” About a dozen of servicemen of the Police
were rewarded with medal for Martial Service.

EU TRIO DELEGATION TO VISIT ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
19.04.2006 11:30
April 20 a delegation of EU Trio, headed Foreign Affairs State
Secretary of Austria Hans Wnikler will arrive in Yerevan. The
delegation comprises representative of Finland (as next Chair country),
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semnebi,
and members of the European Commission. The delegation is expected
to meet high officials of Armenia. The Trio delegation will leave
Armenia for Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, April 14, 2006
Contact: Armen Carapetian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
SOUTHERN NEVADA ARMENIANS TO COMMEMORATE THE 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
LAS VEGAS, NV – The Armenian American community of the Greater Las
Vegas Area will commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923 on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at the Christ Lutheran
Church in Las Vegas.
`The Armenian Genocide – the first genocide of the twentieth century –
was a systematic, premeditated extermination of over 1.5 million
Armenian men, women and children beginning on April 24, 1915,’ stated
Hriyr Dadaian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Las
Vegas. `We honor the memory of the victims of this crime against
humanity every year to remind the world of the lessons of what
happened to prevent future genocides from taking place.’
Joining the Las Vegas Armenian American community in commemorating the
Armenian Genocide will be Senator John Ensign (R-NV), Congresswoman
Shelley Berkley (NV-1), Congressman Jim Gibbons (NV-2), Las Vegas
Mayor Oscar Goodman, among other distinguished guests. The Armenian
Apostolic Churches of the Western Prelacy and Diocese, the Armenian
Evangelical Church – Las Vegas, the Armenian-American Cultural Society
of Las Vegas, the Armenian National Committee of Las Vegas, the
Armenian Relief Society – Las Vegas Shoushi Chapter, the Homenetmen –
Las Vegas Artsakh Chapter, and the UNLV Armenian Students Association
will be participating in the commemoration. Armenian National
Committee of America Board Member Raffi Hamparian will be the keynote
speaker of the commemoration.
The official program will begin at 1:30 pm on Sunday, April 23, 2006
at the Christ Lutheran Church located at 111 North Torrey Pines Drive
in Las Vegas. Requiem services will be conducted by clergy from the
Armenian Apostolic Churches of the Western Prelacy and Diocese and the
Armenian Evangelical Church of Las Vegas.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the
concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 14 2006
AMERICAN POLITICAL ANALYSTS MARK THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IS TO
BE THE BASIC THEME OF DISCUSSIONS DURING VISIT OF PRESIDENT ILHAM
ALIYEV TO WASHINGTON
[April 14, 2006, 22:03:20]
Forthcoming visit of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the
invitation of the US President George Bush to Washington is in the
center of attention of the American political analysts. The meeting
of presidents will take place on April 28 in the White House. The
parties will discuss such questions, as development of democracy and
cooperation on the Caucasus, power diversity, and also the teamwork
directed on expansion of freedom and safety, as common obligation of
the USA and Azerbaijan.
Though the work above the program of official visit of President
Ilham Aliyev yet has not completed, it is already known, that on
April 27 the heads of state will take part in conference on the topic
`The American-Azerbaijan strategic relations: political and economic
priorities’, devoted to the 10th anniversary of the activity of the
American-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.
A number of authoritative political analysts on the South Caucasus in
conversation with correspondent of AzerTAc have shared views on what
they expect from the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Washington.
The Editor-In-Chief of magazine `Central Asia-Caucasus’ S. Cornell
has told: `First of all, this visit will allow to lift the
American-Azerbaijan relations on the level reached at former
President Heydar Aliyev’s time. President Heydar Aliyev, making
frequent visits to the USA, has established very close ties with
American government. Ilham Aliyev’s visit will become a mean for
restoration of sense of trust and links of high level. As if to
concrete questions to be discussed, I consider, that the basic
question of the agenda will be Karabakh. Considering inefficiency of
the Minsk Group format, the USA now intends to show unilaterally
greater activity in settlement of the Karabakh conflict. This
tendency is completely clear.
As a whole, the USA understands strategic value of Azerbaijan, and
not only because of its geographical position, power resources of
your country but also because it is the secular Islamic state in
dangerous region of the world.
As if to the Iranian question, I should note, that the Azerbaijani
press strongly inflates this theme. Certainly, the neighborhood of
Azerbaijan with Iran is important for America. Nevertheless, I do not
think, that the Iranian theme will be in the center of attention on
discussions during visit’.
The general analyst of the Jamestown Fund Vladimir Sokor also has
shared his views: `I expect with optimism the visit of Mr. Aliyev.
This visit should take place earlier. America and Azerbaijan have
close strategic ties. Grandiose power projects of Azerbaijan would
hardly be carried out without political and economic support of the
USA. The United States are the unique force preventing hegemony of
Russia on Southern Caucasus.
I consider, that, despite of contradictions, last parliamentary
elections in Azerbaijan promoted strengthening of the
American-Azerbaijan relations. The analyses lead recently testifies
that these elections have been lead best of all the previous
elections in Azerbaijan. Washington admits this fact. Therefore,
President Ilham Aliyev has received the invitation to Washington. I
think, that present visit will make certain contribution to the
American-Azerbaijan friendly relations and will answer national
interests of Azerbaijan.
As to settlement of the Karabakh conflict, the United States clearly
wishes to take leadership in mediation. Steven Mann, working within
the Minsk Group, at the same time tries to make active intermediary
efforts of the USA with a view of achievement of direct settlement
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The efforts, undertaken by three
co-chairmen, appear ineffectual, as Russia is not interested in
settlement of the conflict. The USA has the basic economic and
political keys. I hope, that Armenia, having shown sufficient wisdom,
will accept the USA as leader in mediation at settlement of the
conflict. I know, that Azerbaijan will not object to this. In this
case, 2006 can become successful in settlement of the Karabakh
question’.
Chairman of Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) of the Johns
Hopkins University Frederick Starr University: `Arrival of President
Ilham Aliyev in Washington is a very much good news. It will be very
successful visit. Certainly, the said visit will allow speaking
openly about Karabakh. We, the analysts, call members of the
government of the USA to lift the Karabakh question at negotiations
with the Azerbaijan party, to be more active in this. It is high time
of settlement of the conflict. The Azerbaijan territories should be
returned, and there urgently should begin regenerative process. After
this, there can be found the way out acceptable at the international
level for settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Armenians should
understand the reality. Time has come to pay attention to this
question more resolutely’.

ARMENIAN MOD HEAD APPRECIATES OSCE MG EFFORTS
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.04.2006 00:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Secretary of the National Security Service at the
Armenian President, Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan met with OSCE
Minsk Group French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier, Armenian MOD Head’s
Spokesperson, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net. During
the meeting the interlocutors discussed the current state and
prospects of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Serge
Sargsyan appreciated OSCE MG efforts, hoping these will finally have
the desired outcomes.

60-YEAR-OLD OBSERVATORY “BYURAKAN” REGAINS ONCE LOST GLORY
Yerevan, April 13. ArmInfo. “Byurakan” astrophysical observatory of
the RA National Academy of Science will celebrate its 60th jubilee by
organizing an International Conference with participation of scientists
from 7 countries. Observatory Director Hayk Haroutunyan told ArmInfo.
He said that on August 25 the International School of Astrophysics
in Byurakan will start operating. Scientists from the USA, France,
Italy, Greece, Germany and Russia will deliver lectures on the modern
achievements of world astrophysics for young specialists from abroad.
A solemn sitting is fixed for September 1. The International Scientific
Conference on Astrophysics will take place on September 2-3.
Besides, in the summer of 2007, a Congress of European Astrophysics
will convene in Armenia. Scientists from Europe, USA and a number of
Asian states will participate in it. Hayk Haroutunyan said Congress
might be held in the Ukraine, but the International Astronomic Union
(IAU) preferred Armenia. Under the Congress, 6 scientific symposiums
will be held.
“Byurakan” Astrophysical Observatory was founded in 1946 on the
highest peak of today’s Armenia, Aragats. The Armenian astrophysics
reached its fullest flower due to the leading scientist Victor
Hambartsoumyan. The results of the scientific research at “Byurakan”
Observatory got world acknowledgement and became a basis for new
directions in astrophysics, H. Haroutunyan said. However, during the
last 15 years the number of the employees at the observatory was cut 4
times. At present negotiations are underway with France for restoration
of the agreement on joint scientific research broken for some reasons
3 years ago. Similar talks are in process with Italy and Germany. An
agreement with Italy has already been signed, and implementation
of joint projects to start in 2007. The ties with Russian have been
activated as well. Thus, the famous Schmidt Telescope is currently
restored in cooperation with Russian specialists. Other telescopes
of the observatory are also being restored, H. Haroutunyan said.

KOSOVO AND THE POST-SOVIET CONFLICTS: NO ANALOGY MEANS NO “PRECEDENT”
By Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
April 13 2006
Part one of two.
Lavrov puts brakes on Kosovo recognition Russian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Sergei Lavrov and other officials have shifted their tactics
regarding the negotiations on the status of Kosovo. The new theme
of their statements and tactical approach to the negotiations is:
“No Haste.” In their view, the negotiations must prepare a settlement
“acceptable to all parties” — translation: hand Serbia blocking
rights — even if it means delaying the final outcome. Lavrov and
his spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin, somberly intimate that recognition
of Kosovo’s independence could set a “precedent” with “dangerous
consequences in Europe,” i.e., encourage movements in parts of certain
countries to press for separate statehood and international recognition
(Interfax, April 10). Meanwhile, the United States is the main promoter
of Kosovo’s independence, contingent on proper standards of governance
and human rights. The EU position is similar.
Moscow’s new arguments seek to dissuade some European governments
from supporting recognition and, through this tactic, to complicate
and prolong the negotiations.
The shift seems due at least in part to the prospect that the Serbian
government might officially consent to independence and international
recognition of Kosovo, albeit subject to international (i.e., Western)
certification that Kosovo has achieved democratic standards.
Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Draskovic recently declared
that Serbia could agree to international recognition of Kosovo’s
independence, including membership in all international organizations
save the United Nations (a reservation that seems destined to be
abandoned in due course). Draskovic’s statement has triggered a
reassessment of policy in Moscow.
The Kremlin had initially calculated that international recognition
of Kosovo’s independence could become a “model” or “precedent”
enabling Russia to call for recognition of Transnistria, Abkhazia,
South Ossetia, or Karabakh. However, Serbian consent to international
recognition of Kosovo would make it impossible for Moscow to apply
a “Kosovo model” to the post-Soviet conflicts. In that case, the
“model” would stipulate that international recognition of a new state
depends on the prior consent of the country from which that entity
secedes. Such a model would be useless to Russia and the post-Soviet
secessionist territories because Georgia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan
would not grant such consent in any foreseeable circumstances.
Moreover, rapid progress toward resolving the Kosovo issue with
minimal Serbian resistance would deprive Russia of opportunities to
play spoiler in the negotiations within the Kosovo Contact Group and
UN Security Council. Moscow wants a dragged-out negotiating process
with opportunities for tradeoffs, whether at Serbia’s expense or the
expense of Moscow’s proteges in the post-Soviet secessionist enclaves,
depending on tactical developments down the road.
Moscow is responding in three ways to the situation created by the
Draskovic statement. First, it tries to embolden hard-line nationalists
in the Serbian government to oppose Kosovo’s independence in principle
and to raise insuperable obstacles in the negotiations. Second,
it tries to outflank the United States by raising the prospect of
destabilization in Europe with some West European participants in
the Contact Group and with some Central-East European governments
in bilateral channels. And, third, it cries, “No Haste,” so as to
frustrate the U.S. and, largely, Western goal of achieving a resolution
this year.
The authorities in Tiraspol, Transnistria; Sukhumi, Abkhazia;
Tskhinvali, South Ossetia; and Stepanakert, Karabakh (and Yerevan as
well) never based their hopes for international or at least Russian
official recognition upon a possible Kosovo “model” or “precedent.”
When Russian President Vladimir Putin raised this idea earlier this
year and turned it into a staple of Russia’s discourse on post-Soviet
conflict resolution, the secessionist authorities reacted with caution
and skepticism. While putting a few of their eggs in the Kosovo basket,
they are clearly loath to stake their case on Kosovo or Russian
actions related to Kosovo. They continually stress other arguments,
“precedents” or “models” in their quest for recognition (see EDM,
February 2, 6, 8).

ANCIENT AZERI TOWN ARMENIANIZED
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
April 13 2006
Separatists in the self-proclaimed Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh republic
are trying to turn the occupied ancient Azeri town of Shusha into
a cultural center of world Armenians and plan to carry out this
outrageous plan by holding an electronic referendum.
“Every Armenian will be able to access a special website and voice
his opinion on the issue to facilitate the town’s turning into a
scientific, cultural and tourism center for not only Upper Garabagh
and Armenia, but also all world Armenians,” the head of the self-styled
Shusha Foundation, Bakor Karapetian, maintained.
Armenian scholars seeking to distort history have discovered items
dating back to the 12th century as well as the ancient Turkic period
during their archaeological excavations in the territory of Shusha.
The Armenian Catholic Church in Beirut, Lebanon had allocated $25,000
for the purpose.

TURKEY ALLOWS SCREENING OF CANADIAN DIRECTOR’S FILM ON MASSACRES OF ARMENIANS
National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post) (Canada)
April 13, 2006 Thursday
All but Toronto Edition
A private TV station will broadcast a movie by Canadian director Atom
Egoyan on the First World War massacres of Armenians for the first
time in Turkey where the subject still arouses nationalist feelings,
a spokesman for the channel yesterday. Kanalturk decided to show
Ararat by Mr. Egoyan, an ethnic Armenian, after a survey revealed
that 72% of the participants wanted to see the film, he said. “We
will show the movie with no cuts or censoring.” Even though the
Turkish government gave the go-ahead for the showing of the film,
which was released in 2002, an Istanbul firm was forced in 2004 to
drop plans to screen the movie because of potential protests that
would have required police presence.

US CONGRESS DELEGATION EN ROUTE
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
A US delegation headed by Congressman Jim Kolbe, the chairman of
the Ad Hoc Committee on foreign assignments of the foreign programs
committee of the House of Representatives, is arriving in Baku on
Wednesday with a two-day visit, Jonathan Henick, a spokesman of the
US embassy in Baku, told Trend.
The delegation is expected to hold a meeting with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev.
The meeting will focus on current state and development of the
Azerbaijan-Armenian relationships, implementation of assistance
programs in Azerbaijan.
A news conference will be given in the end of the visit.
Prior to Baku the mission visited Georgia and Armenia. In difference
to these countries, the mission to visit Baku will not include
the Executive Director of Millennium Challenges corporation, John
Danilevich.