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05/02/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) Armenian Army Prepared to Defend Itself against Adversaries 2) US Expresses Concern about New Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia 3) Turkish Court Overturns Armenian Journalist's Appeal 1) Armenian Army Prepared to Defend Itself against Adversaries Armenian Deputy Defense Minister General Artur Aghabegian said Tuesday that the Armenian Military is prepared to resist any attack from its adversaries, adding that the Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) Defense Forces demonstrated their abilities last month with week-long war exercises. Aghabegian also referred to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's statement in Washington, DC, in which he said that Azerbaijan has been very active in peacekeeping efforts in Iraq. Aghabegian said that such a statement can only be made by a person who does not know what it means to serve in an army and the logistics of a war zone. "We have always publicized Armenian peacekeeping operations [in Iraq]," he said, adding that many countries have thanked Armenia for its participation. Aghabegian said that if Azerbaijan is truly committed, "Let them show on TV what their peacekeeping forces are doing in Iraq." 2) US Expresses Concern about New Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia YEREVAN (RFE/RL/Armenpress)--The United States has serious misgivings about the Armenian Government's ambitious plans to build a new nuclear power station in place of the aging Medzamor plant, said a senior US official Tuesday during the 12th meeting of the US-Armenian Economic Task Force in Yerevan. Tom Adams, who coordinates US Government assistance to former Soviet republics, expressed Washington's position on the issue after attending a regular session of the inter-governmental body co-chaired by Adams and Armenian Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian. Armenia's energy security was high on the agenda of the one-day meeting, with Khachatrian saying that the Armenian side discussed with its US counterparts Yerevan's intention to replace Medzamor with a more modern and powerful nuclear plant. "The ideal option in our [energy] strategy would be to launch the new facility on the day that the existing reactor will stop operating," said Khachatrian during a joint news conference with Adams and John Evans, the US ambassador in Yerevan. Medzamor, which generates nearly 40 percent of Armenia's electricity, is expected to be decommissioned by 2016. The plant remains open despite pressure from the US and the European Union, which say the plant's sole operating reactor is too old and unsafe. Adams noted that the mountainous country is located in a seismically active zone that poses serious safety risks. "I think our view right now is that there are probably better alternatives to a second nuclear plant [in Armenia]," he said. Another, more high-ranking US official, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, appeared more supportive of the idea when he visited Yerevan in early March. Bryza noted that a "new generation of nuclear power" is one of potential ways of ensuring Armenia's energy security. The issue was high on the agenda of his talks with senior Armenian officials. Building a new nuclear facility would cost Armenia at least $1 billion, a sum worth its budget for this year. The Government says it cannot put the ambitious project put into practice without external financial support, saying that it is already looking for potential foreign investors. The 12th session of the task force also discussed development of the Armenian economy, democratic reforms, and issues pertaining to the Millennium Challenges Account program. Also discussed were agriculture, energy, education, and judicial issues. The US-Armenian Task Force was founded in 2002 to promote US-Armenian cooperation. The Task Force holds two annual meetings, one in Armenia and one in the US. Over the last decade, the US Government has carried out various development and humanitarian projects worth $1.6 billion in Armenia. 3) Turkish Court Overturns Armenian Journalist's Appeal (AFP/BBC)A Turkish court in Ankara rejected Monday an appeal by a prominent Armenian journalist against a ruling that found him guilty of insulting Turkishness. Hrant Dink, publisher of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, was sentenced to a suspended six-month sentence in October by a court in Istanbul for an article published in February 2004. The article about the genocide of Armenians during World War I in Turkey called on Armenians "to turn now to the new blood of an independent Armenia, which alone is capable of liberating the Armenian diaspora" and to reject any Turkish roots. In February, the chief prosecutor's office at the Appeals Court considered Dink's case and recommended that the remarks were in no way insulting. But now, in a surprise development, the court itself has chosen to ignore that interpretation and ruled that the substance of the charge still stands. The appeal judges in Ankara overturned the conviction due to procedural errors, Anatolia reported, adding that the case will be referred back to the Istanbul court for retrial. It is a blow for the defense team. The high-profile newspaper editor, whose publication Agos appears in Turkish and Armenian, was first found guilty of insulting Turkishness last year when a court ruled that his article described Turkish blood as dirty. Dink always denied his words meant any such thing and argued his column was in fact aimed at improving the difficult relationship between Turks and Armenians. The case will now go back to the local court that first heard it, and Dink could face a retrial. He told the BBC he was extremely distressed at the news. He has always said he would have to leave the country if the courts here could not clear his name for good. This case is one of several similar cases in Turkey, monitored closely by EU officials concerned about limits on free speech in the country. European Union officials have expressed serious concern about the article of law that was used against Hrant Dink and several dozen other writers here in Turkey. Despite a series of reforms linked to Turkey's bid for membership of the EU, it is still illegal to insult the Turkish identity, the military and the judiciary and the line between criticism and insult is often blurred. The issue of the Armenian genocide is frequently the spark for court cases. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

US woos Asian energy allies to thwart Russia
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Financial Times; Apr 29, 2006
The Bush administration is seeking to curb Moscow’s influence in the
Caucasus and central Asia and weaken Gazprom’s growing hold over gas
supplies to Europe with an effort to promote new oil and gas corridors
that would bypass Russia and exclude Iran.
US intentions were highlighted yesterday when President George W.
Bush welcomed President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to the White House,
stressing the importance of their security and energy relationship.
Next week’s visit to Kazakhstan by Dick Cheney, the vice-president, is
further evidence that the US wants to shore up ties with key partners
in central Asia, having lost access to an important military base in
Uzbekistan last year. The vice-president will use the visit to press
for closer energy ties between Kazakhstan and Europe.
But analysts are concerned that an overall hardening of US policy
towards Moscow could drive Russia and Iran, which together hold nearly
half the world’s gas reserves, into an energy-based alliance.
A senior financier told the Financial Times that Iran, which is
competing with Gazprom to provide gas to the Caucasus, was considering
a switch in policy by selling its gas to Russia through central Asia
because the US was blocking its access to Europe and India.
Lack of investment by Gazprom, which supplies Europe with about a
quarter of its gas, means that Russia will be increasingly reliant
on buying gas from central Asia or Iran to help meet its subsidised
domestic needs and export commitments. Cliff Kupchan, analyst with
the Eurasia Group consultancy, said he had a different understanding:
that Russia and Iran would co-ordinate their gas export policies,
with Moscow selling to the west and Iran to the east.
The stage is set for a bidding war between Russia, China and western
energy companies over central Asian oil and gas.
Deals are proceeding at a bewildering speed. Turkmenistan signed
a framework deal in Beijing this month to sell gas to China, while
Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan president, visited Moscow for an
agreement to double the capacity of a main oil pipeline for exports
to Russia.
But the US wants Kazakhstan to look in a different direction.
“Kazakhstan as the anchor is the desired approach,” Dan Stein,
regional director of the US Trade and Development Agency, told a
US-Azerbaijan investment conference.
US officials outlined their desire to see a gas pipeline from
Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field across the Caspian, linking with
Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field and then heading west to Europe via
Georgia rather than north through Russia.
“The market is not working,” said Matt Bryza, US deputy assistant
secretary of state, noting that Gazprom buys central Asia gas for $55
per 1,000 cubic metres then sells it for double that in the Caucasus
and for $265 to Turkey.
“Something has to change,” he said, and that would come through market
forces and new transport routes. He stressed that new pipelines had
to be commercially viable.
Mr Aliyev’s three-day visit to Washington appears to have been
successful, helped by European and US alarm at what they interpreted
as aggressive comments by Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive,
last week.
However, US officials dismissed suggestions that they were trying to
“clip the wings” of Gazprom.
The US has to tread carefully as its oil majors are competing for
participation in Gazprom’s Shtokman project under theBarents sea.

Turkey’s Yerlikaya wins gold medal at European Wrestling Championships
AP Worldstream; Apr 27, 2006

Defending champion Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey won gold in the
96-kilogram Greco-Roman division at the European Wrestling
Championships on Thursday.
Russia’s Varteres Samourgashev rallied from a period down to defeat
Aleh Mikhalovich of Belarus in the 74-kilogram class. While the
60-kilogram title went to Karen Mnatsakanyan of Armenia, who
outclassed Georgia’s David Bedinadze.
Yerlikaya, a two-time Olympic champion, defeated Mykhail Nikolayev of
Ukraine 10-0 for his eighth title in 11 seasons, although the previous
six were at 85 kilograms. His only world title came last season.
“None of the matches today has been easy for him (Yerlikaya),” Turkey
coach Memet Acak said. “All the opponents were motivated to defeat
him, and it made this gold medal more precious.”
Samourgashev, the 2000 Olympic and two-time world champion, struggled
against Nikolayev in the first period, losing 7-0 with two warnings.
“One more (warning) and I would have been disqualified,” Samourgashev
said. “He (Mikhalovich) waited for that instead of trying to win
himself. By that time, I was in control. I did my trademark move and
earned three points.
Mnatsakanyan, the 1997 European junior champion, didn’t concede a
point in the final to win his first major title in 11 years.
Four more Greco-Roman finals on Friday will be followed by the men’s
freestyle events on the weekend.

WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE FROM ARMENIA IS NO PRIORITY ISSUE
FOR USA

Yerevan, April 28. ArmInfo. The recent statements for the Western
political figures testify to the fact that the presence of the Russian
military base in Armenia is not desirable for USA. Rouben Safrastian,
head of Department for Turkish Studies at RA National Academy, said in
the interview to ArmInfo.
At the same time he emphasized that the withdrawal of the Russian
military base from Armenia is not a priority issue for the USA, as
that will not hinder the probable actions against Iran. He added that
in coming two years big changes may take place in the region around
the situation in Iran. “The USA haven’t used all of their pressure
tools for withdrawal of the Russian military stations from Armenia,”
he stated.

RUSSIAN COMPANY TO BUY ARMENIAN TELECOM MONOPOLY – PAPER
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
26 Apr 06
Text of Vaagn Hovakimyan report by Armenian newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak
on 26 April headlined “Who owns Sistema”
It’s already clear that one of the Russian telecom companies will
shortly buy [Greek company] OTE’s 90-per-cent share of ArmenTel.
Potential buyers themselves say that they will: in early April a
public relations official of Sistema Telecom, Anna Boyko, announced
that the company was going to buy the shares and even specified how
much it was ready to pay – 350m dollars. And this sum may well turn
out to be bigger. As far as we know, OTE expects to get between 400m
and 450m euros for ArmenTel.
Sistema Telecom is part of the Sistema financial corporation, a group
of several dozens of companies operating in various markets.
Systema’s total capital is about 11bn dollars. Sistema Telecom is a
kind of the head office for the group’s six other telecom companies,
three of which are mobile service operators. Officially, Sistema
Telecom has 40m subscribers. One of its member companies is MTS,
Russia’s biggest mobile service operator.
Obviously, the Russian wish to buy ArmenTel has political motives
too. Before Sistema Telecom made its bid public, ArmenTel had
named other Russian buyers. So why exactly Sistema Telecom? In
fact, the Sistema corporation is a network of companies of various
specialization, and the Russian government is also involved in it:
it holds shares in several telecom companies which are also owned by
the Sistema corporation. So, Sistema’s structure seems to be specially
designed to mislead as to who actually owns the shares of which of its
companies or, respectively, the shares of their daughter companies
and who is ultimately behind all this network of indirect ties. The
key point here is that the corporation is said to have close relations
with the Moscow authorities. That is probably why it won several big
contracts years ago and has grown strong enough ever since to buy
major stakes at various companies. The Russia mass media have widely
reported about these bizarre and mysterious contracts.

AZERIS STAGING PROTESTS AT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 25 2006
Baku, April 24, AssA-Irada
Azerbaijani and Turkish communities are staging actions of protest
worldwide to counter the so-called Armenian genocide campaign. The
Armenians allege that on April 24, 1915, they fell victim to genocide
on the part of the Turks.
The objective of the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities is to provide
an accurate account of what really happened in Turkey in 1915. The
Congress of the World Azerbaijanis is now conducting one such action
in the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan, Kazan.
Ethnic Azeris and Turks are expected to launch a series of protests in
a number of American and European countries to counter the genocide
claims. A representative of the US-Azerbaijan Friendship Society,
Badir Mammadli, has said in Washington that large-scale campaigns
will be held outside the Turkish embassy. For this, posters and photo
stands have been prepared documenting the atrocities unleashed by
the Armenians in Khojaly.
Hundreds of civilians were brutally killed by Armenian forces in
the Khojaly district on February 26, 1992, which marks one of the
bloodiest pages in Azerbaijan’s history.
A representative of the Movement for Azerbaijan in Germany, Guldana
Rzayeva, has said local Turks and Jews would join the actions of
protest to be staged by the movement.
Similar actions will be held through May 8 in many parts of the world.

EAGLESMITH SECRET TOO WELL KEPT
by Randy Burton, The StarPhoenix
The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
April 25, 2006 Tuesday
Final Edition
Shaunt Parthev is definitely not your typical country music fan.
He’s an Armenian immigrant who has never lived on a farm, a Saskatoon
lawyer who pilots a Jaguar rather than a tractor.
But for reasons he can’t quite explain, Parthev is a “Fredhead,”
one of a small band of intensely loyal fans who attend every Fred
Eaglesmith concert they can and buy all the CDs they can find.
“For some reason, his songs speak to me every time I go to see him,”
says Parthev, who has seen the Canadian singer-songwriter about
12 times.
“My friend keeps laughing about the songs that I listen to. He says
‘you know, when he’s singing about foreclosure and the bank and the
man, you do realize you are the man, not the guy being foreclosed
on.’ ”
That doesn’t matter to Parthev. He keeps a “Fredhead” pin stuck in
the headliner of his car, where his six-CD changer is loaded with
nothing but Eaglesmith. After a year or so, he considers adding a
new one to the mix.
Every time Eaglesmith comes to Saskatoon, Parthev buys eight or 10
tickets and takes a group of friends. Inevitably, the experience
won’t be for everyone. It will leave a couple of people cold and
a few more will thank Parthev politely and move on. But at least a
couple of Parthev’s guests will be hooked and new Fredheads will be
born. They will come under the thrall of the Eaglesmith mystique that
attracts people from miles around.
Like the local fellow who struggled to Saturday’s show at the
Concordia club a day after having his appendix out. (He said it
was done laparascopically, so the sacrifice was manageable.) Or the
Carnduff teacher at one of Eaglesmith’s past shows, who left school
at three in the afternoon and arrived a couple of minutes before
showtime at eight. As soon as the show was over, he turned around
and drove five hours back home, because he had to teach the next day.
They all have their reasons. Each Eaglesmith show is a unique blend
of Canadian roots music, road stories and home-brewed political
philosophy.
The man is part songwriter, part musician, part raconteur and part
comedian. Depending on his mood, he will vary the proportions of
those ingredients.
What doesn’t change is his willingness to tell you exactly what he
thinks. At every show, Eaglesmith offers up his views on a wide variety
of topics, including the state of the music world (rap music will make
you sterile), national politics and our “Canadian president”), child
rearing, gun registration and popular culture, among other things.
His storytelling tends to compete with his singing for air time,
but he’s so damn funny, no one in the audience seems to care.
However, there’s no doubt the real attraction is the songs.
Eaglesmith is easily one of Canada’s best songwriters, but the country
has yet to fully wake up to it.
Other singers have, though. Eaglesmith has been covered by plenty of
artists who know a good thing when they see it, such as The Cowboy
Junkies, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Mary Gauthier, among others.
If Bruce Springsteen had been born in the country instead of urban
New Jersey, he might have sounded a bit like this.
Eaglesmith can be hopelessly sentimental, such as when he sings about
an old cowboy dying of cancer brought on by a lifetime of chewing
tobacco, or he can be a real hard-ass (and I mean that in a good way),
such as when he sings that “it’s time to get a gun.”
He writes about snowplows and Indian motorcycles, steel guitars and
broken hearts. You can get a feel for his work from song titles like
Mighty Big Car, 49 Tons and especially, I Ain’t Ever Givin’ In.
Eaglesmith shuns the big record companies and plays no part whatever in
the commercial music industry. His shows are often sparsely advertised,
if at all, but it doesn’t seem to hurt him any.
His popularity is driven by word of mouth and the Internet, where he
sells his records and keeps his fans informed of his punishing tour
schedule. The people who care are plugged in, so much so that they
are bugging local promoter Rob Hodgins for tickets even before they
go on sale.
Eaglesmith is part of the growing indie music scene, one of hundreds
of artists that are making it outside the mainstream. They do it by
putting out their own records, and running their own tours, playing
in small halls and relying on word of mouth to build a following.
Eaglesmith has added a couple of wrinkles of his own, such as a musical
train ride through the Rockies, and a couple of his own “Fredfests”
where he hosts a number of other independent artists.
Northwinds Entertainment’s Hodgins says there are many artists like
Eaglesmith who are making a go of it off the commercial grid.
“These guys can be viable selling 5,000 to 10,000 units, where they
could never be viable in the commercial industry unless they sold
100,000 units. There are just so many more mouths to feed there.”
Even after 25 years in the business, Eaglesmith says he’s perfectly
happy if this is as good as it gets.
The other night at the Concordia club, he talked about driving by
Credit Union Centre on his way into town, where he noticed all the
assorted tour buses and semi-trailers it takes to tour a commercial
country act like Brooks and Dunn.
He pays attention to things like that, he deadpans, because “sometimes
I see those guys on their way down.”

STORMING THE STREETS
By Carl Kozlowski
Pasadena Weekly, CA
April 27 2006
Hanging red, blue and orange Armenian flags throughout Glendale and
LA, thousands of Armenian Americans took to the streets Monday for
an annual demonstration memorializing the 1915 genocide of more than
1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turk government.
Goals of the protesters were twofold: To draw an admission of guilt
and the offer of reparations from the Turkish government, and to
inspire Congress to officially recognize the genocide and pressure
Turkey into doing so as well.
Whether packing the gymnasium of Glendale High School for a
commemoration assembly produced by the school’s 400-member Armenian
Club or taking part in the 2,500-person march to the Turkish Consulate
at 6300 Wilshire Blvd., the day’s events may have remained on a
smaller scale than the city’s recent immigration protests, but were
intensified by the same type of righteous energy.
“Basically, the purpose of this type of activity is to keep the public
aware of what happened in 1915, what’s the current situation, and what
needs to be done,” said Vahe Bozoyan, a math teacher at Glendale High
and sponsor of the Armenian Club.
As for Turkey, “The only way the continuing intransigence on the
part of the Turkish government will change is when we withdraw US
military aid to the government of Turkey,” said Bill Paparian, an
Armenian American and former mayor of Pasadena who is running for
Congress as a member of the Green Party.
“We must begin a program of divestment similar to what happened in
the government of South Africa in order to shun their government into
ending apartheid.”

BAKU EXPECTS US TO PUT PRESSURE ON ARMENIA
ASSA-IRADA, Azerbaijan
April 27 2006
Baku, April 26, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani government expects the United States to put pressure on
Armenia with regard to settling the long-standing dispute over Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh, an official has said commenting on President
Ilham Aliyev’s ongoing visit to Washington.
The visit will give an incentive to the conflict settlement, head of
the President’s Office socio-political department Ali Hasanov said.
“The US is one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group dealing with
the conflict. We therefore not only hope but also expect that jointly
with the other co-chairs, they will step up pressure on the Armenian
government this year and give their support to intensifying peace talks
within international legal norms. At the same time, we are awaiting
the co-chairmen to urge Armenians to take a constructive position.”
Hasanov said any developments in the South Caucasus, the Caspian and
Black Sea regions are closely followed both by Azerbaijan and the
United States, a superpower that has interests throughout the world.
“We therefore believe that both the Iran issue and other regional
issues will be tabled by the [US and Azeri] presidents and the two
will put forth their views,” the official added.

TRADE AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND LITHUANIA DO NOT REFLECT CAPABILITIES OF SIDES
Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia is interested in strengthening
and developing the Armenian-Lithuanian political relations with a
simulataneous promotion of cooperation in the economic sphere. The
Armenian Prime Minsiter Andranik Margarian stated this at the April
26 meeting with the Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus who is on an
official visit to Armenia. It was noted that despite some growth in
commodity turnover in 2005 on 2004, cooperation in this sphere remains
at a low level and does not reflect the capabilities of the sides. In
this connection A. Margarian expressed confidence that organizing a
business forum within the framework of the Lithuanian President’s visit
will become an additional incentive for further promotion of trade
and economic relations between the two countries. From the viewpoint
of encouraging the trade and economic cooperation, the interlocutors
attached importance to frequent business forums and mutual visits,
regular exchange of business information, organization of exhibitions
and extension of cooperation between various infrastructures of the
trade and economic sphere of the two countries – between chambers
of commerce and industry, unions of manufacturers and businessmen,
as well as to close cooperation in such sectors, as small and medium
enterprises development, science, technologies and innovation policy,
agriculture, transport, tourism, etc. V. Adamkus underlined the
importance of improving the transport communication routes, including
the necessity to relaunch the Abkhazian railway, in response to
which the Armenian Prime Minister stated that Armenia has repeatedly
expressed a willingness to participate in the Abkhazian railway’s
relaunchment work. The sides spoke about cooperation in the energy
sector, including energy security-related issues. A. Margarian informed
the Lithuanian President that a month of Information Technologies
(IT) is scheduled to take place in Yerevan in September-October 2006,
during which a number of forums and the DIGITEC 2006 annual
international exhibition will be held. According to the RA Government
Information and PR Department, the Armenian Prime Minsiter invited the
Lithuanian IT companies and associations to take part in these events.