Author: Torosian Aram

THREE COUNTRIES TO MISS CIS DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETING

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 29, 2006 Monday 08:03 PM EST

Three out of twelve countries will miss a meeting of CIS defense
ministers in Baku on Wednesday, while over a half of those attending
will be represented by deputy defense ministers, according to the
Russian defense ministry.

It said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will leave for the
capital of Azerbaijan on Tuesday.

It is the venue of the meeting, which made Armenia refuse to attend.

“The Armenian refusal was caused by the venue of the meeting – Baku
– in the context of continuing contradictions with Azerbaijan over
Nagorno Karabakh”, the ministry said, adding Georgia is planning to
withdraw from the CIS altogether, while Turkmenistan “sticks to its
policy of neutrality and non-participation in military-political
alliances”.

“Participants in the meeting will discuss over 20 issues concerning
military and military-technical cooperation, including the development
of the Unified air defense system, the creation of the Unified
communications system, interaction of metrological services, and air
flights safety. The concept of military cooperation of CIS states
up to 2010 is to be approved. Specific place will be occupied by the
discussion of peacekeeping activities on CIS space, first and foremost,
in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict,” the ministry said.

In Baku Ivanov plans to hold several bilateral meetings, including
with his Ukrainian counterpart Anatoly Gritsenko. Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev is expected to receive meeting participants.

DECODATION OF A-320 PLANE’S SOUND AND PARAMETER INFORMATION CARRIERS STARTS

Noyan Tapan
May 30 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Decodation of the flight recorders
of A-320 plane has started on May 29 at the Interstate Aviation
Committee. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Gayane
Davtian, Spokeswoman of the Head of the General Department of RA Civil
Aviation, the containers of plane’s flight recorders were opened,
the information carriers were taken out. They are ready for procession
in correspondence with technological and procedure norms.

Aviation authorities of Armenia and Russia follow the process of
decodation. The technical base necessary for decodation was given by
the Research and Analytical Bureau of France. The carriers of sound
and parameter information are in a satisfactory state and are fit
for decodation.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION DISSATISFIED WITH REPORTS ON RAILWAY IN ABKHAZIA

Prime News Agency, Georgia
May 30 2006

Tbilisi. May 30 (Prime-News) – The Interim Committee of the Parliament
of Georgia for Restoration of Territorial Integrity of Georgia
discussed the issue on restoration of the Georgian-Russian railway
movement via breakaway Abkhazia at the closed session on Tuesday.

The committee members were not satisfied with the incomplete report
by Irakli Ezugbaia, Director General of Georgian Railways Ltd on
the ongoing talks on restoration of the Georgian-Russian railway
movement via the breakaway region of Abkhazia, Prime-News was told
by representatives of the Commission.

On May 04th the agreement was reached in Moscow, according to which
the Georgian, Abkhazian, Russian and Armenian parties signed a protocol
on creation of the Black Sea Railways Consortium, which must supervise
rehabilitation of the railway bed in Abkhazia.

he Georgian party demands to be given a right to control the Abkhazian
railway bed and register it as a property of the Georgian Railways,
as priority.

Executives of the Georgian Railways Ltd were charged with a task to
deliver more detailed report in the nearest future.

Armenpress

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY DELEGATION AVOIDS VISIT TO
BAKU

YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS; The Armenian defense
ministry has decided against sending a delegation of
top officers to Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan
that is to host a regular meeting of the CIS Defense
Ministers Council.
A spokesman for Armenian defense ministry, Seyran
Shahsuvarian, said the decision was made after the
secretariat of the CIS Defense Ministers Council
failed to receive Azerbaijani authorities guarantees
that they will ensure the safety of the Armenian
delegation.
A press release disseminated today by Armenian
defense ministry said this was another evidence of
Azerbaijan’s failure to respect its international
commitments-in this case to ensure the security of
participants of an international event held in its
territory.
The press release also said the CIS Council of
Defense Ministers should be able to provide equal
conditions for all participants of the meeting. ‘We
expect the official explanation of the CIS Defense
Ministers Council,” the Armenian pres release said.

Banknotes with the nominal value of 10 000 to be put into circulation
starting May 31

ArmRadio.am
29.05.2006 17:51

According to the decision of the Board of the Central Bank of Armenia,
starting May 31 RA banknotes with the nominal value of 10 000 will be
put into circulation. The banknotes with the nominal value of 10 000
issued in 2006 are legal means of payment and are due to be accepted
in exchange for any goods or services without restrictions. The
banknotes with the nominal value of 10 000 issued in 2003 remain in
circulation without any restrictions.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS, VISITING AZERBAIJAN, ISSUED STATEMENT

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 24 2006

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, being on a visit in Azerbaijan, issued
joint statement. The statement reads that co-chairs coming together
with OSCE chairman in- office personal representative, in diplomatic
mission is to support the necessity of Nagorno Garabagh conflict
in peaceful way, and stressing the time of solving the problem for
the sides.

“We were received by President Ilham Aliyev, and before that we
met with foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov. We had discussed the
significant aspects of future regulation. We tried to provide condition
for two Presidents’ meeting. Besides it, both countries should prepare
its community to peace not war.”

Our talks in Baku are of constructive character. Tomorrow we will visit
Yerevan, meet with President Robert Kocharyan and foreign minister
Vardan Oskanian and hold of the same character talks and return to
the states we represent and inform our leader”. Co-chairs will also
inform the OSCE and international community of their visit to the
region. “At present, it depends on Azerbaijan and Armenia what will
happen. We leave the country in hopes for development. We are pleased
to be in Baku, and we express our gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev
and Azerbaijani people for their receiving us.”

FLIGHT DATA OF CRASHED AIRBUS TO BE DECIPHERED IN RUSSIA

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 24 2006

(Adds paragraphs 4-8)

SOCHI, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – The flight data from an Armenian Airbus
that crashed into the Black Sea May 3, killing 113 people, will be
deciphered in Russia, an official said Wednesday.

Tatiana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said
French equipment could be used for deciphering the data.

The recovery operation at the scene of the tragedy was officially
declared over earlier Wednesday.

Rudolf Teimurazov, a representative of the Interstate Aviation
Committee, said earlier experts would need about a fortnight to
decipher the data.

He said the two black boxes, the second of which was recovered early
Wednesday morning from a depth of about 500 meters (1,640 feet),
would be handed over to the committee’s experts within the timeframe
set by a government commission.

“A government commission working at the crash site will set the date
for handing over the flight recorders to the Interstate Aviation
Committee,” he said. “Usually it takes experts about 15 days to
decipher flight data.”

He also said cockpit flight recorder’s information was on a magnetic
tape but the flight data from the other black box was on a hard drive.

The airliner, operated by Armenia’s Armavia, crashed while flying
from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in stormy weather 6 kilometers
(3.7 miles) from Russia’s Adler airport, which services the popular
resort of Sochi.

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
7 Vazgen Sargsian Street
Yerevan 0010, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 58.08.77, 52.22.38
Fax: (+374 – 10) 54.38.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

May 24, 2006

FEAR IN ARMAVIR: HERITAGE FIGHTS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

Yerevan–On May 20, Heritage Party Chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian and a
delegation of high-ranking members paid a visit to the Armavir region to
hold consultations with members of the party’s local divisions. At their
first stop, in the village of Miasnikian, it became apparent that the visit
was being closely monitored by the local police department and other
security services. Before the meeting, the law enforcement bodies had
questioned Heritage’s local representative about the objective and timing of
the visit and the composition of the delegation, and had insisted that they
be informed as soon as Hovannisian arrived.

The meeting at Miasnikian was still in progress when word came from the town
of Armavir that the party’s local office manager Levon Margarian had been
taken into custody. Before being released he was told that the region’s law
enforcement agency knew about the forthcoming visit of Raffi Hovannisian and
the other senior party members. The police demanded that Margarian make
sure that the meeting did not take place; otherwise they would use force to
disrupt it.

Upon arrival at Armavir, the Heritage Party leadership witnessed local
police units standing on the sidewalk across from the party’s regional
headquarters. It was apparent that they had been called in to intimidate
their fellow citizens and to ensure the prevention of the meeting. This
outrage notwithstanding, an open discussion between the party officials and
local residents took place as scheduled. Afterwards, Raffi Hovannisian
walked to the local police precinct and asked to meet with the district
chief, Colonel Gevorgian. Initially, he was told that this would be arranged
in 15 minutes, but later he was informed that Gevorgian had convened an
urgent consultation and could not receive him. Talks with the deputy police
chief or any other person in command were also ruled out under the same
pretext. Subsequently, the request for a formal explanation was submitted to
the officer on duty, Lieutenant Melkonian.

On May 22, the executive board of the Heritage Party sent a letter to
Armenia’s Police Chief Haik Harutiunian demanding a full explanation and
assessment of these unlawful and unconstitutional acts.

Throughout his regional visits Raffi Hovannisian was accompanied by chairman
Hovsep Khurshudian of the Heritage Party’s Oversight Commission, board
member Gevorg Kalenchian, and political secretary Vardan Khachatrian. In
Khachatrian’s words, the party expects that “the police will uncover the
architects of this illegal operation and give a legal evaluation of what
took place.”

That these initiatives of fear and intimidation are centrally orchestrated
is corroborated by the recent unlawful closure of Heritage’s main
headquarters in Yerevan; the surveillance and harassment of party members
throughout the republic and threatening them with imprisonment or loss of
employment; the late-night removal of the Heritage logo from its regional
offices in Aparan, Yeghvard, Sisian, Yegheknadzor, and Kapan; the refusal of
Yegheknadzor mayor Sirak Babayan to sanction a public meeting on May 6; the
refusal of the Armenian government, to provide a standard hall for Heritage’
s upcoming convention; and the informational blockade of Heritage and
Hovannisian presidentially imposed on virtually all electronic media in the
country.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central headquarters are located at 7 Vazgen Sargsian Street, Yerevan 0010,
Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 580.877, fax at (374-10)
543.897, and email at [email protected]

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
May 24, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]

PRESIDENT BUSH NOMINATES RICHARD HOAGLAND AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

Washington, DC – President George W. Bush has nominated Richard
E. Hoagland to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia.
If confirmed, Hoagland would replace Ambassador John Evans who was
rebuked by State Department officials last year after publicly
affirming the Armenian Genocide during his meetings with major
Armenian-American communities.

In those exchanges, Ambassador Evans declared that “the Armenian
Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century.” Following
his statements, Ambassador Evans issued a clarification of his
remarks.

Members of the House and Senate, as well as the Assembly, publicly
supported Evans’ declarations and called on President Bush to also
properly characterize the events as genocide. More recently, nearly
60 lawmakers supported a letter from Armenian Caucus Member
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
expressing concern over reports that Evans is being forced out of his
post.

The congressional letter stated in part: “It is our hope that these
announcements are inaccurate given Evans’ service to his country…we
must not allow the perception to linger that he is being required to
vacate his position early for accurately labeling the cataclysmic
events of 1915 as genocide.”

Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian said that “If in
fact Ambassador Evans is being required to vacate his position for
employing the proper term for the Armenian Genocide, then he is being
unjustly penalized for speaking the truth. Ambassador Evans is a
well-respected career foreign service officer who has done much to
strengthen U.S.-Armenia bilateral relations.”

Hovnanian added that there is sufficient context and validation for
Evans’ use of the term, which are in keeping with contemporaneous
declarations of Presidents Ronald Reagan in 1981 and that of President
George Bush, who has employed the textbook definition of genocide in
his annual April 24 statements.

Evans’ characterization conforms to the publicly stated conclusions of
over 120 renowned Holocaust and Genocide scholars on the
“incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide,” and that of the
International Center for Transitional Justice on the use of the term
Armenian Genocide, which stated that: “The Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be
justified in continuing to so describe them.” Evans pointed to the
ICTJ findings when he made his public statements about the Armenian
Genocide.

Furthermore, the U.S. played a leading role in attempting to prevent
the genocide and helping those that survived. U.S. Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau helped to alert the world to these
atrocities and the U.S. national archives contain thousands of pages
documenting the killings of the Armenian people. Evans’ use of the
term is thus a continuation of this historical fact.

Last June, in an unprecedented move, the American Foreign Service
Association (AFSA) rescinded its award to Ambassador Evans for
properly characterizing the Armenian Genocide. The prestigious
Christian A. Herter Award was withdrawn just days before Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan arrived in Washington for a meeting with
President Bush.

“America should not cultivate relations with Turkey by refraining from
telling the truth about this crime against humanity,” Hovnanian
continued. “Rather, the U.S. should reaffirm what we all know to be
fact and firmly and irrevocably reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.”

Ambassador Hoagland, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service,
currently serves as United States Ambassador to the Republic of
Tajikistan. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Office of
Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State.
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of the Office of Public
Diplomacy in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs.

Ambassador Hoagland received his bachelor’s degree from Taylor
University and two master’s degrees from the University of Virginia.

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#2006-053

NATO IS ONE OF THE WARRANTEES OF ARMENIA’S SECURITY

Yerevan, May 23. ArmInfo. NATO may assist normalization of relations
between Armenia and Turkey, reports the parliamentary press center
the words of Robert Simmons, Special Representative of NATO Secretary
General in South Caucasus and Central Asia, who met today with the
Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Tigran Torosian.

In his return Mr. Torosian noted that NATO is also one of the
warrantees of Armenia’s security, therefore cooperation between Armenia
and NATO and NATO Parliament Assembly will proceeded, irrespective
of political shifts in eth ruling coalition of Armenia.

Tigran Torosian informed the Special Representative that a special
Commission under President Robert Kocharian is created in order to
enhance the cooperation between Armenia and Europe.

Both the sides emphasized the elections of 2007-2008 and their
correspondence to European standards, as well as the necessity to
extend the IPAP of Armenia. Robert Simmons stressed the importance
of the Parliament and democracy in cooperating with NATO. He added
that the Parliament can play a major part in realizing the IPAP,
which first of all aims protection of democratical values.