Author: Torosian Aram

Japan Economic Newswire
June 8, 2005 Wednesday

Japan, Armenia agree to cooperate on U.N. reforms

TOKYO, June 8

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan agreed Wednesday to cooperate in reforms of the
United Nations, Japanese officials said.

Margaryan was quoted as telling Koizumi that his country supports
Japan’s bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council.

Margaryan arrived in Japan on Monday for a four-day stay and visited
the World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on Tuesday.

ROBERT KOCHARYAN: ENTRANCE EXAMS SHOULD BE HELD WITH MAXIMAL
TRANSPARENCY IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, June 8. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan had a working
meeting with RA Minister of Culture and Education Sergo Yeritsyan.

According to the Press Service of the President, in the course of the
meeting they discussed introduction of reforms in the sphere of
education, as well as the commitments of Armenia after joining Bologna
convention. Issues regarding the process of organization of entrance
exams were discussed. Kocharyan noted that “exams should be held with
maximal transparency”. In his turn Yeritsyan assured that the
monitoring held during exams last year by the Control Service adjunct
to RA President fostered improving organization processes and making
them transparent. In this regard he added that this year the Ministry
expects similar assistance. A.H. –0–

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS VISITED HOSPITAL IN GLENDALE

YEREVAN, JUNE 6. ARMINFO. His Holiness Garegin II Catholicos of All
Armenians, continuing His Patriarchal visit to the Western diocese of
the USA of the Armenian Apostolic Church,visited the “Memorial”
hospital in Glendale, California State.

As ARMINFO was informed in the press-service of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, this hospital has cooperated actively with Holy
Etchmiadzin and various Armenia’s medical institutions since 2001.

Supreme Patriarch noted that the Church has always assisted to medical
institutions. His Holiness visited the department of intensive therapy
and blessed a few new-born children.

Would income declarations work?

Yerkir/arm
3 June 05

Though the draft law making it mandatory to file personal property and
income declarations has been adopted by the National Assembly in the
first reading, it is not yet a law.

The bill, included in the NA’s spring agenda, also envisages
amendments to the Criminal Code, according to which, persons not
filing declarations or deliberately misrepresenting data, would be
subjected to fines up to 600,000 drams (approx. $1,300) or a prison
time up to one year: under the current Criminal Code the maximum
prison time is 2 months.

However, the government was forced to take back the bill under the
pressure of businessmen represented in the NA. The government is not
likely to give up but are people ready to reveal their property and
income?

Under the law, property and/or annual income in excess of 3 million
drams (approx. $6,700) should be declared. People believe that
enacting such a law especially in the part of property makes no sense.
Most people are outraged by the methods of assessing the property tax,
and this is especially true for those who have extremely low incomes
but live in the central part of Yerevan, and, willingly or
unwillingly, owning expensive apartments and have to pay high property
taxes.

Besides, it seems that using the experience of the western countries
in regard with property/income declarations is unrealistic in Armenia.

A1plus

| 14:47:31 | 06-06-2005 | Politics |

AUTHORITIES RE-ELECTED AS A RESULT OF DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS

The peculiarity of the elections of local governing bodies that took place
yesterday in some communities of Armenia is that in all of them the present
authorities were re-elected. In Spitak 6 774 of the 11 100 electors took
part in the elections. The present mayor Vanik Asatryan gained 4 272 votes,
Varazdat Danielyan – 1 808, and Aramayis Matevosyan – 319.

The hottest struggle was expected in Davtashen. From 26 835 electors only 12
503 took part in the election. Present community head Sourik Ghoukasyan
gained 6311 votes, and ex-deputy Rouben Gevorgyan – 5396.

In Norq-Marash community 5127 electors from 8 300 participated in the
elections. 5040 of them voted for the community head.

In the Malatia-Sebastia community only 27 005 electors from 92 500
participated in the elections. 21 022 of them voted for the present
community head Aghvan Grigoryan, and Samvel Hovsepyan gained 4 672 votes.

Strangely enough, the Central Electoral Committee did not receive complaints
from any candidate.

All the political powers found these elections extremely important as a
usual «exam» of democracy. As a result of the democratic elections the local
authorities were re-elected

GEORGIA INTERESTED IN DEVELOPMEMT OF ARMENIAN ECONOMY

TBILISI, JUNE 3, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian,
who is on a working visit to Georgia, attended on June 2 the
Armenian church St Gevorg in Tbilisi where he met with members of the
Armenian community. According to the RA government press service,
then a meeting between the RA Prime Minister and the President of
the Georgian parliament Nino Burjanadze took place. Underlining the
importance of the dynamically developing friendly relations between
the two countries, N. Burjanadze welcomed RA Prime Minister whose
visit, according to her, will become yet another stimulus for further
development of the Armenian-Georgian relations. Both sides attached
importance to the partnership and friendly relations between the
Presidents, as well as the heads of the legislative and exxecutive
powers of the two countries, which are considerbly conducive to
their cooperation. At the same time, it was noted that a number of
problems requiring efforts from both sides still exist between the
two countries. N. Burjanadze emphasized that Georgia is interested
in the development, stability and strengthening of the neighboring
Armenia. She said that our region has great prospects and may well
occupy its worthy place in the modern world. Noting the existence
of a number of long-term programs, in particular in the economic
sphere, she underlined the necessity of implementing such joint
programs. Appreciating the work done by the Armenian-Georgian
Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Affairs in
solving the problems related to the economic cooperation, the sides
considered it important to increase the role of interparliamentary
relations in the further development of bilateral relations in various
fileds. As regards the social and economic problems of Javakhk,
N. Burjanadze said that the previous government completely failed
to solve them, and new approaches have been adopted. She noted that
the social and economic situation is indeed difficult in Javakhk,
and there are numerous problems, which she dis! cussed with the
local authorities and population. She stressed that she takes such
actions not to demonstrate that someting is done in that region but
because she is indeed concerned about the well-being of the Georgian
citizens. In connection with the transport problems, in particular
the restoration of the Abkhazian sector of the railway, N. Burjanadze
noted some progess made – if previoulsy the solution of the problem
was directly connected to the conflict, now the approach has been
essentially changed and the Georgian authorities are in favor of
carrying out these activities in parallel. She considered the prospect
of exporting the Iranian gas to European countries through Armenia and
Georgia to be interesting and mutually beneficial. N. Burjanadze also
stressed the need for active work to solve the problem of demarcation
of the border lines of the state frontier. In response to this, RA
Prime Minister noted that he has decided with his Georgian counterpart
to hold a meeting of the commission that deals with this problem in
Novemeber for the purpose of a more detailed discussion. The sides
addressed the issue of regulating the activities of the Georgian
diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in connection with which RA
Prime Minister said that the issue can be settled within the framework
of the Georgian legislation provided the sides make concerted efforts.

PROTESTS OVER POSTPONEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISTANBUL CONFERENCE CONTINUE

Pan Armenian News
04.06.2005 04:15

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Union of Middle East Studies US-based academic
organization has sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan protesting against the postponement of the conference on
the Armenian issue, organized by Bosphorus Istanbul University, for
an unknown period of time. As reported by NTV Turkish company, the
letter signed by 2600 scholars of the Union expresses concern over
the Turkish Government’s attitude to the discussion of the Armenian
Genocide issue. The authors of the letter urged the Prime Minister
of Turkey – a Council of Europe member state – to contribute for the
conference over the Armenian issue to be held as soon as possible.

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN CENTER FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION OPENED IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 1. /ARKA/. Russian-Armenian center for advanced
technologies in education and intellectual resources development is
opened in Armenian branch of Moscow State University of Economics,
Statistics and Informatics. Armenian Science and Education Minister
Sergo Yeritsyan said at the opening ceremony that the center creation
is another evidence of friendship between Armenia and Russia. In
his opinion, the effect produced by the center is to be seen in the
nearest future.

The Moscow University Rector Vladimir Tikhomirov, in turn, said the
humanity is entering informational society building era, the key index
of which is new economy – the economy based on knowledge. “We live in
time when non-stop education is needed. Many large-scale companies
organize their work the way leaving at least two hours a day for
each employee for his education”, Tikhomirov said. He also said the
center would let teachers and specialists use electronic libraries
to upgrade their qualification. As a result, those countries using
knowledge, not those countries producing them will find themselves
in advantageous position, he said. M.V. -0–

Karabakh to counterbalance Azeri oil with democracy – NKR prime minister

Mediamax news agency
31 May 05

Yerevan, 31 May: The Nagornyy Karabakh republic [NKR] will
counterbalance Azerbaijan’s oil resources with its commitment to
liberal ideas and protection of human rights, Anushavan Daniyelyan,
NKR prime minister, has told representatives of the French office of
the All-Armenian Hayastan fund at a meeting in Stepanakert .

Daniyelyan extended his gratitude to the guests for their active
participation in fund-raising for the construction of the North-South
highway.

Asked what resources the NKR authorities rely on against the background
that Azerbaijan possesses a factor like the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline, Daniyelyan said: “We have every opportunity to create a free,
law-governed and democratic state.” He said that “a democratic country,
which is governed by liberal ideas and which protects human rights,
has even a brighter future than an authoritarian state rich with
natural resources”.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

May 31, 2005
___________________

DIOCESE DISCUSSES RIGHTS OF MIDEAST CHRISTIANS WITH PALISTIANIAN
AUTHORITY PRESIDENT ABBAS

The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) focused on
rights and security for Middle East Christians during a meeting between
American religious leaders and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, May 26, 2005.

Bishop Vicken Aykazian, diocesan legate and ecumenical officer,
represented the Armenian Church in the discussions organized by the
National Council of Churches (NCC). He was one of 15 religious leaders
to attend the meeting.

“I expressed our continued concern and desire for peace in the Middle
East and justice for both the Israelis and Palestinians,” Bishop
Aykazian said. “And we also talked about the security of Christians in
the Holy Land. We know the numbers of Christians in the Holy Land
diminish every day, so we are extremely concerned about their fate and
their well being.”

Earlier this year, Bishop Aykazian was part of a delegation of American
religious leaders who traveled to the Middle East to meet with Israeli
and Palestinian leadership about the need to do more to protect the
area’s Christian minority. That trip was orchestrated by the group
Churches for Middle East Peace.

During the recent meeting in Washington, Bishop Aykazian said the
Palestinian leader told the religious leaders he was grateful for their
efforts to bring about peace in the region.

Also at the meeting was Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the
NCC.

“We were excited about the opportunity to meet with President Abbas and
also look forward to the day when we will be able to meet with (Israeli)
Prime Minister Sharon,” Edgar said in a written statement. “It is
extremely important that we continue to work and pray for peace in the
Holy Land. In spite of the conditions we remain hopeful that peace is
possible.”

ASKING FOR SUPPORT

During his earlier visit to the Holy Land, Bishop Vicken reported that
Christian leaders asked American Christians not to forget about their
plight. One such awareness-raising effort was the meeting with
President Abbas.

Also, the Christian leaders asked for economic support and solidarity
from tourists. Visitors to the Holy Land not only spend money and
support the local economy, but also shows the beleaguered Christians
they are not alone.

The Armenian presence in the Holy Land is ancient and illustrious. The
Armenian Quarter in the Old City has long been a spiritual center of the
Armenian Church.

Relatedly, the St. Vartan Cathedral “Avaks” senior-citizen group is
planning a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this summer, from August 23 to
31. For more information, contact Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean of St.
Vartan Cathedral, by calling (212) 686-0710 ext. 53.

— 5/31/05

# # #