Author: Tvankchian Parkev

HARUTYUN ARAKELYAN: “ORINATS YERKIR” PARTY TOOK A POLITICAL DECISION

ArmRadio.am
23.05.2006 16:23

“Orinats Yerkir” Party took a political decision, considers Harutyun
Arakelyan, Head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Armenia. Moreover,
he congratulated Arthur Baghdasaryan and characterized the occurred as
a normal phenomenon. “The coalition would collapse sooner or later,”
Head of the Party added.

“Political decisions cause a confusion in Armenia,” Harutyun Arakelyan
said.

According to him, “Orinats Yerkir” Party entered the final stage
of development. He is confident this party will have a role in the
political system of the country, at the same time characterizing the
position of the opposition as hilarious.

The Liberal-Democratic Party does not have spite against any
party. Head of the Liberal-Democrats refutes the talks that some
points in their platform counter other parties.

The party will participate both in 2007 and 2008 elections. Harutyun
Arakelyan cannot say so far which political force they will unite
with. This will become clear only after the meeting of the Party.

“OUR PRIME AIM WAS TO PRESENT OUR COUNTRY”
Nvrad Ohanjanian

Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
23 May 2006

The Committee of Tourism of the government of Moscow held a tourism
expo in Moscow on May 11-13. NKR was represented by the NKR Tourism
Development Agency. On May 19 Sergey Shahverdian and Davit Ishkanian,
Tourism Development Agency, gave a press conference to provide details
on the expo. Sergey Shahverdian said the stand of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic, which was considered one of the best, gave information on
this country through photos and products made in NKR. On May 13 the NKR
representatives made a presentation on Nagorno Karabakh Republic. “The
presentation was appointed at 11 in the morning, but several minutes
before the presentation a group of Azerbaijanis, apparently students,
entered the hall. We asked the security services for help to avoid any
incidents. During the opening of the presentation by Albert Andrian,
the special representative of NKR to Moscow the Azerbaijanis started
an action of protest.

Namely, they took off their shirts and stood with t-shirts on with
writings against our people’s victory and achievements,” said Sergey
Shahverdian, adding that this sight confused the participants of the
presentation. Despite the protest of the Azerbaijanis, the presentation
passed normally and ended with a tasting of Karabakh wines. After
the presentation the organizers of the expo gave a diploma to the
NKR representation. “The Azerbaijanis, who were trying to prevent our
presentation, did not even imagine that their protest would produce
the opposite impression, a positive impression on the participants,”
said Sergey Shahverdian. He says beginning with the first day of the
expo the Azerbaijani embassy was making attempts at having the NKR
stand closed, but as soon as they failed, they started demanding
to replace the sign on the stand “Nagorno Karabakh Republic” with
“Nagorno Karabakh.” This demand was turned down by the organizers of
the expo. Davit Ishkanian said this is the fifth participation of
NKR in similar Armenian and international expos: once in Yerevan,
three times in Arab and European tourism expos in Beirut. “The NKR
government, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of
Territorial Management and Development of Infrastructures contributed
to the participation of NKR in the expo. We are grateful to Karabakh
Telecom for financial support, Artsakh Alco and Karabakh Gold for
the products to display,” said Davit Ishkanian. He thinks that
participation in such events is important, for these, first of all,
have a political context. Sergey Shahverdian says after the Russian
government banned import of Georgian and Moldavian wines, the wine
producers of Karabakh have an excellent opportunity of exporting
their production to Russia. This circumstance should spur the NKR
government agencies and companies to take practical steps. “Unlike
product expos, tourism expos are important in the sense that the
country is presented. Our prime aim was to acquaint present Karabakh
and its political situation to travel agencies and visitors,” he said,
adding that in Moscow the representatives of Karabakh made arrangements
with travel magazines, as well as a Russian TV company and people
related with tourism. In answer to the question if the Karabakh issue
was discussed by the participants and visitors of this event, Sergey
Shahverdian said presently there are a number of people in Russia,
who are well aware of what goes on in Karabakh, therefore there is
no need for propaganda among these people. “The only problem they
are interested in is whether there are skirmishes at the front line
of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict. We gave them true information,
assuring that there are no skirmishes, and safety of travelers
is guaranteed, and tourists can visit and see Karabakh,” said
S. Shahverdian.

WEATHER IN SOCHI ALLOWS CARRYING OUT THE SEARCH WORKS WITHOUT INTERRUPTION

ArmRadio.am
22.05.2006 12:10

The weather at the site of search of the black boxes of the crashed
A-320 improved, and the works continue all day long, one of the
participants of the search works told RIA Novosti.

“If before we had to suspend the search works in the afternoon because
of strong wind, then now the weather allows to carry out the works
all day long,” the rescuer said.

He noted that the participants of the operation have been divided
into three groups, which will allow to carry out the deepwater works
without interruption.

Ottawa Citizen
May 20, 2006 Saturday
Final Edition

ESL: Edge-stitching a second language

by Margo Roston, Citizen Special

The women sit around sewing machines or at a table where they are
cutting fabric in the basement of the Caldwell Family Centre. Some
speak English without much hesitation; a couple barely speak English
at all. One or two wear the dress of their homeland; the others are
in western clothing.

What the women have in common is their interest in sewing and the
need to finish the outfits they will wear in an upcoming fashion
show.

They are members of an ESL sewing class run four days a week by the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board and its teacher Saada Hussain.
And while their lessons hone their skills with a needle and thread,
their classroom time is really all about learning a new language.

Nigar Islam, who carpools to the class from Kanata with her pal
Sayeeda Mirza, shows off the Pakistani national dress she’ll wear in
the show: a blue embroidered kameez with matching shalwar and a
doppatta — a dress, trousers and a scarf.

“I always did embroidery, but I had a fear of cutting,” admits Islam,
who has lived in Canada for 20 years. “Now I am a grandmother and
I’ve begun sewing for my granddaughter.” She has been making both
traditional and western-style clothing since she joined the sewing
group three years ago.

The centre occupies two townhouses in Bellevue Manor in the
Carlington community off Merivale Road. The complex houses a day
care, a food bank, a drop-in centre, a computer room and the sewing
room, which is filled with donated sewing machines, notions and
fabrics.

There is calm and quiet in here, the conversation all about seams and
button holes and zippers. It’s obvious the women are comfortable
together and having a wonderful time.

“We have to talk in English,” says Araclly Ossa, who immigrated to
Canada from Colombia more than 30 years ago. “The sewing is good for
us. You learn things to do, like making something for the bedroom.”

Suzanne Lamirande lives in the community and acts as a volunteer with
the group. A French speaker, she says her English has improved along
with her sewing skills. She has even produced a book of fashion
designs she’s keen to try out.

She also acts as a translator for Eulalie Nida, a recent arrival from
the Ivory Coast, who speaks only French. Tall and elegant, the mother
of three had never sewn before she joined the class, but has created
a colourful print dress to wear in the show.

Akur Mathaing is a newcomer from Sudan with a wide, cheerful smile.
She arrived a year ago to marry her Sudanese boyfriend, who had
already settled in Ottawa. In her short time with the group, Mathaing
has mastered the basics of both sewing and English.

The class, which when at full strength is 18-strong, pauses to admire
classmate Mirtan Aghazarian, an Armenian from Iran who came to Ottawa
in 2002. She’s modelling a tweed suit that she made and a sweater
with glitter around the neckline.

When she’s not working on a class project, Aghazarian makes little
gifts from scraps of material. “I’m learning a lot here. In the
summer I plan to do a lot of sewing.” She already owns a sewing
machine, a gift from her teacher.

Hussain is the creative pivot of the room, passing on advice in a
professional and quiet manner. She has taught in her native Pakistan,
Australia and Kuwait, and has worked for eight years at the centre,
where she’s determined to teach new skills along with English to new
and older immigrants.

“Many of the women take orders and make wedding dresses, some work in
dry cleaners and do alterations. And some of the women want to be
able to make their own national costumes since it’s expensive to buy
them here, but they can find beautiful fabric here.”

Some of the students have sewn before but need to learn English
sewing terms and new techniques in order to work. While the English
used in the class can be technical — words about stitching, hems and
patterns — there’s a strong sense of community support and
friendship in the room.

For many of the women, it’s also a place to have fun together. And
despite the mix of cultures, languages and dress, it’s where
differences are most likely to be expressed with a bit of fabric, a
needle and some coloured thread.

The Caldwell Family Centre Fashion Show takes place at 10 a.m.
Wednesday, 1520 Caldwell Ave.

Margo Roston is an Ottawa writer.

FRANCE SHELVES SENSITIVE ARMENIAN BILL VOTE

New Anatolian, Turkey
May 19 2006

The French Parliament on Thursday indefinitely postponed voting on
a controversial bill that aimed to introduce prison terms to those
who question the Armenian genocide claims.

During yesterday’s special session of Parliament, several deputies
from the Socialist Party, which prepared the bill, as well as ruling
Union for Popular Movement (UMP) deputies, who criticized the bill,
took the floor, and the debate lasted longer than planned.

Parliament Speaker Jean Louis Debre closed the session without
holding a vote, saying that they had run out of time due to the long
debate. Under the rules of the French Parliament, the bill can’t
return to Parliament’s agenda before its next term, which opens in
October. The socialists are not able to bring the same bill to the
floor, and so they would be forced to prepare a new one.

The bill, which proposed to make denial of the Armenian genocide claims
a crime by introducing up to a year’s imprisonment and a fine of up
to 45,000 euros for those who question the controversial issue, was
brought to the Parliament floor for debate by the socialists. As the
postponement sparked criticism by mainly socialist parliamentarians,
dozens of members of Armenian groups yelled, “The vote! The vote!” and
pounded their fists for five minutes from a balcony over the assembly
floor.

Douste-Blazy rejects bill, but uses term ‘genocide’

During debate yesterday, French Foreign Minister Phillipe Douste-Blazy
opposed any step towards approval of the Armenian bill, underlining
that it would seriously harm reconciliation efforts by Turks and
Armenians, but he did use the sensitive term “genocide” while referring
to the brutal events of 1915.

“Armenians are right in their ‘genocide’ case and they have the right
to defend it. But I don’t believe that this bill will have positive
consequences,” Douste-Blazy said in his address to the Parliament.

Taking the floor in the name of the French government, the
foreign minister urged the Parliament not to trespass on the duty
of historians. He stressed that passage of the bill would harm
reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Armenia, two countries that
have no diplomatic relations.

Referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggestion
to establish commissions composed of both Turkish and Armenian
historians to study the controversial events of 1915, Douste-Blazy
called on France to give Turks and Armenians the opportunity to
determine their joint history.

He also urged France to follow a policy towards the promotion of
peace and reconciliation, citing the fact that some 300,000 Turks are
living in France and the two countries have historic, economic, and
cultural ties. The French foreign minister’s speech sparked criticism
from deputies supporting passage of the bill.

Armenians accuse the Ottoman Empire of deliberately massacring up to
1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919. Turkey stresses that
these figures are inflated and says that far fewer Armenians died,
due to civil unrest under the conditions of World War I and the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Ankara suspended its diplomatic
relations with Yerevan a decade ago due to Armenian occupation of
the Azeri territories of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey expects France to drop bill from agenda

Turkey welcomed the shelving of the bill, but also called on France
to drop the debate from Parliament’s agenda altogether and instead
support the Turkish suggestion to establish a joint historians’
commission to study the 1915 events.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry made its request public in a written
statement following the decision to shelve debate over the bill.

Referring to the opposition of French historians, public opinion
and Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy to the bill, the statement said:
“Our expectations from France is that they drop the bill from
Parliament’s agenda and support the Turkish suggestion to establish
a joint commission composed of Turkish and Armenian historians to
investigate in detail the events of 1915, by studying the archives
that will be made public later on.”

VARTAN KHACHATRIAN IS ALSO HEAD OF EBRD YEREVAN OFFSHOOT
By Ara Martirosian

AZG Armenian Daily
20/05/2006

A delegation of the Armenian Economy and Finance Ministry headed
by minister and chief of EBRD Yerevan offshoot Vartan Khachatrian
will leave for the 15th annual meeting of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development in London May 21-22, the press service
of the Ministry informs.

This is perhaps no extraordinary a news but for the information that
Vartan Khachatrian is also the head of EBRD Yerevan offshoot. Answering
our inquiries at the Ministry’s press service they said that the
economy and finance minister is also the holder of the head of EBRD
national offshoot.

It’s merely strange that Armenia’s economy and finance minister can be
meantime a head of an international organization in our country. What
law regulates these positions and why does not the same minister head
offices of, say, the World bank or the US Agency for International
Development?

ISRAEL CHARNY SUGGESTS INCLUDING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN AN ISRAELI UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM
By Tamar Minasian

AZG Armenian Daily
18/05/2006

The third sitting of the Armenian Genocide experts’ group of the
World Armenian Congress with the participation of 21 members from 17
countries was held yesterday. The work of the experts group launched
after the meeting with foreign minister Vartan Oskanian in the morning
that was assessed very positively by WAC chairman Ara Abrahamian:
“This was the first time we had a very serious discussion on the
stance of the state and WAC in this issue.”

Head of the chair of Armenian Studies at the UCLA, Richard
Hovhannisian, said that at all previous meetings they tried to outline
the paths that would bring to international acknowledgement of the
Armenian Genocide as well as the steps that will follow recognition
and legal grounds for applying to international structures.

“I am one of those who are concerned over bringing the issue to
international courts,” Prof. Mihran Dabag of the Center for Armenian
Studies at the Bochum University, Germany, says. “The court means a
decision based on the materials provided by both sides, and in my view,
the historicity of the Genocide is over doubt and it is not up to the
courts to decide. For that reason we need to boost our fight against
denial standing firm on legal ground. My greatest wish is that our
focusing on Genocide’s recognition does not harm our future plans.”

Dr. Israel Charny from Israel suggests opening an Armenian chair
at one of the biggest Israeli universities and organize lectures on
the Genocide alongside with Holocaust classes and thus contribute to
Israeli state’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

It is planned to hold a large-scale conference on Armenian
Genocide in 2007 and invite representatives of the Armenian
government. Mr. Abrahamian suggested to hold 2 more sittings of the
WAC’s expert’s group to clarify their stances and the work ahead. The
range of questions is rather broad: when was the Armenian genocide
perpetrated, what was its continuation, what should be the steps
following Genocide recognition by foreign states, should we apply to
international courts or not, what are our demands from Turkey? Ara
Abrahamian said that there are 3-4 different answers to these questions
but they do not conflict with each other but rather supplement each
other. He said that they have agreed with the Foreign Affairs Ministry
to put forward their written proposals and views and begin joint work.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN: LEVEE DES DEBATS, INCIDENTS DANS LES TRIBUNES

Agence France Presse
18 mai 2006 jeudi

Jean-Louis Debre a leve la seance jeudi peu après 13H00 a l’Assemblee
nationale, sans que soit acheve l’examen de la proposition de loi PS
reprimant la negation du genocide armenien, tandis que des partisans de
la cause armenienne reclamaient son vote dans les tribunes du public.

La seance a ete levee par le president de l’Assemblee nationale
dès la fin de la discussion generale, et donc sans qu’un vote ait
pu intervenir.

Plusieurs dizaines de personnes presentes dans les tribunes du
public se sont alors levees et ont scande pendant quelques minutes :
“le vote”, “le vote”, avant d’etre evacuees dans le calme par des
gendarmes. Le premier secretaire du PS Francois Hollande s’est rendu
dans les tribunes pour discuter avec ces protestataires.

“C’est la première fois que nous voyons ca a l’Assemblee nationale”,
commentaient plusieurs agents de securite.

Les deputes avaient entame dans la confusion l’examen de ce texte très
sensible qui divise les deputes au-dela du clivage gauche/droite,
qui est condamne par des historiens francais et qui provoque des
tensions avec la Turquie.

La majorite et le gouvernement avaient en effet fait traîner le
debat sur un premier texte de Paul Quliès (PS) consacre au contrôle
du Parlement et egalement inscrit dans cette seance reservee a des
propositions socialistes.

Après de vifs echanges, rappels au règlement et suspensions de seance,
l’opposition de gauche protestant contre “l’obstruction de l’UMP et
du gouvernement”, les deputes ont finalement adopte la proposition
Quilès et pu entamer le debat sur la question armenienne mais seulement
vers 12H30.

Lors du debat, le ministre des Affaires etrangères Philippe
Douste-Blazy s’est oppose au texte le qualifiant de “geste inamical”
pour la Turquie.

Ce texte, “s’il etait adopte, serait considere comme un geste inamical
par la très grande majorite du peuple turc, cela ne pourrait manquer
d’avoir des consequences politiques serieuses et d’affaiblir notre
influence non pas seulement en Turquie mais aussi dans l’ensemble de
la region”, a-t-il dit sous les huees des deputes de gauche.

La poursuite du debat sur ce texte et un vote ne devraient
pas intervenir avant la prochaine “niche” (seance d’initiative
parlementaire) socialiste, c’est-a-dire lors de la prochaine session
parlementaire qui commence debut octobre.

La proposition de loi fait de la negation du genocide un delit
punissable d’un an d’emprisonnement et de 45.000 euros d’amende.

–Boundary_(ID_gHTQ8ElfL8+OzblmFfjAng)- –

ARMENIAN MINISTER SAYS LEADERS’ TALKS POSSIBLE

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 17 2006

Baku, May 16, AssA-Irada
The OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict are due to visit the region May 25-26,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has told the press.

Unlike previous separate visits, all the three co-chairman of the
Minsk Group will hold talks in the two countries, he said.

Commenting on some reports suggesting that Armenian President Robert
Kocharian has refused to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliyev, Oskanian said such a meeting is not ruled out. “This
will depend on the upcoming meeting of the two countries’ foreign
ministers in Strasbourg and the outcomes of the intermediaries’
visit to the region.”

The parties failed to agree upon the issues of principle during
the latest talks held by the two leaders in Rambouillet, France in
February, which was followed by mutual threats.

The Armenian diplomat said the mediators have laid out several new
ideas to the conflicting sides, which will be discussed in France at
a meeting of the foreign ministers with the co-chairs. He avoided
revealing the gist of the proposals, but said they include both
advantages and downsides. Therefore, all the disputed issues should
be resolved during the negotiations, Oskanian said.

“We will try to maximally bring our positions closer at the Strasbourg
meeting,” the Armenian official added.

LIVING STANDARDS: ARMENIA RANKS 83 AMONG 170 U.N. MEMBER STATES

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2006 17:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ By living standards Armenia ranks 83 among 170
U.N. member states, head of the OSCE Yerevan Office, Ambassador
Vladimir Pryakhin stated at the international scientific conference
titled “Caucasus without conflicts and terror. Dialogue of
civilizations on the Caucasian crossroad” held in Yerevan today. The
index is rather low, however it’s higher than that of Georgia (100)
and Azerbaijan (101), he noted. According to the diplomat the low
index is conditioned by the transit period, economic problems and
unsettled conflicts. “Three out of five frozen conflicts in the post
soviet space are in the South Caucasus,” Mr. Pryakhin underscored.