Author: Vanyan Gary

PACE APRIL SESSION INCLUDES TWO REPORTS OF INTEREST FOR ARMENIA

ArmRadio.am
27.03.2006 18:05

The agenda of the April 10-13 session of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe includes two reports of interest for
Armenia. These include reports on “Refugees and displaced persons
in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan” and ” Human rights of members of
the Armed Forces.”

In today’s press conference Head of the Armenian delegation to
PACE Tigran Torosyan expressed his opinion about the statement
of PACE Secretary General Terry Davis, according to which the
Committee of Ministers will also send experts to Old Jugha and
Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Tigran Torosyan, this parallel is not
proper first of all because these territories have different statuses.

WORK DEDICATED TO PROMINENT SCIENTIST TADEOS AVDALBEGIAN’S ACTIVITY PUBLISHED

Noyan Tapan
Mar 27 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Prominent scientist Tadeos
Avdalbegian’s life and activity is presented in Ara Markosian’s
“Tadeos Avdalbegian: Pages of Life and Work” work the presentation of
which took place on March 24 at the RA NAS. T.Avdalbegian is one of
prominent representatives of the Armenian economic idea. During the 30
years of his creative life, he wrote numerous works which relate to
historic science, literary science, Armenian religion, architecture,
history of economy, The scientist made numerous translations as well.

A.Markosian mainly presented in his work that great work that
T.Avdalbegian did while translating the “Capital” of K.Marx, and
with what indexes the “Capital” was turned into an excellent example
of translation besides being one of national meaning. According to
academician Vladimir Barkhudarian, “Avdalbegian is the only person in
the world who has translated all four volumes of the “Capital” from the
original, and it’s considered one of the best translations.” Besides,
in the Armenological life of the 20th century, T.Avdalbegian has
his worthy place also as one of founders of the higher education
in Armenia. According to the academician, though T.Avdalbegian did
a huge work, few people know about him today. At the same time it
was mentioned, that researches of different spheres make use of the
scientists’ works at present as well.

1 MILLION 157 THOUSAND FOR THE FUTURE OF ARMENIA

Lragir.am
25 March 06

In 2006-2007 the Education Headed for Future program will be
implemented in Armenia, which will cost 1 million 157 thousand
dollars. The news agency ARKA informs that the agreement on the
program was signed on March 24 by the minister of education and
science Sergo Yeritsyan and the UNDP Resident Coordinator Consuelo
Vidal. After the signing of the agreement Sergo Yeristyan said the
program will be funded by the government of Norway, and the government
of Armenia will provide 55 thousand dollars. `The implementation of
the program will enable reforms in vocational secondary schools,
namely modernization, upgrading of educational standards,
scholarships,’ said Sergo Yeritsyan. The UN representative Consuelo
Vidal emphasized that for the implementation of the program a research
of the Armenian labor pool was conducted. She said today there are
about 27 vocational colleges in Armenia, four will be involved in the
program, one in Yerevan, others in the regions. He emphasized that the
main stress will be placed on upgrading the qualifications of young
people and help them find employment in the regions.

EUROVISION, ANDRE AND MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

Lragir.am
24 March 06

Andre will represent Armenia at the song contest Eurovision. He will
sing the song `Without Your Love’ in English, arranged in eastern
cadence. The fact is commented on by political figures. It turns out
that many of them have music education.

MP Galust Sahakyan (Republican), who used to learn music, says there
is a Mongol-Tatar motif in the song, and one would rather say the
Armenians are going to sing a Mongol-Tatar song.

Artashes Geghamyan, the leader of the National Unity, does not know
Tatar and Mongol music, `but I share the viewpoint that another song
or another singer could be chosen. For instance, if I were to decide,
I would nominate Shushan Petrosyan, who is close to the hearts of
Armenians of both Karabakh and Armenia, and stands closer to the
origins of our music.’ At any rate, Artashes Geghamyan endorses Galust
Sahakyan’s `public stricture that the esthetic taste of the
top-officials of Armenia likes Mongol-Tatar music.’

Hrair Karapetyan, member of the ARF, says it is commendable that the
factions of the National Assembly of Armenia express theirs points of
view on songs. `I was taught to music. It is difficult to consider it
purely ethnic music except the part of kochari. However, in fact,
today the eastern motif in music is more popular in Europe.’

Victor Dallakyan also thinks that Andre’s song is close to the taste
of the present government. `I do not doubt the evaluation of Galust
Sahakyan, because he has taste and considerable knowledge in
music. The expectations from Andre will fail.’ The member of
parliament, who used to be a successful violinist, thinks that `our
political reality is not threatened.’ By the way, Victor Dallakyan
prefers Andre’s `My Love For You.’

Samvel Balasanyan and Mher Shahgeldyan like the song but they say it
could have been better. Samvel Balasanyan thinks the video is quite
good.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Los Angeles Times: State Department Long Avoided Word
“Genocide” out of Deference to Turkey

23.03.2006 01:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It is time to stop tiptoeing around
the Genocide issue and to accept settled history.
Genocide, according to accepted U.N. definition, means
“the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
Armenia is not even a borderline case, says an article
titled It Was Genocide in The Los Angeles Times.
Punishing an ambassador for speaking honestly about a
90-year-old crime befits a cynical, double-dealing
monarchy, not the leader of the free world. The
article author touches upon possible recall of US
Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, `accusing’ him for
recognizing the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in
1915-1923 during a meeting with the Armenian community
at Berkley University, California.

«Punishing an ambassador for speaking honestly about a
90-year-old crime befits a cynical, double-dealing
monarchy, not the leader of the free world. One day,
the country that was founded as a direct repudiation
of its Ottoman past will face its history squarely, as
part of a long-overdue maturing process. Some day
before then, we hope, the State Department will too.
Yet the State Department has long avoided the word
“genocide,” not out of any dispute over history but
out of deference to Turkey, whose membership in NATO
and location between Europe and Asia make it a
strategic ally,’ The Los Angeles Times writes.

A quadrilateral consortium will carry out the reconstruction of the
Abkhazian railway

ArmRadio
23.03.2006 17:11

Let’s separate political and economic issues: based on this principle,
an agreement has been reached between Russian, Georgia, Abkhazia and
Armenia to reconstruct the Abkhazian railway.

A quadrilateral consortium has been created to carry out the
reconstruction works. The sitting of the consortium will be held early
April in Yerevan.

Armenian co-chair of the newly created consortium Vladimir Badalyan
told `Radiolur’ correspondent that for two years the efforts of
Armenian-Russian and Armenian-Georgian business cooperation have been
directed at separating the political and economic issues. The question
first of all refers to complex Georgian-Abkhazian relations. It is
known that Tbilisi was considering the return of Georgian refugees to
Gali region of Abkhazia a precondition for reoperating the Abkhazian
railway. In fact, after their return it became possible to start the
talks.

The creation of the consortium allows to hope that the Abkhazian
railway will be reoperated, which will become a powerful impulse for
the economic development in the country. The economic blockade of
Armenia will be broken with 60-70 percent. Transportation of
passengers and cargoes will get easier. Railway communication will be
established not only with Russia but also with Europe. Many experts
confirm that the reoperation of the Abkhazian railway will bring new
approaches in Armenian-Turkish relations: keeping the border close by
the Turkish side will become senseless.

TO ENSURE OWN SECURITY EU SHOULD BE ENGAGED DEEPER IN CONFLICTS RESOLUTION PROCESS IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 21 2006

YEREVAN, March 21. /ARKA/. To ensure own security the EU should
be deeper engaged in the process of conflicts resolution in South
Caucasus in order for them not to develop into a large-scale war in the
region of the “European Neighborhood”, the International Crisis Group
refers to the new report of the ICG “EU Role In Conflict Resolution in
South Caucasus”. The report examines the EU’s efforts in settling the
problems of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Osetia, and points
out possible additional actions of this organization.

“While the UN in Abkhazia, and the OSCE in the NKR and South Osetia
dealt with the settlement of regional conflicts, negotiations,
lasting more than decades were not successful. Having the authority
of a ‘an honest mediator’ and possibility of proposals for a deeper
European integration, the EU is going to play a big role in the
region and contribute to the UN and OSCE efforts in this direction,”
the report says.

According to the press-release, in this context the EU will hardly
propose the membership to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in future:
it should find new ways of rendering assistance and implementation
of its influence.

“The EU attempts to determine its role in the program of the New
European Neighborhood” in the region of South Caucasus, where there
is neither peace nor war,” Director of the European program of the
ICG Nicolas White.

According to him, if the EU will not be able to implement its strategic
project on the secure neighborhood in the region, then it will lose
its authority as compared to Russia and the USA. “Most problematic
thing is that if conflicts in South Caucasus keep aggravating, then
the EU may become unprepared to give an answer in case of military
actions between its neighbors,” White said.

GEORGIAN ENVOY NOTES INTEREST IN IRANIAN GAS VIA ARMENIA

Mediamax news agency
20 Mar 06

Yerevan, 20 March: The government of Georgia is interested in
improving the socio-economic situation in the region of [Georgia’s]
Samtskhe-Javakheti, the Georgia ambassador, Revaz Gachechiladze,
said in Yerevan today.

Speaking at the National Press Club today, Revaz Gachechiladze said
that the Georgian government pays special attention to problems in
Samtskhe-Javakheti populated mainly by Armenians.

The official pointed out that the government of Georgia made a decision
to allocate over 110m dollars for the construction and maintenance
of roads in this region with the financial assistance of the US
Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Georgia is interested in receiving Iranian gas through the territory
of Armenia, Revaz Gachechiladze said. Speaking at the National Press
Club today, Revaz Gachechiladze stressed that the transit of Iranian
gas will be beneficial to both Armenia and Georgia.

Commenting on plans to construct the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway,
the Georgian diplomat said that Georgia considers this project
exclusively in the context of its connection to the international
railway network. According to Revaz Gachechiladze, if Armenia could
agree with Turkey on the restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway, there
would be no need for elaborating the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi project.

Speaking about bilateral Armenian-Georgian trade and economic
ties, Revaz Gachechiladze expressed the opinion that they are
“unsatisfactory”. The ambassador said that Georgia is interested in
the flow of Armenian capital in the economy.

[Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian 1212 gmt 18 Mar 06 quoted Gachechiladze
as saying that agreement had been reached to build a power transmission
line from Armenia’s Razdan to Georgia’s Gardabani]

ARONIAN BEATS WORLD CHAMP

AZG Armenian Daily
21/03/2006

15th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament kicked off in Monte
Carlo last weekend. At this unique tournament each player meets his
opponent twice over the board – first time in a rapid chess game
(25 minutes per player) and then in a game of blind chess (without
looking at the board). The sponsor and organizer of the tournament
is Dutch billionaire and chess enthusiast Joop van Oosterom. The
tournament fund amounts to 216.000 euros.

This is the first performance for the recent Linares tournament winner,
Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian.

Levon performs successfully so far despite the only defeat at the
hand of Loek van Wely of Holland. After the draw in rapid against
FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov, Levon beat the Bulgarian in
blind chess. With 2.5 points after two rounds Aronian leads the
field together with Topalov, Peter Leko, Aleksandr Morozevich and
Francisco Vallejo. Only Aronian and Topalov have scored two victories
so far. Moreover, Aronian is first in rapid chess with a 100% result.

THE AZERIS ARE BEING MISGUIDED: IT’S NECESSARY TO SHOW THEM THE RIGHT WAY

Yerkir/am
March 17, 2006

“I don’t think Armenia is making militaristic statements. On the
contrary, we are not responding properly to the militaristic rhetoric
and atmosphere that prevails in Azerbaijan today. The Azeri population
is being misguided purposefully.

They are made to think that Armenia is so weak, and our spirit is so
much broken that as soon as Azerbaijan starts military operations it
will immediately succeed in returning the territories they have lost,”
representative of ARF’ s Supreme Body Armen Rustamian stated commenting
on the recent statements made in Armenia after the Armenian president’s
statement. Continuing the rhetoric of Azerbaijan’s militaristic
statements Rustamian reminds our society that by these territories
Azerbaijan means not only the territory around Karabagh and the areas
that are currently under Armenia’s de facto control.

Azerbaijan turns out to have greater ambitions: it is planning
to invade a larger area, including Zangezur and other Armenian
territories.

“This is the atmosphere that prevails in Azerbaijan and we have
to respond to it properly. The statements we make are a means of
preventing war and not instigating it. We have to differentiate between
the statements made by Azerbaijan, statements that are directly calling
for a war. The message we want to send is that we are ready for a war,
so let’s us not be misguided and let’s not start another war,” head of
the National Assembly permanent committee on foreign relations stated.

At the same time he reminded that if today Azerbaijan is speaking
about losing 20% of its territories, there can be no guarantees
that it will not lose 40% of its territories if another war breaks
out. Rustamian believes this should be made clear since this is the
most important tool for countering Azerbaijan’s ambitions. There are
no other preventive measures that could be used against Azerbaijan.

“There are no peacekeeping forces, and by the way, the ceasefire was
signed without the assistance of the international community. The
ceasefire was established only due to the fact that the war was a
self defense of the Karabagh population, and the Azeri aggression
was stopped,” Rustamian said.

Commenting on the progress of the peace talks, Rustamian said he
believes that if the position Azerbaijan has adopted persists, the
prospects for the settlement of the conflict will be very vague. What
measures should be undertaken to ensure that we do not face a deadlock
in the future?

Rustamian believes in order to raise the efficiency of the negotiation
process it is necessary to understand the two important issues around
which mutual concessions must be made. These are the issues of security
and political status.

In addition to this, it is very important to understand that the peace
talks cannot be considered efficient as long as Nagorno Karabagh does
not participate in the negotiation process since there are issues
that are the sole prerogatives of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic.

Nagorno Karabagh Republic is a party of the conflict, and being
such, it must also be a party of the negotiations. Who has more to
do to improve this situation? “I think Azerbaijan has more to do in
this respect. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs should assess the situation
correctly and diagnose properly why the peace talks are not progressing
in an efficient manner. Each of the parties of the conflict should
be assigned with such tasks that would ensure the efficiency of the
negotiation process,” Rustamian stated.

What prospects can there be if the negotiation process faces a
deadlock? A deadlock would mean that the settlement is postponed with
all the unfavorable consequences deriving from such a development. This
will damage the prospects for regional cooperation.

Rustamian believes Armenia has long faced this situation and has been
trying to find a way out. Armenia manages to develop economically even
under the circumstances of a blockade. In the future, Armenia has
to strengthen its internal resources and strengthen the country to
make it clear for Azerbaijan that there can be no military solution
to the conflict. “Azerbaijan must understand that if the conflict
settlement is postponed the international community will recognize
Nagorno Karabagh’s de facto status.

Time will not favor any of the parties. At some period such a delay
could benefit one party, at another period the other party. And
the shifts in this balance will depend on the measures each of the
countries involved will undertake,” Rustamian said.