Author: Vanyan Gary

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.

“NEVER INVITE ME TO SUCH PLACES AGAIN”
Panorama.am
15:40 17/03/06
These are the words of President of Christian-Democratic party Khosrov
Haroutyunyan after the debates with President of Armenian Marxian
party David Hakobyan in “Hayeli” club. By the way, Mr.
Hakobyan predicted this disappointment: “Unfortunately, everyone
rejected our invitation. And I welcome our ex Prime Minister who
accepted the invitation to debates.” And the topic of the debates
was Karabakh issue. For the leader of Christian Democratic Party the
result of the negotiations in Rambouillet was unpredictable. “All in
all Rambouillet proved that one of the sides was not ready to serious
talks,” he added. And that side was Azerbaijan that tries to influence
on the international community by its bellicose announcements. The
Republic’s chief Marxist brought down “merely cardio physiological
ideas” to political stage, i.e. either everything or nothing. Thus
he concluded: “Rambouillet once again proved that fact.”
Later he introduced their variant of Karabakh issue regulation
suggested in 2001. The leader of the Christian Democrats doesn’t
agree with the statement that the strategy of Armenian diplomats
was defeatist.
The latter insists that 2006 is a favorable period to solve Karabakh
issue because as he says: “The choice between the bad and the worst
can be made in this very period.” Thus, unlike leader of Christian
Democrats the chief Marxist thinks that the antagonism will be
regulated only in the times of the 3rd public and under the 3rd
president elected by the people and from the people. “I’m saying
all this for historical generations. The territorial compromise
is impossible.”
The two ideological opponents left the club offended and without the
traditional handshake. /Panorama.am/

Armenian minister invites Azerbaijan to economic competition
Arminfo
16 Mar 06
Yerevan, 16 March: Boasting about a military budget does not anyone
credit, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said in an
interview with Yerevan H2 TV. Oskanyan was commenting on Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev’s statement about plans to make his country’s
expenditure equal Armenia’s entire budget.
Aliyev makes such statements quite often and one can form an impression
that the Azerbaijani state budget increases every day, Oskanyan said.
He supposed that probably for this reason the Azerbaijani military
violated cease-fire in an attempt to get rid of a surplus of
weapons. Not a single state or nation in the civilized world now
uses its military budget to compete with neighbours, he said. Today
countries are competing in different spheres such as economy, education
and culture, he said.
“In all these spheres Azerbaijan is inferior to Armenia and knows
this very well,” Sarkisyan stressed. Armenia is ahead of Azerbaijan in
creating favourable conditions for investment, free economy, democracy
and freedom of speech, he said. “International organizations say this,”
Oskanyan stressed.
Citing the World Bank’s data, he said that although Azerbaijan was
exporting oil, the country had not caught up with Armenia’s level
of per-capita income. “I would like to advise Azerbaijan to try and
compete with Armenia in these spheres, instead of boasting about
their oil resources and comparing military budgets,” the minister said.
He expressed regret that Aliyev had made his statement at a time when
both states have a task to prepare people in Armenian and Azerbaijani
to peace. “We consider that Azerbaijan is to blame for the failure
of the peace talks and such statements play a major role in this,”
the minister said.

HEATING STRATEGY IS A PRIORITY FOR ARMENIA
AZG Armenian Daily
17/03/2006
RA Government and USAID initiated an exhibition of new heating systems
that will last from March 15 to 17.
Holding his speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition,
Gagik Martirosian, chief councilor of RA Prime Minister, stated
that the exhibition is meant to develop heating market of Armenia,
familiarizing the larger circles of society, the consumers with the
newest technologies. Robin Phillips director of USAID in Yerevan,
said that the given exhibition will help various companies represent
their capacities and production. 27 organizations, including ACBA
bank, AH Building Technologies, AIB BEN GIM Engineering Anergo-2,
R&R, Arazen, Artstorm, GAS AMA, Euroterm, Termoros-AR and others
participate in the exhibition.

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:
March 16, 2006
___________________
WOMEN’S GUILD ORGANIZES ANNUAL SAINTLY WOMEN’S DAY
Parishes throughout the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
will honor the contributions of women during Saintly Women’s Day, organized
by the Women’s Guild, on Saturday, March 18, 2006.
During the annual celebration, faithful gather to celebrate and learn from
the life example of a devout woman from Armenian history. Parishes also
host lectures and discussions about the importance of women in today’s
church and society.
“The Armenian Church would wither without the contributions of women,” said
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese. “From our ancestors
who were tested and tormented because of their faith, to our mothers,
sisters, and wives of today who give their time and talent to ensure our
parishes are vibrant Armenian Christian homes, each in their own way makes
the Armenian Church a living church.”
SHAHANTOOKHD’S MIRACULOUS ESCAPE
This year, the celebration will focus on the life of Shahantookhd, a
beautiful Armenian princess who lived in the Karabagh region in the early
9th century. On her way to her wedding, her party was attacked in the
Siunik region by bandits who had heard of her beauty.
The heathen bandits butchered many of her attendants. Seeing the
viciousness of the un-Christian bandits, and realizing what was in store for
her, Shahantookhd made the sign of the cross and whipped up her horse,
bravely jumping into a grand chasm.
Miraculously, she survived the fall unhurt. Seeing her miraculous leap, the
gang of bandits fled. Shahantookhd, realizing that God spared her life,
decided to stay where she had landed. She dedicated her life to God and
vowed never to leave that spot, located south of the Monastery of Datev.
She remained true to her vow, despite the pleas of her family, and stayed in
that spot for 30 years. She built a chapel with a small cell, where she
lived in seclusion until her death. She also gave her entire estate to the
bishop of Siunik, instructing him to use half for the needy and the other
half for the work of the Monastery of Datev.
EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE DIOCESE
To mark Saintly Women’s Day, parishes will gather for special services on
Saturday, March 18, 2006. Some will meet regionally, while other parishes
will host individual programs.
Regional events have been designated at the following locations.
Holy Resurrection Church, New Britain, CT, with faithful from Watervliet,
NY; Springfield, MA; and Hartford, CT.
Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, MA, with faithful from Lawrence/Haverhill,
Chelmsford, Worcester, Framingham, Mashpee, and Watertown, MA; along with
Providence, RI.
St. Mary Church, Livingston, NJ, with faithful from Fair Lawn, Union City,
Elberon, and Tenafly, NJ.
Holy Martyrs Church, Bayside, NY, with faithful from New York City and White
Plains, NY.
St. Paul Church, Syracuse, NY, with faithful from Binghamton, NY.
Holy Trinity Church, Cheltenham, PA, with faithful from Wynnewood, PA.
St. James Church, Evanston, IL, with faithful from Chicago, Waukegan, Palos
Heights, IL; and Waukegan and Racine, WI.
Individual churches holding services are: St. David Church, Boca Raton, FL;
St. John Church, Southfield, MI; St. Mary Church, Washington, D.C.; St. Mary
Church, Hollywood, FL; Holy Virgin Mary and Shoghagat Church, Belleville,
IL; St. Gregory of Narek Church, Cleveland, OH; St. Sarkis Church, Dallas,
TX; St. Kevork Church, Houston, TX; St. James Church, Richmond, VA; and St.
Hagop Church, St. Petersburg, FL.
Please contact your local parish for details on Saintly Women’s Day
activities.
— 3/16/06
# # #

GRAND MASTER GABRIEL SARGSIAN RECOGNIZED WINNER OF REYKJAVIK TOURNAMENT
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2006
REYKJAVIK, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Representative of Armenia Gabriel
Sargsian performed very successfully in the large chess tournament
held in the capital of Iceland Reykjavik. In the competition among
102 chess-players he gained 7 out of 9 possible points and shared
the 1-5th places with another 4 participants. As the tournament
coefficients of the grand master from Yerevan were higher, he was
given the first place and the title of the winner. G.Sargsian gained
5 victories in the tournament, drew 4 games and was never defeated.