Author: Vanyan Gary

DEMAND SEVERE PUNISHMENT OF THOSE GUILTY IN MURDER IN TSALKA
Panorama.am
13:54 14/03/06
Today “Guards of Spirit” students’ youth organization of
“Armenian Courageous Unity” complained to the Georgian Embassy
in Armenia. Particularly it is mentioned in the complaint:
“Mr. Ambassador, we complain against anti-Armenian policy which has
a recurrent and purposeful character.”
As the authors of the announcement assure Georgian regimes “want to
de-armenianize Akhltskha, Akhlkalak, Aspnjakan, Bogdanovka, Tsalka
and other Armenian dwellings by all inadmissible means.”
“Mr. Ambassador, we demand: 1) Immediately to stop Georgianization
of Armenian historical-cultural and religious values in Georgia and
historical Armenian territories, 2) To punish those guilty for the
murder of Armenian young man in Tsalka publicly and severely, 3) To
restore study of Armenian History in Armenian schools in Georgia, 4)
To cease the de-armenianization and national assimilation policy of
Georgia in Armenian territories.”
We appreciated the amity of our neighbor Georgia, yet at the moment
all those friendly assurances have no value for us any longer as we are
the witnesses of assimilation process of more than 150 Armenians. We,
the Armenian youth, have learned a lesson from our history and we
shall not allow the events of 1915 to repeat,” mention the authors
of the announcement.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, US OFFICIAL DISCUSS BILATERAL TIES
Mediamax news agency
7 Mar 06
Yerevan, 7 March: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan met US
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Matthew Bryza in Yerevan today.
“There was a detailed conversation about the dynamically developing
and intense relations between Armenia and the USA,” the press service
of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Mediamax today.
Vardan Oskanyan highly praised the US administration for helping
Armenia with economic reforms, democracy and human rights protection.
“In this context, they discussed details related to the allocation
of funds to Armenia by the Millennium Challenge Corporation,” the
press service reported.
Oskanyan and Bryza discussed the energy issue and in particular the
possibility of diversifying energy supply routes to Armenia and of
developing energy cooperation with other countries of the region.
The Armenian foreign minister outlined Armenia’s foreign policy
priorities, emphasizing the process of implementing the Individual
Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) between Armenia and NATO, as well as
the talks with the European Union on developing an action plan within
the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The second round
of the talks took place in Brussels on 6 March.
Vardan Oskanyan and Matthew Bryza also discussed regional cooperation
and the negotiations on settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
following the meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents
in Rambouillet.

PARK DIRECTORATE AS WELL MUST CONTROL CONSTRUCTION IMPLEMENTED IN BOTANICAL PARK, DEPUTY MAYOR OF YEREVAN THINKS
Noyan Tapan
Mar 07 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The construction implemented in
the Botanical Park of Yerevan is stopped up to finding those
responsible for the deviation from the draft. Yerevan Deputy
Mayor Kamo Areyan informed journalists about this on March 6 at
the Parliament. According to him, the initiative to create an
Agrobiovariety Ethographic Museum on the 5 hectares land from the
territory separated for the Botanical Park by the city general plan
belongs to the Agroecologists’ Association of Armenia and the NAS. It
was mentioned that the agreement of the Botanical Institute Directorate
also exists. According to K.Areyan, the control of the construction
was first of all to be implemented by the Botanical Park and the NAS,
initiated the construction. He mentioned that the RA Ministries of
Nature Protection and Agriculture as well as the Architect’s Union of
Armenia gave agreement to the program. The construction was allowed
in 2004, based on all the necessary documents.

DOES THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA NEED A CONCEPT OF NATIONAL SECURITY?
Regnum, Russia
March 7 2006
Armenian press digest
Yerevan, 7 March 2006 (Regnum – website) – Does the Republic of Armenia
need a concept of national security? 87.8% of Lragir readers say “yes”
– it is time for Armenia to specify its security priorities. 12.2%
say it’s not time yet.
The attempts to develop a national security concept have a long
history, says Lragir. The first such attempt was made in 1994-1995 –
a governmental commission led by Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan worked
on a military doctrine and a mobilization program. Later the Defense
Ministry and the Foreign Ministry formed a working group who developed
relevant programs and drafted necessary documents. But the project
was not approved for several reasons: in 1997 it was yet unclear who
should approve a military doctrine in the first place.
“Coming up with a national security concept in 1998 was also Vardan
Oskanyan. We in the Defense Ministry got the draft but it was never
discussed. Why? You better ask the President and the Security Council,”
ex Infrastructure Coordination Minister, ex Deputy Defense Minister
Vahan Shirkhanyan says in a talk with Lragir. The leader of the
Fatherland and Honor party Garnik Margaryan says that “a state that has
no national security strategy cannot speak about the existence of its
nation. But to speak about national security concept today is absurd.”
Novoye Vremya daily says that the concept development has a point that
has got not very adequate response from journalists. The point is that,
according to National Security Council Secretary Serzh Sarkisyan,
at a certain stage, before public discussion, the draft will be sent
for examination to Russian Civil Service Academy and US National
Defense University.
“No single country in the world has ‘a shadow strategy,'” says
Sarkisyan. “Simply, our national security strategy will lay the basis
for a defense doctrine and some departments will be able, within their
competence, to make secret some of its provisions, particularly, those
concerning economic secrets.” “There is nothing strange in the fact
that the draft will be sent for examination to the US and Russia,”
says MP Hamayak Hovhannissyan. “The US and Russia are our political
allies and, naturally, should be informed of our strategic plans.”
The point is that Armenia cannot ensure its security all alone, with
no support of international organizations and allies. Unable to do
this alone are even far bigger and richer countries. Each country,
however self-sufficient it might be, should look to its allies in
security issues.” Hovhannissyan does not agree with those saying that
the document is sent somewhere for approval. “Our allies should inform
us of their views. Armenia’s security system is based on its alliance
with Russia and the US, their commitment to develop relations with
their ally and to promote its security,” says Hovhannissyan.

ARMENIA’S DEFENSE OFFICE REFUTES INFORMATION ON SHOOTING OF AZERBAIJANI POSITIONS FROM ARMENIA’S TERRITORY
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 7 2006
YEREVAN, March 7. /ARKA/. The RA Ministry of Defense has refuted the
information on the shooting of Azerbaijani positions from the Armenian
territory. “No shooting was from Armenia’s territory,” Colonel Seyran
Shahsuvaryan, Press Secretary to the RA Minister of Defense, told ARKA.
Referring to the RA Ministry of Defense, RIA Novosty reported that an
Azerbaijani soldier was killed as a result of shooting from Armenia’s
territory at 4:45 a.m.

ARMENTEL TO PAY A PENALTY FOR UNLAWFUL COMPETITION
YEREVAN, MARCH 10. ARMINFO. The Commission for Economic Competition
Protection recognized ArmenTel company guilty for unlawful economical
competition. The company is to pay as a penalty 1% of its income from
cell communications services.
This resolution was made on the today session of the Commission when
the claim of VivaCel,l accusing ArmenTel in dumping, was
considered. The matter is that ArmenTel adopted preference tariffs for
those subscribers who hold SIM cards for longer than 12 months. So,
from January 1 to April 30, 2006, SIM-card holders had to pay AMD 2
instead of AMD 48 per minute.
By the agreement about connection of ArmenTel and VivaCell networks
the latter has to pay ArmenTel for phone call retranslation AMD 9,96
(19,93 in the regions) per minute. Thus VivaCell is in a subjected
position and can be pressed out of the market at ArmenTel’s will. At
the same time it was noted that there are 665 thousand cell network
subscribers in Armenia, of which 47,3% are ArmenTel card holders and
52,7% – VivaCell. It should be noted that VivaCell entered the
Armenian market only on July 1, 2005.
The Commission for Economic Competition Protection has already
penalized ArmenTel in 2005 for the low quality of its cell
services. ArmenTel paid AMD 158,6 million to the state budget.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
March 11 2006
Ombudsman Rules Out Ethnic Motives Behind Tsalka Clash
Georgian Public Defender Sozar Subari said on Saturday that a clash
in Tsalka, Kvemo Kartli region, on March 9 which resulted into death
of Gevork Gevorkian, 24, and injury of four other young men, was a
result of `an ordinary hooliganism’ which has nothing to do with
ethnic confrontation as claimed by the local population in Tsalka and
some minority advocacy groups.
At a joint news conference ethnic minority advocacy group
Multinational Georgia and union of ethnic Armenians in Georgia `Nor
Serund’ condemned the incident and demanded from the authorities an
immediate and unbiased investigation of the case.
Maria Mikoian of the `Nor Serund’ said that clash erupted after a
group of Georgian young men irritated by the Armenian music in a
restaurant in Tsalka attacked ethnic Armenian young men.
`Unfortunately ethnic confrontation more and more often becomes a
reason behind criminal acts in Tsalka,’ Agit Mirzoev, executive
director of the Multinational Georgia, said.
But Public Defender dismissed this reason as groundless. `Our
representatives traveled there and probed into the case. We can say
that this dispute has nothing to do with ethnic confrontation… Law
enforcers should immediately investigate the case and persecute those
who are guilty,’ Sozar Subari said on March 11.
Police said on March 10 that five suspects were arrested.
Meanwhile a group of about 200 local residents rallied in the town of
Akhalkalaki in Samtskhe-Javakheti region which is predominantly
populated by ethnic Armenians, on March 11, the Georgian media
sources reported. Protesters demanded a fair investigation of the
Tsalka incident.
Clashes between the locals erupt sporadically in recent years in
Tsalka district with population of 20 000. Ethnic Armenians comprise
57% of population, according to the Georgian department of
statistics. 4,500 ethnic Greeks, 2,500 ethnic Georgians and up to
2,000 Azerbaijanis also live there.

Glendale News Press
March 10 2006
Green eggs and learning
By Vince Lovato, News-Press and Leader
CYNTHIA PERRY News-Press and Leader
Ani Nazmanian and Michelle Garabetian watch in delight as their
teacher turning eggs green in honor of the birthday of Dr. Seuss.
Green eggs and learning
Former cemetery operator charged
Man gets 15 to life for murder
Residents put stop to substation
It’s all my parents’ fault
First-grade students at Chamlian Armenian School wore self-made paper
“Cat In The Hat” hats Friday and ate green eggs and ham in tribute to
Dr. Seuss’ 102nd birthday.
Unlike the fried eggs made famous by the Dr. Seuss book, these eggs
were scrambled but were green just the same.
Students from two classrooms gathered around Glendale City Councilman
Ara Najarian, whose nephew, Vahe Yacoubian, is a second-grader at the
school, as he read “The Cat In The Hat” to start the morning.
After the reading, teacher’s assistant Anna Avanessian whipped up the
eggs and mixed in green vegetable dye, which Nicole Abnous, 6,
declared “a magic potion.”
“I like when they do the fun tricks,” Nicole said about Thing One and
Thing Two in “The Cat In The Hat.”
Arman Manoukian, 7, also liked the chaos in the book.
“Everything’s a mess and the Cat In The Hat cleans it up,” Arman
said. “I like making messes but my mom just made me clean up the one
in my room.”
It was Arman’s first chance to taste green eggs.
“I liked the eggs green but I like the ham most of all,” he said.
Arman said he was an inventor so he can relate to Dr. Seuss.
“He’s very creative and I’m about as creative as he is,” said Arman,
who wants to be a military pilot. “Every day I make something
different with my toys.”
The green eggs and Dr. Seuss books were incentives to teach children
the joy of reading, teacher Souzy Ohanian said.
“It’s very good for the kids because they will be exposed to
different activities,” she said. “We integrate the curriculum
throughout the year.”
She ties the reading into lessons about eating healthy foods and
social studies.
“This will promote them to read more and show them how important
reading is in their daily lives,” Ohanian said.
She often allows students to read books at home then they are
“teacher of the day” and give oral reports for the class about the
books.
Najarian said he read Dr. Seuss to his children.
“Dr. Seuss is truly an American icon and it’s important that his
literature is passed on to all our generations,” Najarian said.
“I hadn’t read that book for seven years but every time you read it
you get something different from it. I’m glad it is part of the
multi-cultural education that Chamlian exposes to these kids.”

6 CASES OF POISONING REGISTERED IN FEBRUARY IN VAYOTS DZOR
Noyan Tapan
Mar 13 2006
YEGHEGNADZOR, MARCH 13, NOYAN TAPAN. 6 cases of poisoning were
registered in February this year in Vayots Dzor (1 carbon monoxide
poisoning, 5 poisonings from tinned food), in consequence of which 10
people suffered, 1 died. 2 cases of poisoning were registered in the
same month of 2005 in the region, from which 2 people suffered. 2 cases
of fire, 2 car incidents (4 victims, 2 injured) were registered in
the region in the same month and cases of bird plague were registered
in the Yelpin community (50 hens belonging to 3 farms died).
27 regional communities suffered in consequence of the heavy snow in
February, the total damage of which amounted to about 56 mln drams
(about 125 thousand USD).

EUROVISION ORGANIZERS: “THE FALSE INFORMATION ON ARMENIAN PARTICIPANT IN THE WEBSITE WILL BE CORRECTED”
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 13 2006
Showing of the place of birth of the Armenian participant as “Nagorno
Garabagh Republic” in the official website of the Eurovision song
contest does not aim any political content, the organizers of the
song contest told (APA).
The organizers said that the organizational committee of the contest
has already received the protest letter sent by Azerbaijan’s Culture
and Tourism Ministry and, they will correct the false information soon.
Azerbaijan’s Culture and Tourism Ministry sent a letter to the
organizers of the song contest protesting to the information on the
official website of the Eurovision song contest that the Armenian
participant Andre was born in the “Nagorno Garabagh Republic”.
The Ministry stated that this fact might be assessed as disrespect
to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and provocation as well as the
contest organizers’ support for Armenia’s aggressive policy against
Azerbaijan.
“We hope the organizers of the Eurovision song contest, which serves
cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, will remove this
misunderstanding soon, and respect Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
recognized by world states,” the Ministry wrote in the letter.