Author: Vardanian Garo

UN DID NOT SUPPORT

A1+
[05:32 pm] 03 April, 2006

Last week the conference titled “Genocide: yesterday and today: what
lessons we got” finished in the UN. It was organized by the joint
effort of the Ambassadors of Armenia and Rwanda and the Armenian
General Benevolent Union.

“It must be evaluated as a usual discussion in the UN.

It was not held under the UN support. The UN only allotted the hall,
although the political assistant of the UN Secretary General Kofi
Anan participated in the discussions”, the head of the Genocides
investigation center of the Zoryan Institute, professor Vahagn Dadryan
told the Radio station “Azatutyun”. He represented the Armenian points
of view during the discussions.

“The aim is to investigate the first and the last genocides of the
20th century and to learn their lessons in order to prevent genocides”,
he said.

Alongside with a number of historians, professor Dadryan arrived in
Prague to participated in the conference about the Armenian Genocide
which will be held in the Czech Senate on Tuesday.

RUSSIA DOUBLES GAS PRICE FOR ARMENIA

RIA Novosti, Russia
April 1 2006

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will double Saturday the
price for its natural gas supplied to Armenia from the current $54
per 1,000 cu m to $110.

A Russian-Armenian joint venture, ArmRosgazprom, which is owned by
the Armenian Energy Ministry (45%), Russian energy giant Gazprom (45%)
and independent Russian oil and gas company Itera (10%), has a monopoly
right to supply and distribute gas on Armenia’s domestic market.

ArmRosgazprom requested the Armenian commission for the regulation
of public services to raise natural gas tariffs from $131 to $240 per
1,000 cu m for private consumers and from $175 to $322 for commercial
consumers using more than 10,000 cu m. A relevant decision will come
into force a month after the request is approved.

Armenian sniper kills Azerbaijani soldier – spokesman

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
March 31, 2006 Friday 10:18 AM MSK

BAKU March 31 — Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry on Thursday reported
another cease-fire violation by the Armenian side, in which an
Azerbaijani soldier was killed by sniper fire.

“An Azerbaijani soldier was killed by a sniper shot from Armenian
positions near the village of Alibeili in the Azerbaijani Tovuz
district,” acting head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s press
service Ilgar Verdiyev told Interfax on Thursday.

The soldier was called up to military service in 2005, he said.

Earlier, Sabine Freizer, one of the leaders of the International
Crisis Group, said that last month alone, cease-fire violations in
the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
killed at least 19 people, including eight civilians.

In 2005, the death toll rose to at least 90.

CSTO MEMBER STATES TO DISCUSS ISSUES OF FIGHTING DRUG SMUGGLING

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 29 2006

YEREVAN, March 29 (Itar-Tass) – The Coordinating Council of the heads
of services for combating drug trafficking of member states of the
Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) will hold a regular
meeting in the Armenian capital on Wednesday.

Representatives of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will analyse the results of the Kanal
(Channel) 2005 preventive operation and coordinate further actions
to counteract the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan. The
Council meeting participants intend to discuss the concept of the
establishment of a united databank of narcotic and psychotropic
substances circulation.

Operation Kanal that is conducted with the aim of counteracting drug
business on the “Northern route” of drug supply from Afghanistan to
Europe is an example of efficient counteraction of the CSTO member
states. In the course of two stages of the operation conducted in
December last year the authorised bodies of CSTO member states and
countries that joined the organisation as observers (Azerbaijan,
Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, China and Ukraine) confiscated from
illegal circulation over 11 tonnes of narcotics, including some 550
kilogrammes of heroin, over one tonne of hashish, as well as 1,000
pieces of firearms and 38,000 rounds of ammunition. Over 7,500 criminal
cases were opened.

The Coordinating Council for combating drug trafficking was established
in May 2004 on a decision of the heads of the corresponding services
of the CSTO member states.

RATIO OF VOLUMES OF IMPORT AND EXPORT IN ARMENIA IS 1/2

Panorama.am
15:26 28/03/06

“The volume of import is a serious problem in Armenia as it
considerably exceeds the volume of export,” announced the Deputy of
the RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtyan at
the international banking conference dedicated to the questions of
financing international trade organized in Yerevan today. Yet, as he
said, if the ratio of these two indexes was 1/3 at the early 90s,
at the present it is 1/2. It means that the volume of production
imported to Armenia 2 times exceeds the volume of that exported.

As T. Davtyan said the trade-economic regime formed in the course of
the last 10 years is estimated by international organization as one
of the most liberal ones. “From the point of view of trade-economic
regime Armenia is in the first group of countries,” the Deputy of the
Minister noticed. After the admission of Armenia into the WTO (World
Trade Organization) there came forwards legislative guarantees for the
activity of the importers and exporters, a preventive trade-economic
system has been formed, besides the level of preventiveness has
rapidly increased. T. Davtyan mentioned that in the last several
years Armenia succeeded in diversificating the economy and keeping
that tendency.

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES IN THE ANNUAL MEETING OF
THE MECC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The annual meeting of the Middle East Council of Churches’ (MECC)
Executive Committee was held on March 23-24 in the social service
center of the Coptic Church of Cairo.

Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian (Primate of the Diocese of Tehran)
and Bishop Kegham Khatcherian (Primate of the Diocese of Lebanon)
participated in the meeting on behalf of the Armenian Orthodox Church
(the Catholicosate of Cilicia), one of the four families of churches
comprising the MECC.

The attendants listened to and discussed report presented by the
General Secretary of the MECC, reports presented by the Council’s
Muslim-Christian Dialogue department, Life and Service department,
Human Rights and Justice-Peace departments, as well as reports
prepared by the MECC units on Faith and Unity, Education, Refugees,
Communication and Seminaries.

The participants focused mainly on the financial report of the Council
and proposed spending with care the money granted to the Council
by charity organizations, particularly in light of the economic
difficulties the current world faces.

They once more examined carefully the proposals of His Holiness Aram
I for the imperative need to reorganize the Council’s mission and work.

Archbishop Sebouh had a private meeting with His Holiness Pope Shenouda
III and discussed with him ecumenical issues on behalf of His Holiness
Aram I.

##

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

3 ARMENIAN SOLDIERS DIED OF TUBERCULOSIS IN MARTUNI AND ASGARAN HOSPITAL LAST MONTH

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 28 2006

Number of Armenian soldiers contracted Plevritis increased in the
Armenian Army.

Armenian non-governmental organizations’ report reads that tuberculosis
spread among Armenian soldiers stationed in the occupied Azerbaijani
lands. Armenian media say that the situation is unbearable in military
units located near the contact frontline specially. 2 soldiers drafted
to the military service from Armenian Lamo and Jermuk regions died
of tuberculosis in Martuni military hospital and one soldier of the
separatist regime died in Asgaran hospital. Armenian NGOs stated
that lawlessness during draft, service conditions being unbearable,
corruption and other negative cases spread Armenian Armed Forces.

“Bribe of $1,500-2,000 is required in Armenian military registration
offices to exempt a healthy from the military service and $500
for disable ones. Bribe of $100 is required from the soldiers for
their being taken to the hospital irrespective of their being ill or
healthy. Parents give bribe of $500 to the registration offices to
prevent their children to be sent to the military units located in
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan”.

The report reads that many officers substituted their service place
for places near Yerevan by giving bribe. NGO representatives sent
the report on negative cases in Armenian Army to the parliamentary
assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) human rights and law issues.

A report on situation in the Armies of the Post-Soviet countries as
well as Armenia will be listened to at the PACE session on April
10-13. The 18-page document reflects irregularities in the Armed
Forces of the Council of Europe member states.

CRIMINAL CASE ON FACT OF ATTEMPTED MURDER OF RA MP SASUN MIKAELIAN INSTITUTED AT RA PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE

Noyan Tapan
Mar 27 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. A criminal case on the fact
of attempted murder of RA MP Sasun Mikaelian was instituted
at the Investigation Department of RA Prosecutor General’s
Office. According to the web site of RA Prosecutor General’s Office
(http://www. genproc.am), the materials on the attempted murder were
given to RA Prosecutor General’s Office by the National Security
Service attached to RA government on March 7 2006 and the same day the
Investigation Department of RA Prosecutor General’s Office instituted a
criminal case on the signs of the 1st part of Article 38-34-104 and 1st
part and Article 235, RA Criminal Code. The preliminary investigation
is going on. To recap, Sasun Mikaelian was elected as RA MP by the
majoritarian system and is not a member of any parliamentary faction
or group.

Armenpress

ARMENIAN MP SAYS U.S.A. LAUNCHES SEPARATE EFFORT TO
HELP END KARABAKH DISPUTE

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: An opposition
parliament member argued today that the U.S.A. has
launched a separate effort to help resolve the
Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Viktor Dalakian from the opposition Ardarutyun
(Justice) alliance said the USA, parallel to talks
under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk group, has stepped
up efforts in this direction. He said that was his
impression from a series of meetings with Assistant
Secretary of State Daniel Freid when he was visiting
Yerevan together with Steven Mann, the US cochairman
in the Minsk group. He downplayed fears that
hostilities may resume, saying US officials were
taking every action to prevent it. “US officials made
it clear that a new war could not resolve the
conflict,” he said.
Meantime Steven Mann told in an interview to the
RFE/RL, Azerbaijani service that the time was working
against the parties to the Karabakh conflict. Steven
Mann reiterated that `2006 is the opportune year for a
deal’ and that the sides need to complete the serious
work which he hopes will result in tangible progress.
`We are continuing our work. The co-chairs remain of
the opinion that it is very desirable to get some
version of an agreement in 2006, but in the final
analysis this depends on the two countries
themselves,’ the American mediator said.

Panorama.am

17:53 24/03/06

POLICEMEN DEFEND, SMI INSPECTORS DEFY

Do the policemen defend or defy the rights of the citizens? It turned
out that they defend, but how much? `So much as you see. I associate
with the representatives of state bodies and citizens more often and
their main complaints refer to the work of state motor vehicle
inspectorate,’ said first deputy of the head of the Police Ararat
Mahtesyan in reply to Panorama.am question.

But the latter hopes that soon the reins of the inspectors will be
restrained as the President has signed a decree according to which a
working group has been founded. `The working group has prepared a long
document according to which great work has to be carried out in the
legislative, financial and many other fields. After these works we
shall have a State Motor-vehicle Inspectorate of new, higher quality
and the contacts between an inspector and a citizen will be rather
rare as a result of which they will be more objective,’ A. Mahtesyan
said.

And it is hard to say when the expectations of the deputy of the head
of the Police will come true. And before that drivers who have done no
violations will be stopped by Motor vehicle inspectors and the former
will have to pay 500 drams for the Inspector to let them drive
on./Panorama.am/