Author: Virabian Jhanna

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
May 25, 2007 Friday 06:38 PM EST

Azerbaijan’s president to meet with Armenian counterpart June 9

Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev has agreed to meet with his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on the sidelines of the
informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg on June 9, the French
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh, Bernard
Fasier, told a news conference in Baku on Friday.

“This is good news, but we are not expecting this meeting by the
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will resolve all problems,” the
diplomat said, adding though that he did not rule out some favorable
shifts in the settlement process after the Aliyev-Kocharian
encounter.

“The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos will visit the region to make preparations for the
meeting,” Facier said.

According to diplomatic sources in Baku the visit is due on June 4.
The Russian, US and French co-chairmen of the Minsk Group will visit
Baku and Yerevan on June 6-7.

About the results of the just-ended round of political consultations
in Baku on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict the
Russian co-chairman, Yuri Merzlyakov, said “there were very
meaningful discussions with President Ilkham Aliyev and Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov.”

According to the Russian official the co-chairmen discussed once
again the basic principles of a peace settlement the two parties
remain divided over.

“Such questions are few, but the talks were confidential and we
shall not disclose the contents,” he said.

The Russian diplomat also said the discussion revolved around the
seven occupied districts of Azerbaijan, including the Lachin
district, which links Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The question of the Lachin corridor remains unresolved, too,” he
said.

Facier said the co-chairmen were trying to provide honest and
reliable assistance to the conflicting parties in efforts to achieve
a lasting and balanced peace settlement on the basis of three
principles of international law – the non-use of force or of threats
of using force against other countries, the observance of countries’
territorial integrity and the right of each nationality to
self-determination.

“Achieving a combination of these three principles constitutes the
main difficulty in settling the Karabakh conflict,” the French
diplomat said.

The co-chairmen said the model of Kosovo could not be used for
Nagorno-Karabakh, because the former conflict was a purely internal
one, and the latter, both an internal one and a conflict between two
countries.

ANCA MARKS MEMORIAL DAY

ArmRadio.am
26.05.2007 13:40

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is marking Memorial
Day by encouraging Armenian Americans to honor the sacrifice of
the American servicemen and women who, throughout US history, have
given their lives so that Americans – and all peoples – can live in
a safer world.

As a tribute to the ideals for which Americans have fought and died,
Armenian Americans are calling on their federal legislators to support
a series of anti-genocide measures, including funding for peacekeepers
in Darfur, targeting divestment from Sudan, enacting the Genocide
Accountability Act, and recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

"Armenian Americans have fought and died in every US war for more
than a century," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We
honor their sacrifice – and the selfless and heroic devotion of all
Americans who have fallen in service to our nation – by working to
make the world a safer place for Americans and all peoples."

As part of this special Memorial Day campaign, hundreds of Armenian
Americans have responded to the ANCA’s invitation to write emails
describing their military service, honoring relatives who are veterans,
or remembering family members who died while in the service.

A SECTARIAN COMMITTED ROUT IN ST. EJMIADZIN CATHEDRAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2007 14:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the morning of May 24 an unknown man committed
a rout in the St. Ejmiadzin Cathedral.

Climbing on the Holy Altar he scattered rizas and relics, which were
placed there. Priests managed to stop the act of vandalism, after
which the unknown man run away. Law enforcement bodies succeeded to
establish his identity. It was a mentally diseased personality from
one of the nearby villages, who is a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses
sect. His name is not made public in the interests of investigation,
Armenian Public Television reports.

OYP FACTION MEMBERS CONDEMN SPREADING FALSE RUMOURS RELATING TO FACTION

Noyan Tapan
May 25 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. "Condemning spreading of false rumours
about leaving the faction, we at the same time fact that we are
faithful to the title of the OYP faction member and shall do our best
during the coming 5 years for implementation of the party programs,"
is said in the May 24 statement of the Orinats Yerkir (Country of
Law) party. It was signed by party members Artur Baghdasarian, Mher
Shahgeldian, Heghine Bisharian, Artashes Avoyan, Seryozha Abrahamian,
Khachik Petrosian, Gurgen Sargsian and Hovhannes Margarian.

The statement authors mention that different rumours relating to the
faction which are connected with Samvel Balasanian’s leaving the OYP
are again in the circulation of press during the recent days. And the
latter also stated that during the May 12 elections he brought 18%
of votes to the OYP.

"Estimating too negatively this baseless complex of ascribing to
him the works done by thousand of members of the party, we consider
inadmissible at any price justification of this step not standing any
criticism which arises of narrow personal interests," is said in the
faction statement.

"OPPOSITION IS TO ANALYZE, REVIEW AND MAKE CONSLUSIONS"

Panorama.am
19:17 24/05/2007

"Our assessment of these elections is not a victory of authorities
but a defeat of opposition, regardless the hidden falsifications,
voters number overstating, usage of absentees votes", – leader of
the National Democratic Party Shavarsh Kocharyan declared at the
press-conference at "Argument" (Pastark) club today.

Even exclusion of those falsifications would only change the
quantitative image and a few parties would be admitted to National
Assembly, but the qualitative image would stay the same. The
qualitative image according to Shavarsh Kocharyan could be changed
only if opposition got enough votes to form an authority.

The opposition defeat is reasoned by the fact, that since the
Constitutional referendum they didn’t analyze and review their
activity, the National Democratic Party leader states. "There are many
talks of fraud like forged passports printing, transferring groups of
voters from one electoral district to another, repeated voting. Yes,
it all took place but wasn’t disclosed because no controlling system
was established", – he told meaning the NDP suggestion to carry
out election process control by means of computers, camcorders
and scanners at electoral districts. "If opposition keeps blaming
authorities, people or international observers instead of analyzing
the situation and making conclusions, the upcoming presidential
elections will bring the same results as the parliamentary ones", –
Shavarsh Kocharyan thinks.

ONE OF THE DIRECTIONS IS MONITORING OF PENITENTIARIES

KarabakhOpen
25-05-2007 10:25:42

Civic Action Center NGO was set up in October 2002. The director of
the organization Albert Voskanyan told us one of the main strands of
work of the NGO is the regular monitoring of penitentiaries in NKR the
organization launched in April 2003 with the authorization of the NKR
government. The monitoring, which is conducted on a voluntary basis,
is held for the first time in NKR.

On the basis of analysis of observation and information obtained in
monitoring the CEC extends reports to the CoE, the OSCE, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the ICRC, Amnesty International, Penal
Reform International, the International Committee against Torture,
other international and human rights organizations, as well as the
relevant agencies of NKR. The CAC regularly provides books to the
libraries of penitentiaries in NKR, including fiction and religious
literature in Armenian, Russian and English. The organization has
provided over 2000 volumes of books to penitentiaries so far.

During the visits to penitentiaries the psychologist of the CAC works
with the inmates who need psychological rehabilitation.

The NGO has created a stand with photos picturing differed aspects
of life of inmates and publishes articles in print media to raise
awareness of the conditions in which inmates are kept.

The monitoring is held once a month, more often if necessity arises,
often to observe the moral, psychological and physical state of the
inmates, their rights, medical services, food, leisure, sanitation,
hygiene in the cells, etc.

Besides, the CAC deals with search for the missing, the rights of the
former POWs and hostages, the problems of religious minorities, etc.

The CAC consistently pursues the issue of passing the penitentiaries
of NKR from the Police to the Ministry of Justice, which will allow
upgrading the system to comply with international standards and solve
the problems more effectively. The CEC welcomes the law prohibiting
death penalty in NKR enacted in summer 2003, Albert Voskanyan said.

CYPRUS ATTORNEY GENERAL TAKES ON AGBU IN MELKONIAN CASE

Financial Mirror, Cyprus
May 25 2007

Cyprus Attorney General Petros Clerides, as the legal representative
of the Republic of Cyprus, is expected to take court action against
the AGBU within the next two or three weeks in an effort to resume
the campaign to save the Melkonian school in Nicosia and aim for its
earliest operation.

Some 50 members of the Armenian community, Representative Vartkes
Mahdessian and Melkonian alumni who gathered in Nicosia this week
heard lawyers Costas Velaris and Christina Sarris say that the
Attorney General, who has received several hundred letters, e-mails
and pressure, will take action on behalf of the Armenian community
of Cyprus.

Attorney General Clerides, in turn, will appoint Velaris, Sarris and
former Attorney General Alecos Markides to undertake the case in
his name as the three have nearly two years’ worth of preparatory
work and documentation. They had in the past represented Armenian
Patriarch Mutafyan of Turkey in the Cyprus cases against the AGBU.

Velaris appealed to the members of the community or anybody else
in the world to come forward with information or documentation that
could help the case.

He added that there would be transparency in the communication of
information and progress reports, while Christina Sarris said any
information would be posted on any website of the community’s choice.

Velaris was also caustic about some of the obstacles that the case
has faced, adding that no one or any organization had contacted the
three lawyers with a compromise deal or offer and neither were there
any threats or suggestions.

"Unfortunately the government of Armenia has sided with the AGBU in
this matter," he said, while he also expressed his dismay at the
decision of some judges in Cyprus courts, such as the case of the
overturning of the first preservation order on the Melkonian estate.

The preservation order has since been reinstated by the authority of
Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis.

As regards the future structure of the Melkonian, Christina Sarris
said that as the Attorney General has undertaken the case, he also
has the authority to appoint the trustees of the school and its estate
in the future.

Sarris also mentioned that "as far as I know the Melkonian will be used
by the nearby Aghlandjia state school" that had structural problem
and two construction workers were killed, and that the move would be
"from the new school year, in September."

— Marios Garoyian: "We must all work to reopen the Melkonian"

Marios Garoyian, the Armenian-born leader of the ruling Democratic
Party of Cyprus (DIKO) has pledged support to the campaign to save
and reopen the historic Melkonian school in Nicosia.

He told the visiting President of the Armenian Journalists Association,
Asdghig Kevorkyan and the chief editor of Azg daily, Hagop Avedikian,
that the historic school with a legacy of 80 years was an inseparable
part of modern Cyprus history and should be preserved in order for
it to reopen as a school

Azg’s Avedikian, who has been at the forefront of the media campaign
in Yerevan to save the Melkonian, told Garoyian that it was a shame
that Cyprus "did not utilize the large network of Melkoian graduates
around the world, who are probably the best ambassadors Cyprus could
ever have."

During their visit on the invitation of the Cyprus Union of
Journalists, the Armenian journalists visited the Nareg school in
Nicosia and the deserted grounds of the Melkonian Education Institute
and also attended the briefing of the lawyers in the Melkonian court
case in Cyprus.

— Parliament speaker: "I will raise the issue of Melkonian once again"

During a separate meeting, Azg’s editor asked House President and
communist AKEL party Secretary General Demetris Christofias about
efforts to help save and reopen the Melkonian, which Avedikian
described as not only a Cyprus issue but one that concerns all the
Diaspora.

Christophias praised the important role the 80-year-old school played
in Cyprus society and culture.

"Melkonian has been a tremendous contributing factor. The school is
part of the culture of Cyprus and we are proud that Cyprus has been
a host to such an establishment.

"This is a multi-faceted issue and we know that the key (to its
solution) lies in the U.S.," Christophias said, as the matter is in
the hands of the New York-based AGBU corporation that has ignored
previous Cyprus parliamentary calls to reopen the school.

"Unfortunately, some of your Armenians who have gone to America have
become more American and forgotten their roots in the name of money
and wealth," the outspoken Cypriot politician stated.

"I promise you I will put the matter once again to the President
of Cyprus," Christophias said, adding that, "I am sure that the
authorities and the government in Armenia share our views."

REMITTANCES RECEIVED BY NATURAL PERSONS IN ARMENIA THROUGH BANKS AND ORGANIZATIONS IMPLEMENTING MONEY REMITTANCES GROWS BY 10% IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2007 ON SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR

Noyan Tapan
May 24 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. In the first quarter of 2007, the
amount of money remittances to natural persons in Armenia through
banks and organizations implementing money remittances grew by 10%
on the first quarter of 2006 and made 99 bln drams (about 356 mln
USD), while the amount of remittances to foreign countries remained
at almost the same level – 67 bln drams.

Remittances to natural persons in Armenia (without opening a bank
account) are made by Armenian commercial banks and CBA-licensed
organizations making money remittances. In order to effect money
remittances rapidly, the Armenian commercial banks have joined such
systems as Western Union, Money Gram, Anelik, Unistream, Contact
and others.

According to data of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), in the first
quarter of 2007 the amount of remittances to Armenia through banks –
participants of these systems made 62 bln 287 mln drams (their number
made 281,534), which exceeded 7.6fold the amount of remittances to
foreign countries. Remittances to Armenia increased 1.3fold (by 14
bln 157 mln drams) on the first quarter of 2006. The average amount of
a remmitance to Armenia through the above mentioned systems made 218
thousand drams, remaining at the level of the first quarter of 2006.

During the first three months of 2007, Armenian organizations
implementing money remittances made payments of a total of 1 bln 498
mln drams to their customers and implemented remittances of 538 mln
drams to foreign countries. The amount of remittances to Armenia
through payment and settlement organizations exceeded 2.8fold the
amount of remittances to foreign countries. The average amount of a
payment to customer made 123 thousand drams in the period under review.

Transfers to Armenia through the Swift system amounted to 309 bln
drams, while their number made 63,397 in the first quarter of 2007. The
average amount of a transfer made 4.9 mln drams: this index declined
by 4.4 mln drams on the first quarter of last year. In the amount
of transfers through the Swift system, payments to natural persons
declined by 6 bln drams and made about 35 bln drams: the average amount
of a payment grew by 422 thousand drams to 1.7 mln drams. At the same
time, the amount of transfers to foreign countries by natural persons
through the Swift system declined by 2 bln drams and made 58 bln drams.

REPORT ON ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS TO BE PRESENTES AT PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE SITTING

ArmRadio.am
24.05.2007 14:10

The report on May 12 parliamentary election of Armenia will be
discussed at today’s sitting of the Monitoring Committee of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Belgrade, Head of
the PACE Observation Mission Leo Platvoet told ArmInfo.

"Besides listing the facts related to the electoral process, the
report will present suggestions for improving the Electoral Code in
the future and implementing necessary corrections," the author of
the report noted. He added that monitoring of documents will also be
included in the observation procedure. " Besides, I will present my
suggestions to the Veniice Commission for the purpose of improving the
cooperation with Armenia in executing the provisions of the Armenian
Electoral Code," Leo Platvoet noted.

VARTAN OSKANIAN RECEIVES OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS

Noyan Tapan
May 23 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 23, RA Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian received OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Yuri Merzliakov and
Bernard Fassier who are in Yerevan on a regional visit. As Noyan
Tapan was informed from RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, at the meeting they accentuated non-coordinated issues
in Nagorno Karabakh negotiations.

RA Foreign Minister and OSCE MG Co-chairs also discussed the schedule
of the next meetings and their future tasks.