Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

PRESS SECRETARY OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT URGES SPEAKER TO RESIGN WITH DIGNITY
Yerevan, May 25. ArmInfo. The statements of the leader of the Orinats
Yerkir party Artur Bagdassaryan that Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan or employees of his staff pressured the businessmen who left
his party are not true, says the press secretary of the Armenian
president Viktor Sogomonyan.
Neither the president nor anybody from his administration have ever
discussed with those businessmen any problems related to their
withdrawal from OY, says Sogomonyan. He notes that Bagdassaryan is
simply trying to shift the responsibility for the split of his party
on others instead of searching for the reasons inside himself. “In any
case one should be able to leave with dignity,” says Sogomonyan.

SECOND BLACK BOX RECORDER FROM CRASHED ARMENIAN AIRBUS RECOVERED
Agence France Presse — English
May 23, 2006 Tuesday 11:56 PM GMT
The second black box flight recorder from an Armenian Airbus passenger
plane that crashed in the Black Sea earlier this month was recovered
from the sea bed overnight,the Russian transport ministry said
Wednesday.
The instrument will give investigators technical details of the doomed
flight, according to the Interfax news agency.
All 113 passengers and crew died when the Armavia airlines Airbus A320,
which had taken off from Yerevan, crashed May 3 during its approach
to Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi. Eighty-five of the victims
were Armenians, many of them on family visits.
The other flight recorder, with voice recordings, was pulled out
on Monday.
There has so far been no official word on the possible cause of
the crash.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN AND ROBERT SIMMONS DISCUSS ISSUES OF DEEPENING ARMENIA-NATO COOPERATION
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 24 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Within the framework of
the Individual Partnership Actions Plan (IPAP), issues of cooperation
of the NATO and Armenia were discussed at the May 23 meeting of
RA National Assembly Deputy Speaker Tigran Tororsian with the
delegation headed by Robert Simmons, the NATO Secretary’s General
Special Representative.
As for prospects of the cooperation, the NA Deputy Speaker mentioned
that it will continue both in the NATO PA and in a wide sense as
it is one of the main components of securing the security system of
Armenia. Attaching importance to meaning of constitutional amendments
from the viewpoint of deepening democracy, protecting the human rights,
formation of a complete complex of counterbalances and suppressions
of the state government system as well as solution of the securiy
problems of the country, Tigran Torosian considered natural presence
of political components at the IPAP and expressed a hope that the
cooperation with the NATO may assist successful solution of the
Eurointegration problems and improvement of regional relations,
overcoming conflicts.
Holding of the coming state elections in correspondence with the
democratic standards, future widening of the Individual Partnership
Actions Plan were mutually attached importance to. R.Simmons attached
importance to the role and meaning of the Parliament in the issue
of relations with the North Atlantic Alliance, mentioning both
work of the Armenian delegation at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
and important role of people’s diplomacy. He is here to give an
intermediate estimation to the IPAP, and finds that the program has
positive developments, and the Parliament may have an active role in
its continuous character. According to Simmons, the IPAP is a document
that may be completed and developed as it has protection of democratic
values in the basis. In the opinion of the NATO Secretary’s General
Special Representative, the alliance may assist development of the
Armenia-Turkey relations.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NA Public Relations Department,
as for the state created at the Parliament of Armenia, Tigran Torosian
mentioned that re-arrangement of political forces will not influence
in any way on the foreign policy of Armenia and mutual relations
with the NATO, issues of implementation of the IPAP. It was also
mentioned that to deepen the cooperation, a commission headed by the
President of the republic on coordinating cooperation of the Republic
of Armenia with European structures has been created recently what
will considerably assist implementation of the IPAP.

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I WELCOMES THE ELECTION OF VARTKES MAHDESSIAN
;cID=4&pID=53&s=2
23-05-2006
Antelias, Lebanon – Parliamentary elections in Cyprus on May 21 led to
the election of a new representative of the Cypriot Armenian community
in the country’s parliament.
Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian, Catholicosal Vicar to Cyprus, held
a phone conversation with the Pontiff on the evening of May 21 and
informed him that Vartkes Mahdessian has been elected as the new
representative of the Armenian community in the Cypriot parliament.
The newly elected MP then called the Catholicos himself, assuring
him of his readiness to serve the Armenian community of Cyprus.
His Holiness welcomed the election of Mahdessian, granted his
pontifical blessings and advice to the MP. Aram I stressed the
importance of strengthening the integrity and unity of the Armenian
community of Cyprus, encouraging cooperation between its structures,
gathering Armenians around the church and pursuing the interests of
the community with the government.

HOUSE FOREIGN AID PANEL REINSTATES US POLICY ON SECURITY PARITY APPROVES $62 MILLION FOR ARMENIAIN FY FOREIGN AID BILL
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 23 2006
The Armenian Assembly praised members of a key foreign aid subcommittee
today for reinstating U.S. policy to maintain military aid parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Foreign
Operations bill. Earlier this year, the Administration submitted a
request for Azerbaijan that exceeded security assistance to Armenia
by $1.095 million.
Lawmakers approved a symmetrical appropriation that amounts to $3.5
million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and an additional $790,000
in International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance
to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“We appreciate the efforts of the House Appropriations Committee
and credit its Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jim
Kolbe (R-AZ) and Ranking Member Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)
for maintaining equal security assistance between Armenia and
Azerbaijan,” said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “We
especially appreciate the outstanding leadership of Armenian Caucus
Co-Chair and Committee Member, Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), for his
efforts in restoring parity and protecting the fragile cease-fire
at a time when Azerbaijan continues to threaten a resumption of war
against Nagorno Karabakh.” Following the vote, Knollenberg told the
Assembly that “It is vitally important that Congress maintain military
assistance parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We do not want to
unintentionally disturb the delicate balance of power that exists
in the South Caucasus nor weaken our credibility as an impartial and
leading mediator in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process.”
“Given the fact that relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan continue
to be tenuous, it is imperative that the U.S. maintain a
balanced approach,” said Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ). “Furthermore, I am pleased that the Committee called
for a higher allocation to Armenia than that requested by the
Administration.”
The FY 2007 foreign aid bill also includes $62 million in economic aid
to Armenia and up to $5 million in humanitarian assistance to Nagorno
Karabakh. The level of funding for Armenia, although less than the
amount Congress appropriated in FY 2006, is $12 million more than
that requested by the Administration in February. In that request,
the Administration also called for an additional $1 million in FMF to
Azerbaijan over Armenia and suggested $885,000 for Azerbaijan versus
$790,000 for Armenia in IMET assistance.
The overall request level reflects a $41 million drop in assistance
for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union, from $482
million in 2006 to $441 million in 2007.
During the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee
hearing in April, the Assembly submitted testimony for the hearing
record, outlining the need for Congress to continue funding to
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Additionally, the Assembly supported
a letter initiated by Pallone and Armenian Caucus Member Rep. George
Radanovich (R-CA) and co-signed by 48 additional Members of Congress,
highlighting important priorities for Armenia and Karabakh.
The bill will be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee
this week. Once the House of Representatives and Senate complete
action on their versions of the bill, a joint House-Senate Conference
Committee will reconcile the differences.

‘WE GREAT CULTURAL POTENTIAL’
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
24/05/2006
Azerbaijanis Upset by the Elder Brother
Armenia’s debut at the Eurovision song contest is still being lively
discussed by young people and musicians. It also turned into a target
of interesting comments on the part of Turkish and Azerbaijani media.
“The 10 points that Turkey gave to Armenian singer threw me into
a fit of laughter. The presenters who were distinctively favoring
Turkey were at a loss when our ‘brothers’, as they are called in
masses, gave Armenians 10 points. Turks merely confused us by this
decision especially in the view of recent opposition to ‘genocide’
allegations. The presenters did not even try to find a justification
for ‘our elder brother’s’ deed. They sadly kept silent,” this was the
“hopeless” conclusion of a day.az correspondent on May 22. “We were
silently listening to our tunes in Andre’s song, to the music of
our tar.” In another publication Azerbaijanis try to be more frank:
“The Armenians again presented themselves as a nation with high
culture. Many TV viewers in our country hoped deep in their hearts
that Armenia’s representative Andre will give a bad performance but
he performed greatly taking a very high place for a debutant and
leaving behind Turkey, France, the Great Britain and other states.”
The Armenian delegation returned to Yerevan in the morning of May
22 and was warmly welcomed at the airport. Contrary to his first
performance at the semi-final, Andre performed brilliantly in the
final.
“He was first to perform at the semi-final and was not accustomed
to the atmosphere. But his second performance was great,” TV viewer
Anahit Kamalian told daily Azg. “We were at a cafe watching the live
contest on the screen. You should only see how every customer cheered
when Andre was receiving the points.”
Singer Shushan Petrosian is glad and proud of Andre’s victory. “Andre’s
song was among the best in this mess of horrible music tastes. I had
never watched the Eurovision but this time there was Andre. It was a
heavy responsibility for Andre but he reached the goal with honor,”
she said. Mrs. Petrosian thinks that the Eurovision has to do not
with the culture but with the politics, and to prove the contrary
the organizers chose a relatively neutral country as winner.
For bard Vahan Artsruni also the Eurovision is a low-rated
contest as the performance is judged not by a jury but by the
spectators. Secondly, this was pop music contest where “the highest
standard is not the music but interesting presentation of a song. From
this angle, Andre’s performance was not much different from the
rest.” Artsruni is sure that participation in contests is the only
way to present your music to the world, “but there are more serious
contests and victories in classical music that are not covered as
the Eurovision.”
When months ago the song was introduced to the Armenian public opinions
ranged from super positive response to dissatisfaction with Turkish
tunes. In his assessment of Andre’s performance composer Vladilen
Balian notes that we have great musical potential “but the doors seem
to be slow to open to us.” Singer Ofelia Hambardzumian, on her part,
said the song was rather difficult to perform but Andre did very well.

JOURNALIST ORGANIZATIONS OF ARMENIA DEMAND TO PUNISH THOSE VICTIMIZING THEIR COLLEAGUE
Noyan Tapan
May 22 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The Union of Journalists of Armenia,
the Yerevan Press Club and the Committee for Speech Freedom Protection
issued a joint statement on May 18, in which they demand to punish
those who committed violent actions against Narine Avetisian,
Executive Director of Lori TV company (Vanadzor), member of the Union
of Journalists of Armenia. According to the statement, some unknown
persons pelted N. Avetisian’s car with stones on May 16.
It was for a second time this year that violence was committed
against the journalist, and those guilty have not been found. The
statement says that as in the previous case, the incident occured
after N. Avetsisian criticized the local authorities. “We remind the
authorities of Lori marz and Vanadzor that preventing a journalist
from carrying out his/her legal professional activities is a crime
and we demand that the law enforcement bodies conduct an ojective
investigation into these and the previous facts and punish those
guilty, thus preventing any further violence,” the statemant reads.

HOUSE FOREIGN AID PANEL REINSTATES US POLICY ON SECURITY PARITY
ArmRadio.am
23.05.2006 10:45
The Armenian Assembly praised members of a key foreign aid subcommittee
for reinstating US policy to maintain military aid parity between
Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Foreign Operations
bill. Earlier this year, the Administration submitted a request for
Azerbaijan that exceeded security assistance to Armenia by $1.095
million.
Lawmakers approved a symmetrical appropriation that amounts to $3.5
million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and an additional $790,000
in International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance
to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“We appreciate the efforts of the House Appropriations Committee and
credit its Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jim Kolbe
and Ranking Member Rep. Nita M. Lowey for maintaining equal security
assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” said Assembly Executive
Director Bryan Ardouny. “We especially appreciate the outstanding
leadership of Armenian Caucus Co-Chair and Committee Member, Rep. Joe
Knollenberg, for his efforts in restoring parity and protecting the
fragile cease-fire at a time when Azerbaijan continues to threaten
a resumption of war against Nagorno Karabakh.”
“Given the fact that relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
continue to be tenuous, it is imperative that the US maintain a
balanced approach,” said Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone,
Jr. “Furthermore, I am pleased that the Committee called for a higher
allocation to Armenia than that requested by the Administration.”
The bill will be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee
this week. Once the House of Representatives and Senate complete
action on their versions of the bill, a joint House Senate Conference
Committee will reconcile the differences.

“RESIGNATION” TRAGIC COMEDY AT THE ARMENIAN NA
Panorama.am
15:33 22/05/06
The resignation of Arthur Baghdasaryan raised turmoil at the National
Assembly. The deputies were repeatedly mentioning Baghdasaryan’s name
in their speeches and giving different assessments to Orinats Yerkir.
Artashes Geghamyan reminded that those deputies who are left within
the party are of bad fame.
Particularly he addressed Hohvannes MARGARYAN, saying, “you speak
about milk powder.”
Vahan Hovhannisyan, who was chairing the session had to calm deputies
down for several times. Geghamyan was demanding air in order to
clarify who is who.
Baghdasaryan doubted if there will be any TV company which would be
willing to accept them. Vahan Hovhannisyan assured that Yerkir Media
can host them.
Arthur Baghdasaryan said that it was a difficult decision for him
because he has worked with coalition for a long time. “If that is a
game for some people let that game be played on them,” he said.
Speaking about the possibility of vote on his resignation, he said
he refused to put the issue on vote because that could be subject
for manipulations.
Some could say that he does not want to go. “I wanted to go with
dignity,” he said.
He was angry that the opposition does not want to accept OY. “Let’s
pull the rope together. They do not want. Why? What is the
reason?” Baghdasaryan asked.
Tigran Torosyan reminded the deputies that Arthur Baghdasaryan’s
resignation cannot become an issue in the agenda. It will be approved
if Baghdasaryan’s confirms it in 5 days.
P.S. The reporters asked Vahan Hovhannisyan if Yerkir Media will
provide air to the abovementioned politicians and why he is sure that
the TV company will do so. Hovhannisyan said that the head of Yerkir
Media is his friend and he will speak him into that.

GREEK ARMENIANS TO VISIT TSITSERNAKABERD
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 10:51
“Patrida” organization of the Greeks of Armenia will lay a wreath
of flowers at the memorial to the victims of the 1915-922 genocide
against Armenians.
A rally will be organized as well.