Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

DIVERS SEARCH FOR 113 PEOPLE KILLED IN CRASH OF ARMENIAN AIRLINER
Mike Eckel
AP Worldstream
May 03, 2006
Divers searched storm-churned waters off Russia’s Black Sea coast
Wednesday, searching for the remains of 113 people who were killed
when an Armenian passenger airliner crashed in rough weather as it
was heading for a landing, emergency officials said.
It was the worst air disaster in Armenia’s recent history.
Armenian airline officials said they believed the crash was due to the
stormy weather, and Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman
Viktor Beltsov said that this was considered the likeliest cause. He
said that the clouds were as low as 100 meters (330 feet) above the
ground at the time of the crash.
Earlier, Russian officials said that the age of the aircraft and
technical factors could have been involved. Investigators did not
believe terrorism was a factor.
The Airbus A-320, which belonged to the Armenian airline Armavia,
disappeared from radar screens just under 6 kilometers (3.7 miles)
from the shore and crashed after making a turn and heading toward the
Adler airport near the Russian resort of Sochi, Beltsov said. Rescue
officials in the ministry’s southern regional branch said the 105
passengers and eight crew members aboard the plane flying from the
Armenian capital Yerevan, including six children, were all killed.
Gurgen Seroboyan, whose 23-year-old fiancee Lucenie Gevorkian was a
flight attendant on the flight, wept as he waited at Yerevan airport
for a charter flight that was to take relatives of the crash victims
to Sochi.
Samvel Oganesian said his 23-year-old son Vram and his friend Hamlet
Abgarian had been heading to Sochi for vacation.
“Why did he go?” Oganesian asked in anguish, over and over again.
In Sochi’s airport, about 100 tearful relatives _ nearly all
Armenians _ kept up an anguished vigil in a waiting hall. One man
became hysterical and had to be taken away by ambulance.
Women, sobbing, held handkerchiefs to their mouths, while men sat
silently, their heads in their hands.
Aram Sargasian, 22, said he had two uncles on the ill-fated plane
who had been heading to Sochi for a weeklong vacation. The city has
a large ethnic Armenian population.
“I adored them. This is all like a dream,” he said, shaking his head.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian President Robert
Kocharian declared Friday a day of mourning in both countries, the
Kremlin said.
Wreckage from the plane was found not far from the shoreline, Beltsov
said, and Sergei Kudinov, the head of the southern district office
of the Emergency Situations Ministry, said the fuselage was found at
a depth of 400 meters (1,300 feet).
Search and rescue teams have pulled 33 bodies from the water,
regional emergency officials said; none was wearing a life jacket,
indicating they did not have sufficient warning to prepare for an
emergency landing.
The airline said that 26 Russians, one Ukrainian and one Georgian
were among the passengers. The rest were Armenian citizens.
Twenty-five boats as well as divers were involved in the search,
and a deep-sea robot was to be used to try to recover the plane’s
black box, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. But a Russian
aviation official, Rudolf Teymurazov of the Intergovernmental Aviation
Committee, expressed doubt the black boxes could be found since some
parts of the plane could be as deep as 2 kilometers (1 mile).
“If the black boxes are located not in some segment of the plane,
but on the (sea) bottom, then it will be impossible to find them,”
the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.
The water temperature was 12 degrees Celsius (53 F).
The plane broke up on impact with the water and passengers’ personal
belongings and plane fragments were found scattered over an area
spreading 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from the crash site.
Rough seas, driving rain and low visibility were hampering the search,
Russian news agencies reported.
Beltsov said the plane, which disappeared from radar screens at about
2:15 a.m. (2215 GMT Tuesday, went down while trying to make a repeat
attempt at an emergency landing. However, the Interfax news agency
quoted the Russian air control agency as saying that the plane’s crew
had not declared any emergency.
Armavia deputy commercial director Andrei Agadzhanov said in Yerevan
that the crew had communicated with Sochi ground controllers while
the plane was flying over the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The ground
controllers said the weather was poor but the plane could still land,
the representative said. Just before the landing, however, the ground
controllers told the crew to make another circle in the air before
approaching the airport.
He said the crew was highly experienced, the airplane was in good
condition and that weather conditions were “certainly” the cause.
The Airbus A-320 was manufactured in 1995 and had been acquired on
leasing by the airline. The aircraft underwent full-scale servicing
a year ago.
Agadzhanov said that the airline’s deputy general director, Vyacheslav
Yaralov, had been aboard.
Investigators from the airline and Armenian and French aviation
authorities were to fly to the crash scene later Wednesday morning.
Armavia is Armenia’s largest airline. It is 70-percent owned by
Russia’s second-largest airline Sibir, and it acquired routes from
Armenian Airlines and Armenian International Airlines when those
operations fell into financial troubles.
________
AP reporters Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Sergei Venyavsky
in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, contributed to this story.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:
May 2, 2006
RAFFI HOVANNISIAN IN BELGIUM FOR TRANSATLANTIC FORUM
Meets with Solana, Scheffer, Basescu, McCain, Bennett
Brussels — Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign
Affairs, represented Armenia at an international policy conclave which
was convened here from April 28 to 30 under the auspices of the German
Marshall Fund of the United States, the Federal Government of Belgium,
and the Bertelsmann Stiftung of Germany.
Entitled “Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era,” the Brussels
Forum brought together world leaders, public figures, diplomats,
academicians, activists, and renowned journalists in order to reassess
the transatlantic agenda from American, European, and neighborhood
perspectives; to discuss the threats of terrorism and pandemics
across the globe of the 21st Century; to explore global competition
in the public and private sectors; to chart the course of democracy
and geopolitics in wider Europe, the Middle East, and China; and
to contemplate transatlantic energy security, national identities,
and international integration.
In his intervention, Raffi Hovannisian addressed the track record
of the transatlantic alliance and examined its contribution to
the transition from Cold War to European cooperation. He also
underscored the imperative correlation between collective security
and shared core values both within the alliance and for potential
partners on its periphery. In particular, he urged the stringent and
equal application to all national actors of the highest standards
of democracy, rule of law, human rights protection, and genocide
prevention and condemnation–irrespective of their place and role in
the international system.
Against the backdrop of contemporary democracy movements and
geopolitical developments, Raffi Hovannisian held informal meetings
with Dr. Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council of the
European Union; NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer; Romanian
President Traian Basescu; and United States Senators John McCain and
Bob Bennett.
In the margins of the conference, Raffi Hovannisian also met with Crown
Prince Philippe of Belgium; Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt;
General James Jones, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; Chairman
Elmar Brok of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs;
Belgian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel De Gucht;
Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay; U.S. Senators George Voinovich
and John Edwards (former); Jordanian Senator Marwan al-Muasher; former
Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio; DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter
Zetsche; and several others.
Hovannisian and his conference colleagues were received at the Royal
Palace by His Highness King Albert of Belgium.
Raffi Hovannisian, who is founder of the Armenian Center for National
and International Studies and the National Citizens’ Initiative,
currently chairs the Heritage Party of Armenia.

TOP CHRISTIAN LEADERS JOIN ‘SAVE DARFUR’ RALLY
Christian Post, CA
May 1 2006
WASHINGTON – Christian speakers were among the religious leaders,
human rights activists, politicians, athletes and actors that convened
to rally for greater U.S. involvement in the Darfur conflict on Sunday.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators wearing T-shirts and waving signs
such as “Never Again – Stop the Genocide,” “Don’t allow Sudan’s
sin to become a shame on the World!” and “No Excuses!” filled the
National Mall demanding an end to what the United Nation calls one
of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
Prominent Christian leaders were among politicians, a Nobel Prize
winner, an Academy Award Winner, and heads of non-government
organizations invited to speak at the “Save Darfur” rally.
The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of
the National Association of Evangelicals, prayed for the situation
in Darfur during his speech.
“We pray your blessings, your comforting will fall upon the enslaved,
the victims on this day. They are there but we are here and when
they are persecuted, we are persecuted,” prayed Cizik. “When they
are hungry, we are hungry. Grant us the knowledge to understand that,
Heavenly Father.
“We pray as well for the political leaders of the world, that their
conscience would be stricken with the lost and suffering and that
they would be moved to action. We are people of conscience and
together we can stop the genocide. May it be so. Amen,” concluded
the NAE representative.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.,
also called for action, encouraging the United States and other
countries to make a stronger commitment to saving Darfur.
“Our nation has to get onboard,” declared McCarrick. “Every nation
has to get onboard. Now is the time. Now is the time to put our money
where our mouth is. Now is the time!”
With at least 180,000 people dead and some 2 million homeless,
according to The Associated Press, the ongoing violence between the
government militias and ethnic minority rebels in the western Darfur
region is one of the most serious in the world today.
“This issue that we face today is not only an issue for Americans
but for every citizen of the world,” the Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe,
international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, said
on Sunday.
“The Scriptures make it very clear that we must stand with those who
are voiceless and powerless. Today we stand with the Darfur people
and speak out loudly against the outrageous atrocities they are being
subjected,” Tunnicliffe said.
Other Christian leaders that spoke at the Save Darfur rally included
Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics &
Religious Liberties Commission; the Rev. Walter Fauntroy of New Bethel
Baptist Church of Washington, D.C.; the Rev. John L. McCullough,
executive director and CEO of Church World Service; Tony Kireopoulos
of the National Council of Churches; and the Rev. Fr. Tateos Abdalian
of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church.

TURKEY’S DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS ARE AIMED AT REPLACING RUSSIAN BASES IN
GEORGIA BY ITS OWN ONES
Yerevan, April 28. ArmInfo. If one looks at what is going on around
Iran, one can see that Turkey has intensified its diplomatic dialogue
with Washington: Ankara is trying to derive as much profit as possible
from the situation and the Americans are interested in Turkey, says
expert of Turkey Ruben Safrastyan.
He says that Turkey’s efforts are aimed at replacing the Russian bases
in Georgia by its own ones. In 2001-2002 the Americans decided to act
in the region on their own rather than through Turkey and it was then
that they sent their instructors to Georgia, says Safrastyan. But
things may change. The US needs Turkey in its actions against Iran and
so the Americans may allow the Turks to intensify their activities in
the region

“RUSSIA FOR RUSSIANS!” SLOGAN WILL RUIN RUSSIA
Yerevan, April 26. ArmInfo. A number of Russian politicians, public
figures and sportsmen from the Union of Civil Resistance to Fascism
have asked the Public Prosecutor of Russia to give a legal assessment
of the growing xenophobia in the country.
Russian TV reports them to urge the Public Prosecutor to take measures
against the authors of the slogan “Russia for Russians!”
The chairwoman of the commission on information policy of the Russia’s
Federation Council Lyudmila Narusova says that the slogan “Russia
for Russians!” is not only non-constructive but also criminal and is
leading multinational and multi-religious Russia to collapse.
“Hence, we are asking you to give a legal assessment of this slogan
and to take measures against those propagating it,” she says.

THE EVICTED RESIDENTS THREATEN TO APPEAL
A1+
[02:25 pm] 27 April, 2006
The cold and rainy weather did not hinder the strikers from launching
an appeal in the yard of the Government building. The residents of
Northern and Main Avenues, and Abovyan, Kokhbatsi, Saralanj and
Kozern Streets and the gardeners of Dalma gathered opposite the
Government today.
They demanded the Government, especially Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan to meet them. As usual, the strikers weren’t paid any
attention to.
The strikers complained of the decision of the Constitutional
Court. “Regardless of the fact whether the Constitutional Court is
imperfect or not, the Government’s decision is anti constitutional. We
want to see the Government representatives and make them change
their decision, and we want people responsible for this ferocity to
be punished. The Government still ignores the CC decision,” said the
chairman of the Defense Board of the Northern Ave. Vachagan Hakobyan.
By the way, they will hold a press conference, and their further
steps will be determined by its current.
“We are going to initiate acts of complaint with different streets
and parties. It is time to put an end to this.”
The strikers complained that there is certain delusion with the names
of the streets as the name of Byuzand street is frequently mentioned
whereas the rest of the streets remain aside or are left out.
Let us mention that the strikers were threatened as the evictions
still continue in different streets of the city.

POLICE AND NATIONAL SECURITY AGENTS IN NEW TIMES
Lragir.am
27 April 06
The announcement of the leader of the political party Nor Zhamanakner
(New Times) Aram Karapetyan, that there are 6 police and 8 national
security agents in his party, whose names and aliases will soon be
published, aroused great interest in political circles. The Democratic
Party suggested that Aram Karapetyan display his ability to unmask
agents. On April 27 at the Pastark Club Aram Karapetyan briefly
explained the technique of revealing agents, “One needs to have money,
not to take the money home. The struggle should be serious and one
needs to have their own network of agents.”
Aram Karapetyan says he learns about every decision made by force
agencies within an hour, sometimes without money. For instance, recent
information from the National Security Service. During the meeting
of the college of the National Security Service the chiefs of two
departments complained of law salaries. In answer the leadership told
them to live on whatever they can. Aram Karapetyan asks, “Imagine,
for instance, the department of reconnaissance lives on whatever
they can – catches a spy, extorts money and lets him go free.” Aram
Karapetyan assures that Robert Kocharyan watched the video of the
raid of the National Security Service and after the second watching
the president said, “Aram Karapetyan is a difficult case.” Whereas,
the force agencies are not supposed to become engaged in political
developments. On April 28 Aram Karapetyan invited to a rally and
a march; among other slogans the phrase “Gorik, go away” will be
chanted. Gorik is the chief of the National Security Service Gorik
Hakobyan.

STUDENT ARRESTED OVER MURDER OF ARMENIAN YOUTH IN MOSCOW
Agence France Presse — English
April 24, 2006 Monday 8:06 AM GMT
A 17-year-old student suspected of having stabbed a young Russian of
Armenian origin in the Moscow metro on Saturday has been arrested,
the prosecutor for the Russian capital said Monday.
A spokesman for the prosecutor told Russian news agency ITAR-TASS
the student had confessed to the murder, which happened Saturday
afternoon in the Pushkinskaya underground station in central Moscow.
A group of six or seven youths got off a train and immediately set upon
another group of around 12 people who were standing on the platform.
The victim, a 17-year-old man of Armenian origin, died on the spot
after he was stabbed in the chest.
The prosecutor is not ruling out a motive of racial hatred, Itar-Tass
reported. The suspect is in his final year of secondary school
in Moscow.
Racist attacks are common in Russia, particularly among young people.
But the Russian authorities, reluctant to use the term, often describe
such crimes as “hooliganism”.
They are often carried out by gangs of skinheads and usually target
Asians, Africans and people from the Caucasus — such as Armenians —
or Central Asia.

EVENTS DEDICATED TO MEMORY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS TAKE PLACE IN BUCHAREST, CONSTANTSA AND OTHER CITIES OF ROMANIA
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 26 2006
BUCHERST, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Memory events
dedicated to the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide continued
in Romania on April 23 and 24. The Roumanian diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, the Armenian community of Romania, RA Deputy Foreign
Minister Arman Kirakosian, paying a visit to Romania, the RA Embassy
laid wreaths to two khachkars (cross stones)-monuments placed in
Bucharest in 2002 and 2005. Deputy Minister Arman Kirakosian made a
speech on April 24, in Bucharest, at the spritistic ceremony dedicated
to the Armenian Genocide victims. The ceremony was held by Archbishop
Tirayr Martikian, the primate of the Roumanian Armenian Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Church. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA
Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information Department, spiritistic and
memorial ceremonies took place in the cities of Kostantsa, Suchava,
Cluj Napoca. Events will take place during the coming days in other
settlements populated by Armenians as well. Events are covered by
the Roumanian mass media.

OFFICIAL BAKU AFFORDS COMPLIMENTS TO YEREVAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.04.2006 GMT+04:00
After the regional visits of American and French co-chairmen of the
Minsk group accents of Armenian and Azeri diplomats have slightly
changed.
The official regional tour of the American co-chairman of OSCE Minsk
group Steven Mann has drawn to an end.
After negotiating with President Robert Kocharyan and Foreign Affairs
Minister Vardan Oskanyan, Mann went to Baku where he met Ilham Aliev
and Elmar Mamedyarov.
Official summaries of press services do not allow to judge about the
productivity of the American diplomat’s visit. However, it is quite
obvious that in the negotiations process there is a certain stir up,
which can bring to resumption of direct contacts between parties in
the nearest future.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During the past few weeks co-chairman of the
Minsk group have been making serious efforts towards leading the
negotiation process out of deadlock. There is indeed an impression
that in this issue Russia has taken up a more passive role. As it
is known, the first impulse towards resumption of negotiations
came from Americans. Later on the initiative was caught up by
French co-chairman Bernard Fassie who arrived in the region with a
concrete package of proposals. Bernard Fassie’s mission was continued
by Steven Mann. Meanwhile, Russian co-chairman Yuri Merzlyakov
still refrains from trips to Caucasus and follows the process
from aside. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to say that Moscow is
keeping away from the process. On April 19 in Moscow Steven Mann held
negotiations with his Russian colleague and a high-ranking diplomat,
most likely the deputy foreign minister. As for foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov, he discussed the situation with his colleagues from
Armenia and Azerbaijan during the conference of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs of CIS countries. In any case, there are no grounds to assert
that Russian diplomacy is refusing to support the latest initiatives
of American and French co-chairmen.
It is quite possible that already after a few days Yuri Merzlyakov
will join the process, resumed in the Minsk group format.
To all appearance the efforts of mediators are not just a show of
activity, but a real attempt to find new points of contact between
the parties. Co-chairmen refused from the idea to start negotiations
from the very beginning that is to say from the point where they were
locked in Ramboulliet. Yerevan and Baku do not deny that the mediators
have really presented new proposals for conflict regulation. However,
Vardan Oskanyan thinks that it is more correct to speak not about “new
principles of regulation” but “new formulations of principles”. This
is already something if we take into account the fact that right
after the initiatives were made high-ranking diplomats in Baku and
Yerevan started making quite encouraging announcements. It is obvious
that there will be changes. Will they result in an outbreak in the
negotiation process? Let us wait and see.
Something has evidently changed in the approach of parties. Accents
of announcements made by Armenian and Azeri diplomats have
shifted. Recently Vardan Oskanyan made it clear that Yerevan will agree
to discuss the possible return of Armenian controlled territories
out of Karabakh if Azerbaijan agrees to recognize legitimacy of the
referendum, which will be held later. “If Azerbaijan acknowledges
the right of Nagorno Karabakh on self-determination not at once but
in future, the Armenian party is ready to discuss issues concerning
elimination of war consequences – territories, refugees, etc”, said the
minister. This point was actually not discussed in Ramboulliet. In
Ramboulliet parties could not come to agreement because of the
extremely rigid position of official Baku. But now, through the lips
of the head of information department Tair Tagizade, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan welcomes Vardan Oskanyan’s speech,
which “testifies to the constructive position of Armenia. It can be
viewed as an approval of the fact that the Armenian party adheres to
peaceful negotiations and realizes national interests of Armenia”,
said the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Azerbaijan.
What are these compliments for? Vardan Oskanyan did not say anything
new. Yet before, Yerevan had expressed readiness to withdraw military
forces from the security zone if Azerbaijan recognizes the right
of Karabakh to self-determination. It is obvious that Azeris have
suddenly ceased fearing the word “self-determination” which is an
important symptom. It is possible that Baku leaders are trying to
make people believe that recognizing the right to self-determination
is not that dangerous. Commenting on his own words, Tagizade says
that self-determination can function within Azerbaijan too.
“Under self-determination we should understand giving a special status
of autonomy in the structure of Azerbaijan” the diplomat says. However
it is already not important what Azeris consider a desirable result
of self-determination. By the way the people of Karabakh have already
approved their readiness to conduct another referendum on the status
of Nagorno-Karabakh. On Wednesday Arkady Ghukasyan said that the new
referendum is quite possible since international community did not
recognize the results of the referendum held in 1991.
Thus, there have been quite constructive announcements in all the
three capitals involved in the conflict.
Those statements allow hoping for if not an outbreak, but at least
progress in the negotiation process. What is also important is that
those things happen on the eve of Ilham Aliev’s visit to Washington. It
appears that George Bush will appreciate Aliev’s readiness to review
the rigid approaches, which brought to the failure of Ramboulliet
meeting. Maybe this is what the Azeri diplomacy is relying on.
“PanARMENIAN.Net” analytical department