Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

ARCHED ELEVATION OF HOUSE-MUSEUM OF ARAM KHACHATOURIAN IN YEREVAN IS
TUMBLING DOWN
YEREVAN, MAY 13. ARMINFO. The arched elevation of the house-museum of
great Armenian composer Aram Khachatourian in Yerevan is tumbling down
gradually, but the government of Armenia refuses to finance its
repair.
Director of the museum Armine Grigorian informed ARMINFO, the request
on the assistance in repair of front arches to the Ministry of Culture
and Youth Affairs did not give anything. Despite that the Ministry of
Town-Planning has promised to enter the museum in the list of the
buildings liable to repair, no concrete answer has received yet.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
NKR CITIZEN SUSPECTED OF ESPIONAGE IN FAVOR OF AZERBAIJAN DETAINED
13.05.2005 05:08
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An NKR citizen suspected of espionage in favor of
Azerbaijan was arrested in Karabakh. According to a report of the NKR
National Security State Service, the suspect kept in secret touch with the
Azeri special services. The NKR Office of Prosecutor General has initiated a
criminal case due to Article on Treason calling for 10-15 years of
imprisonment

Pan Armenian News
RA MFA DID NOT COMMENT ON INFORMATION SPREAD BY AZERI MEDIA ON `ARMENIA’S
NEW PROPOSALS’
13.05.2005 06:15
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Press Service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry did not
comment to PanARMENIAN.Net reporter on the information spread by the Azeri
media on `Armenia’s consent to quit at first five regions adjacent to
Nagorno Karabakh and then proceeding from the negotiation process the Lachin
and Kelbajar regions as well. To note, the Azeri media with a reference to
Turkish press reported that when commenting on the Karabakh settlement
process in Ankara Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister, President’s special
representative on the Nagorno Karabakh issue Araz Azimov stated that Armenia
put forward a new proposal on the problem resolution. In his words, Armenia
allegedly proposed to quit five Azeri regions in exchange for opening
communications with Armenia and normalizing relations between the two
states.

Contact music.com, UK
May 13 2005
MALAKIAN AMAZED BY FBI INVESTIGATION REPORTS

SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist DARON MALAKIAN is bemused by reports the
band are under investigation by the FBI and CIA – as he insists they
have no intention of being “dangerous”.
The Armenian American rockers were rumoured to be considered a
liability by US authorities, not only because of their Middle Eastern
roots, but also thanks to their anti-government stance on their
chart-topping album TOXICITY.
But leather-clad Malakian is keen to point out they merely want to
make a difference to society.
He says, “How dangerous we are to them (the FBI), I don’t know.
“I don’t really want to be dangerous to anyone – I just want to open
people’s minds.
“To help people understand that it’s not necessary to throw bombs at
people.
“The society we live in is f**ked.”

Armenian opposition leader pledges “peaceful” government change
A1+ web site
12 May 05
“We do not want a revolution, it is not our way, we will struggle to
change the authorities and follow a path to be chosen by our leader,”
the head of the Artashat branch of the People’s Party of Armenia
[PPA], Aramayis Barsegyan, said at party leader [MP Stepan]
Demirchyan’s meeting with members of the party.
Demirchyan confirmed that they intended to replace the authorities in
a peaceful manner. He said: “Of course, we will do everything as soon
as possible in order to implement these changes.” Asked about the
party’s plans to stage mass rallies, Demirchyan said: “This will
happen.”
A member of the PPA’s political council, Ruben Gandilyan, expressed
his dissatisfaction with resent statements by some leaders of the
[opposition] Justice bloc member parties who criticized Demirchyan for
his indecision.
[Passage omitted: minor details]
Demirchyan informed the audience of the party’s programme. “We will
take part in the elections to local governments,” he said, adding that
“the authorities will once again rig the elections”.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
May 12, 2005, Thursday
15:48:00 Central European Time
Hungary backs Turkish E.U. push
Budapest
Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany met visiting Turkish
counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Budapest Thursday and pledged the
support of his country for Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.
“Turkey can count on Hungary,” Gyurcsany told reporters following
talks with the Turkish premier, who arrived in Hungary earlier in the
day for a two-day official trip.
Budapest’s backing comes amid concerns over Turkey’s human rights and
justice record, under the spotlight this week after the European
Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Turkey’s trial of Kurdish
leader Abdullah Ocalan was “unfair”.
Gyurcsany said the E.U. had provided Turkey with a clear “catalogue
of reforms” to implement before membership would be considered.
Erdogan, commenting on the Ocalan judgement, said his country’s
justice system would closely examine in the case as soon as the E.U.
Council of Ministers had given its opinion on the matter.
“There is no doubt,” said Erdogan, “that Turkey is a constitutional
state”.
Commenting on the controversy surrounded the alleged massacres of of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks during and after the First World War,
Erdogan said the “so-called genocide” was not an obstacle to E.U.
entry.
As many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed during mass deportations
and massacres when Armenians rose up against the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey disputes the numbers killed and denies that the deaths in any
way constitute genocide, but has come under increasing international
pressure to reexamine the issue. dpa kl ch sc

Armenian minister upbeat on new pension scheme
Mediamax news agency
10 May 05
YEREVAN
The introduction of the new pension system in Armenia will make it
possible to provide decent pensions to the republic’s citizens,
Armenian Minister of Labour and Social Security Agvan Vardanyan said
in Yerevan today.
Speaking at a briefing in Yerevan today, the minister said that the
concept of the new pension system adopted by the government is based
on three main concepts:
– provision of state pensions (may apply to disabled citizens who are
unable to work for health reasons);
– ensuring of state accumulation (payments to the Pension Fund are
directly connected with the size of the future pensions);
– provision of voluntary pensions (apart from obligatory payments,
voluntary payments are made in order to increase the size of the
future pension).
Agvan Vardanyan said that the introduction of the new pension system
will make it possible to considerably increase the average pension in
Armenia, which currently equals 10,000 drams (22 dollars).

List of dignitaries planning to attending Victory in Europe Day ceremonies
in Moscow
.c The Associated Press
Dignitaries who attended Victory in Europe Day ceremonies in Moscow:
ALBANIA: President Alfred Moisiu
ARMENIA: President Robert Kocharian
AUSTRALIA: Governor General Michael Jeffery
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Chaiman of Presidency Borislav Paravac
BRITAIN: Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
BULGARIA: President Georgi Parvanov
CANADA: Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
CHINA: President Hu Jintao
CROATIA: President Stipe Mesic
CYPRUS: President Tassos Papadopoulos
CZECH REPUBLIC: President Vaclav Klaus
DENMARK: Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
EUROPEAN COMMISSION: President Jose Manuel Barroso
FINLAND: President Tarja Halonen
FRANCE: President Jacques Chirac
GERMANY: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
GREECE: President Karolos Papoulias
HUNGARY: President Ferenc Madl
ICELAND: Prime Minister Halldor Asgrimsson
INDIA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
IRELAND: Prime Minister Bertie Ahern
ISRAEL: President Moshe Katsav
ITALY: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
JAPAN: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nursultan Nazarbayev
KYRGYZSTAN: Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev
LATVIA: President Vaira Vike-Freiberga
LUXEMBOURG: Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker
MACEDONIA: President Branko Crvenkovski
MALTA: Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi
MONGOLIA: President Natsagiin Bagabandi
NETHERLANDS: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende
NEW ZEALAND: Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright
NORTH KOREA: Ri Jong San, vice marshal of the North’s Korean People’s Army
NORWAY: Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
POLAND: President Aleksander Kwasniewski
PORTUGAL: Prime Minister Jose Socrates
ROMANIA: President Traian Basescu,
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO: President Svetozar Marovic
SLOVAKIA: President Ivan Gasparovic
SLOVENIA: President Janez Drnovsek
SOUTH KOREA: President Roh Moo-hyun
SPAIN: Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
SWEDEN: Prime Minister Goran Persson
SWITZERLAND: President Samuel Schmid
TAJIKISTAN: President Emomali Rakhmonov
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
TURKMENISTAN: President Saparmurat Niyazov
UKRAINE: President Viktor Yushchenko
UNESCO: Director-General Koichiro Matsuura.
UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-General Kofi Annan
UNITED STATES: President George W. Bush
UZBEKISTAN: President Islam Karimov
Former heads of state
CYPRUS: President Glafcos Clerides
POLAND: Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski
ROMANIA: Former King Michael
05/09/05 12:05 EDT

Gulf Times, Qatar
May 9 2005
Make up, Putin tells ex-Soviet republics
Published: Monday, 9 May, 2005, 12:07 PM Doha Time

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin called on his counterparts
from the ex-Soviet Union yesterday to stick together, vowing their
historic bonds `can be neither torn nor destroyed’.
At talks on the eve of ceremonies to commemorate the 60th anniversary
of the Allied victory that ended World War II, Putin downplayed signs
of strains among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
`The peoples of the commonwealth countries are separated by state
borders, but our friendship and brotherly, truthfully blood ties are
without bounds,’ he said in an address to war veterans and leaders.
`They can be neither torn nor destroyed,’ he added, saying that
shared historical, cultural and humanitarian values help the CIS
states, `solve many problems in tandem’.
But his words were overshadowed by internal squabbles that have
underlined the 12-country organisation’s fundamental weakness.
Attendance by CIS leaders at the meeting was whittled down to just 10
heads of state, highlighting the increased difficulty Moscow has had
co-ordinating its diplomatic efforts in the post-Soviet area.
A spat between Russia and Georgia as well as enmity between CIS
republics Azerbaijan and Armenia has poisoned the air ahead of
today’s ceremonies on Red Square.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili – due to host US President
George W Bush today – refused to attend due to the continued presence
of two Russian military bases on his country’s soil.
In neighbouring Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said he could not
sit at the same table with Armenian President Robert Kocharian on the
anniversary of an occupation of Azeri territory by Armenian forces.
The venom between the two republics and other inter-ethnic conflicts
in the former Soviet Union have called into question how effective
the commonwealth can really be.
Russia has long sought to use the ex-Soviet club as a means to extend
its influence in Moscow’s former satellite republics, but critics say
it has remained little more than a talking-shop.
A group of five Moscow-sceptic CIS states – Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan – made headlines when they met last
month, fuelling talk of a counterweight to the Russian-led club.
And `people power’ revolutions that have swept three ex-Soviet
republics in the past 18 months, removing entrenched regimes, are
viewed as having put Moscow on the defensive in what it considers to
be its own backyard.
Amid growing fissures within the CIS, Putin said that the group
should adopt a vague `declaration of humanitarian co-operation’,
reaffirming co-operation in the humanitarian, cultural and scientific
spheres.
He said governments would, `assist the freest communication between
our peoples, they will develop new and support old and firm
historical ties’.
In a possible conciliatory sign from Kyrgyzstan, the latest ex-Soviet
state to stage an uprising, its interim President Kurmanbek Bakiyev
said that the bloc could still shape up.
`The decisions reached in recent years didn’t bring the desired
results, above all on an economic level – it’s necessary to
strengthen co-operation on the economic level,’ Bakiyev said.
Bakiyev and Putin agreed to discuss the possibility of Russia taking
over some of Kyrgyzstan’s major industrial sites as payment for
national debt the Central Asian nation owes its former overlord.
Beyond the CIS meeting however a flurry of other bilateral talks were
due, involving both CIS leaders and others among the nearly 60 world
leaders arriving for yesterday’s massive Red Square parade.
Of the former 15 Soviet republics the three Baltic states – Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania – did not join the CIS when it was created as
the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey rejects new pressure to recognise Armenian ‘genocide’
Agence France Presse
May 6 2005
06/05/2005 AFP
ANKARA, May 6 (AFP) – 10h04 – Turkey on Friday rejected a resolution
adopted by parliament in Argentina, the latest example of international
pressure on Ankara to recognize as genocide the mass killings of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
“We denounce and reject the accusation of genocide formulated on
April 20 by the senate of Argentina,” the Turkish foreign ministry
said in a statement.
Noting that Turkey had explained to Argentina “at the highest levels
the problems that could be caused by such a resolution,” it said
the Argentinian senate had “acted irresponsibly in adopting a text
replete with historical errors.”
On April 25, the Turkish government urged public agencies and civic
groups to join an “all-out effort” against what it called the “baseless
allegations” that 1.5 million Armenians perished in orchestrated
killings between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
Ankara counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were
killed in “civil strife” during World War I when the Armenians rose
against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
The European Union has warned that relations between Armenia and
Turkey will likely affect negotiations on Ankara’s bid to join the EU.
On April 27, the Turkish parliament cancelled a series of exchange
visits with Polish lawmakers in protest at a resolution adopted by
parliament in Warsaw.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress