Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Armenian opposition bloc denies rumours of disagreement
Arminfo
20 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The existence of different approaches to one or another issue cannot
be regarded as disagreement in the Armenian opposition camp. There are
no fundamental disagreements on important issues between the National
Unity Party [NUP] and the Justice bloc, Koryun Arakelyan, deputy
chairman of the NUP, told an Arminfo correspondent while commenting on
some media reports.
The political forces within the united Armenian opposition can have
different views on the tactics of their further actions, which is an
absolutely normal phenomenon, he said. “The development of the
situation will bring answers to the questions that have been raised,”
Arakelyan said.
“Constant attempts have lately been made to cause discord in the ranks
of the Armenian opposition. We understand very well who is doing this
and why, however, there is no point in looking for something that does
not exist,” Ruzanna Khachatryan, press secretary of the Justice bloc,
told Arminfo.
The existence of several different approaches to some tactical issues
cannot be a reason for disagreements between the Justice bloc and the
NUP, she said.
[Passage omitted: reiterating the same views]

ArmenPress
July 20 2004
KOTAYK GOVERNOR COMMENDS THE PRESIDENT FOR SPENDING VACATIONS IN
ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS: The governor of Kotayk province
Kovalenko Shahgeldian told a news conference today that he commends
president Kocharian for choosing the province as the site of his both
summer and winter vacations instead of spending them abroad. The
president spends his summer vacation on lake Sevan and the winter
holidays in the resort town of Tsakhkadzor.
The governor also added that this fact has a positive impact on
the provincial authorities ‘as we have to work more accurately, and
apart from it I am given an opportunity to discuss with the president
some pressing problems in an unofficial atmosphere.”
Citing president Kocharian the governor said the anticipated funds
from Lincy Foundation should be used to improve cultural, athletic
and road facilities of the regions. He said this would bring in
serious investments for upgrading of the province’s athletic
facilities.

Armenianow.com
July 16, 2004
Last Stop: Armenia’s southernmost village feels isolation amid natural
beauty
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent
The last Armenian village before reaching Iran, Nyuvadi is buried in the
rich foliage of the Araks river valley. It is home to 45 families, and the
southernmost settlement of 13 villages in the sub region of Meghri (Syunic
Region).
Nyuvadi is connected to the center, Meghri, by a 30-kilometer road that is
little more than carved rock.
The distant village is isolated
“Despite the fact that on all the maps this section is classified as a
normal transport thruway, it actually looks more like an extreme rally quite
capable to compete with the famous Paris-Dakar route,” points out Hrachya
Harutyunyan, a veteran driver for Agarak copper-molybdenum plant. “In
different parts of Meghri region it’s still preferable to travel on pack
animals since a traveler never knows what to expect around any turn. And
besides, the road itself lies on the edge of the canyon.”
The distance between Yerevan and Nyuvadi is about 450 kilometers, about the
same as to Baku, Azerbaijan. But while it takes 7 hours to reach the capital
of Armenia, the capital of Baku can be reached in four and a half hours (via
the Iranian side).
“The road from Iran to the Azerbaijan capital runs through slightly bent
lowland,” the truck driver explains.
On the Iranian bank of the Araks, the renovated highway can be seen with
considerable traffic, especially for the region.
“There was no highway about five years ago,” Harutyunyan says. “Only a
narrow road was seen on which mainly pack animals were walking. The Turkish
population of the Easten Atropatena province of Iran is in fact the
connecting link between Nakhichevan and Baku. They built the existing road
to provide a direct land connection between the two places.”
But Nyuvadi does not enjoy such a connection with its capital.
“High passes, which reach up to 2,500 meters above sea level, make
transportation rather difficult and the average driving speed is 60 km per
hour or 1 km per minute,” says Harutyunyan. And the crossing through Tashtun
pass is not only spectacular, but challenging. The road drops (or rises) two
kilometers over a 20 kilometer stretch.
“Nowhere else in Armenia one can feel a 10cm slope per one meter of road,”
says the employee of Meghri road exploitation department Armen Vahanyan.
“The winter lasts for about 6 months at such heights, so our department
works almost without having rest. The Meghri territory is a part of Armenia’
s state highway that guarantees the connection with Iran and the trucking
industry which is of such importance to us. On average, an Iranian truck
passes over that road every sixteen minutes.”
Despite all the complex communication between Yerevan and Meghri, it wouldn’
t be a great exaggeration to say that the 30 km section that connects the
regional center with Nyuvadi is less laborious. The village enjoys
subtropical nature, where there are almost no winters and in December and
January persimmon, kiwi and pomegranate start blossoming. It is not just the
road, but nature itself that isolates Nyuvadi.
Vladimir Bayanduryan, 78, is one of the 153 residents of the village. Like
most of the residents of Nyuvadi he is a refugee from Azerbaijan.
“By some mystic coincidence the year when I was born, 1926, became an omen
of my wondering destiny,” Vladimir says. “It was in that very year that the
government of Bolshevik Azerbaijan made an administrative territorial reform
in the republic, as a result of which parts of North Karabakh populated by
Armenians in no time flat became parts of Shamkhor and Khanlar regions.
“In the same year the government of Azerbaijan refused the request of
Armenian refugees from Nakhichevan to return to their native land. So, I, an
Armenian born in Getashen, was destined to be a refugee. On April 30, 1991,
the Soviet Army and the Azerbaijani emergency platoon carried out a military
operation called ‘The Ring’ on deportation of Armenians from Getashen,
Shahumyan and Martunashen. So, and my family and I became refugees.”
Bayanduryan, twice a refugee, has been living in Nyuvadi since 1991, but is
still not used to his surroundings.
It is easier to pass along the canal than on the “road”.
“There are no living conditions,” says his son Yeghishe. “There are no roads
in the village, no shops, no irrigation water, no production, no doctors and
probably no future prospects. There’s only one phone number and one SUV for
the whole village. Wonderful natural-climatic conditions are not likely to
be able to fill in these gaps, since we’re practically unable to take out
our agricultural production to the market. Excellent persimmons and
pomegranates are rotting right in the gardens and as a result end up as
cattle food.”
However, the most irritating thing for the villagers is the attention of the
officials to their problems. Or, it is more correct to say, the absence of
any attention.
“Even the houses in which we’ve lived for more than 10 years, are not our
property,” says Vladimir Bayanduryan. “Since we have no jobs, we’re not able
to pay 60 thousand drams ($115) per square meter of the area for
privatization, as the government requires. So, the land is ours but the
houses are not.”
During Soviet times around 180 hectares of land were under cultivation.
Today only 52 hectares are cultivated.
Crops in Nyuvadi must rely on irrigation from the Araks, but villagers say
the unused cropland is not due to water supply. Simply, there is no need to
produce more than villages can consume, since transporting goods to Yerevan
is too expensive.
“It’s the time to include the residents of Nyuvadi in the Red Book of
Armenia, since this really is an endangered species,” says a math teacher
Lyuba Muradyan. “During Soviet years the number of school children reached
900. Today, all the school contingent including the 14 teachers doesn’t even
reach 45 people. That’s how we get settled in the new and, as they say in
the capital, ‘strategic’ village. While just 10s of kilometers from here in
Nakhichevan, there’s Agulis, a place where 1600 years ago the modern
Armenian alphabet was born.”
Nevertheless, today Nyuvadi – an Azeri name – is being renamed into New
Agulis. That’s the wish of the residents themselves.
Villagers say they feel a connection to their national history. And, in
fact, a connection to the history of civilization. Some say that 6,000 years
ago in this very territory, the copper age was born.
Sometimes, it seems not much has changed since.

INTERNAL POLITICAL SITUATION IN ARMENIA IS SO THAT POLITICAL FORCES OF
COUNTRY CANNOT GO ON SUMMER HOLIDAY EASILY:ARSHAK SADOYAN
YEREVAN, JULY 16. ARMINFO. The internal political situation in Armenia
today is so that the political forces of the country do not have the
right to go on leave easily. Leader of the party Bloc of national
democrats, deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia from the
opposition bloc Justice Arshak Sadoyan stated during the press
conference today.
According to him, gradually Armenia slip into the class of third-sort
Asian countries, whereas its neighbor Georgia moves by the way of
democracy with confidence, and another neighbor Azerbaijan possesses
large oil resources, which allows the international community to shut
their eyes to the violations of democracy in that country. In these
conditions instead of taking some steps the present leadership of
Armenia is only concerned over tamping of own pockets, and the recent
visit of Prime Minister of Armenia Andranik Margarian to Moscow again
confirmed it, the deputy thinks. In this situation the Bloc of
national democrats has come out with a Program which will be widely
discussed by the opposition and finally corrected after the congress
of the party on July 31.
The Program consists of two points, the first point to conduct
constitutional reforms till Jan-Feb 2005, which aim to reduce the
authorities of the president and creation of a program State. After
conducting a constitutional nation-wide referendum it is necessary to
hold immediate extraordinary presidential and parliamentary elections
in the country, and the incumbent President Robert Kocharian will be
the guarantor for holding the elections, but he will not have the
right to nominate his candidacy in these elections. Only this will
allow the society to shut eyes to the outrage taking place in the
country by the illegal power, the parliament member stressed. Sadoyan
refused to answer the question about the possibility of return of the
opposition to the parliament, stating that there is much time till
Sept and he is not authorized to decide and answer similar questions
alone. One thing is clear – the opposition must change its tactics,
Arshak Sadoyan thinks.

Iran-Armenia gas supplies through pipe may increase
16.07.2004 12:02:00 GMT

Moscow. (Interfax) – The amount of gas being supplied to Armenia under
a bilateral agreement to build a pipeline between the two countries
may be increased by over 30% from 36 billion cubic meters to 47 bcm
during the 20-year contract term, Armenian Energy Minister Armen
Movsisian told journalists.
He said that initially the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline would pump 1.1
billion cubic meters of gas per year, which will increase to 2.3 bcm
at the end of the contract.
He also said that the contract might be extended by five years – from
20 to 25 years.
Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Farhad Koleini was quoted as
saying earlier that trade between Iran and Armenia arising from the
agreement to build and operate the pipeline will amount to $10 billion
over the next 20-25 years.
Armenia and Iran signed an agreement on May 13 for the construction of
a pipeline between the two countries. The pipeline is 141 km long,
inducing 41 km in Armenia and 100 km in Iran. The total cost of the
project is estimated at $210-$220 million.
Gas should start to arrive in Armenia from January 2007 and will be
used at Armenian thermal power plants to produce electricity for
export to Iran.

Armenian forces open fire across front line – Azeri TV
ANS TV, Baku
13 Jul 04

At about 1900 [1400 gmt] today, the Armenian armed forces fired from
large-calibre guns and assault-rifles at the village of Qapanli in
Tartar District from the Armenian-occupied village of Seyidsulanli in
Agdara [Mardakert] District. Azerbaijan sustained no casualties,
according to a report from the Karabakh bureau of ANS. The enemy was
silenced by retaliatory fire.

Armenia gets 23m dollars from World Bank to improve water supplies
Arminfo
9 Jul 04
YEREVAN
Armvodokanal [Armenian water canal] and the World Bank have signed a
credit programme to the tune of 23m dollars for 40 years to restore
Armenia’s system of water supplies, the head of the Armenian State
Committee for Water Resources, Andranik Andreasyan, told reporters at
a press conference today.
The programme aims to choose a new operator in the system of water
supplies. The French company [Water Utility] Saur was chosen as a new
operator in a tender. The State Committee for Water Resources is
planning to submit the package of the credit programme during the
autumn session of the Armenian National Assembly.
Moreover, two programmes of the German KfW bank to the tune of 94m
euros are being prepared for the Armenian water supplies company Nor
Akunk that operates in Armavir Region. For the implementation of the
first programme which envisages restoration work in Armavir Region,
the German government will allocate a 14m-euro credit. The second
programme, designed for restoration work in the country’s Lori and
Shirak Regions, will be carried out stage-by-stage. The overall
funding of the programme is 80m euros, and 25m euros will be
channelled into the implementation of the first stage.
Andreasyan said that due to the need for massive work in these areas,
the government of Germany has decided to allocate one third of the 25
euros (about 8m dollars) as a grant.
The security problem in all operating reservoirs will be resolved with
the World Bank’s new credit programme amounting to 7.5m dollars, the
head of the Armenian State Committee for Water Resources, Andranik
Andreasyan, told reporters at the press conference today.
The programme will be a continuation of the already implemented World
Bank programme to maintain security in strategic reservoirs, he
said. Andreasyan also said that a programme of developing irrigation
systems is being prepared at the moment. He said that for the time
being, 54 leading organizations are operating in the country’s
irrigation system, whereas only one big company Dzhirar is engaged in
water supplies.
New tariffs have been established for services in the irrigation
system at present, Andreasyan said. Thus, one cubic metre of
irrigation water in Yerevan is 90 drams and 100 drams outside the
capital. The difference in tariffs is explained by the fact that 45
pumping stations, which consume great amounts of energy, are operating
in rural areas.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
July 13, 2004
CONTACT: Anita P. Kazarian
Noah’s Landing LLC
PO Box 22168
Cleveland, OH 44122
Tel: 216.932.8100
Email: [email protected]
Armenians across America raise money for Armenia’s athletes
By Anita Papazian Kazarian
Many individual Armenians, Armenian organizations and friends of
Armenia are making the world a little smaller – and helping make big
dreams come true for 13 young athletes in Armenia.
They are helping to bring a team to Cleveland from Armenia to play in
the 2004 International Children’s Games (ICG) being held July 30 –
August 2. Last December it was realized that Armenia was not
represented in the 2004 ICG, primarily because of the high cost of
transportation to get here.
By January, the Cleveland Armenian community organized to raise funds
with the initial hope of bringing three teams. Its goal – to remove
financial barriers, set visitors up in both Armenian and non-Armenian
homes after the games conclude, and ensure the visiting team has the
best opportunity to learn about how we can, together, make Armenia a
stronger nation.
“A guest is a gift from God” says an old Armenian proverb, and we
truly believe that” said Dzaghig Pounardjian, the Cultural Co-Champion
for Armenia. According to Mrs. Ara Pounardjian, “the Armenian
children will meet ours, and children from around the world. We know
they will make lifelong friends, maybe one of these friendships will
help bring greater peace in the future.”
The Armenia Team will play in tennis, swimming, track/field, and
gymnastics. All donations to the ICG-Armenia Task Force (PO Box
22168, Cleveland, OH 44122) are tax deductible and will be used solely
to bring the 13 children (ranging in age from 12 to 15), and 4 coaches
to the USA. E-mail [email protected] for a listing of donors and
expenses.
Glendale, California’s team is made up of Armenian children who will
compete in Track/Field and Baseball according to Suzelle Avitsian of
Solon Ohio. She has been working with Glendale head coach Koko
Panossian for the past several months to insure their participation.
“Glendale athletes and coaches have raised their own funds in
California to pay their expenses.” said Mrs. Rafi Avitsian.
Cleveland area Armenians welcome the world to Cleveland, won’t you
join us?
###

ArmenPress
July 9 2004
VAYOTS DZOR PROVINCE TO SHIFT TO GRAVITY FLOW IRRIGATION IN 2006
YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS: Samvel Sarkisian, the governor of the
province of Vayots Dzor, told a news conference today that the
region’s irrigation system will shift in 2006 to what is known as
gravity flow. This will be possible after completing the construction
of two gravity flow irrigation pipelines. The new pipelines will
bring irrigation water to 2,066 hectares of lands of 9 villages which
still use pumping stations to bring it from Kechut water reservoir.
The construction of the new irrigation pipelines, supported by a
$2 million budget is already underway. When accomplished they will
help save some 5 million kilowatt/h electricity. A tender for
construction of another gravity flow irrigation water pipeline that
will take water to three villages of Yeghegis, Aghavnadzor and Yelpin
was announced. The project is backed by an $11 million budget,
provided by World Bank. It will bring water to 4,700 hectares of land
and will save 25 kilowatt/h energy.
The governor said the drinking water network is next in line for a
major repair that is also supposed to be funded by a World Bank loan.

Baku Today
July 7 2004
US Ambassador Visits Nakhchivan
U.S. ambassador Reno Harnish arrived in Azerbaijan’s autonomous
republic of Nakhchivan Tuesday on a two-day visit.
On the first day of the visit, Harnish met with Vasif Talibov,
chairman of the Nakhchivani parliament. The current political and
economic situation in the autonomous republic reportedly topped the
agenda of the meeting.
The U.S. ambassador is also expected to discuss Nakhchivan’s poor
human rights record with the authorities of the autonomous republic.
Local and international rights groups, opposition parties as well as
media representatives complain about violation of basic human rights
and freedoms in Nakhchivan.
Several members of the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), an
alliance of local branches of opposition parties, have been refusing
food since June 21 in protest of police harassments.
Turan reported that Talibov told the U.S. ambassador about reforms
carried out in Nakhchivan over the recent years. Talibov also lamented
that the people of Nakhchivan cannot export their products to other
regions of Azerbaijan because of a 12-year-long blockade by Armenia.