Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Council Of Europe Monitor Ends Fact-Finding Trip To Armenia
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 15/06/2004 01:47
Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
June 15 2004
A representative of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) met Monday with President Robert Kocharian and a string of
other senior Armenian officials to wrap up a fact-finding trip aimed
at assessing Yerevan’s compliance with democratic standards set by
the organization.
Jerzy Jaskiernia, the Armenia rapporteur of the PACE’s Monitoring
Committee, is to draft a report on whether the Kocharian’s
administration is following the recommendations contained in the
assembly’s April 28 resolution on the Armenian political crisis. He
left no indications that the report will be as critical of the
Armenian authorities as the resolution. “We will present our findings
in our report. We don’t like to make any comments during the visit,”
Jaskiernia told reporters when asked to comment on his findings.
But in separate comments on Saturday, the official hinted that the
document’s content is likely to be positive for the authorities. “I
think there is an intention by the government to fulfill that
resolution. Several of its elements have already been fulfilled,”
he said, pointing to the release of all senior members of opposition
parties involved in the three-month campaign against Kocharian.
The PACE resolution deplored the government crackdown launched in
response to that campaign. It warned that the Armenian government must
immediately free all individuals arrested for their participation
in the opposition protests and investigate “human rights abuses”
or face the possibility of PACE sanctions next September.
However, the main focus of Jaskiernia’s meetings in Yerevan was the
idea of a referendum of confidence in Kocharian which was floated by
the Armenian Constitutional Court in the wake of last year’s disputed
presidential election. Government officials reiterated their view that
the proposal was not binding for the executive branch and did not stem
from the country’s constitution. Jaskiernia seemed to agree with them.
The opposition leaders, already enraged by Jaskiernia’s repeated
statements that serious fraud reported during the presidential election
did not affect its outcome, reacted with irritation. “Decisions of
the Constitutional Court are not subject to discussion by Armenian
politicians, let alone Jaskiernia,” one of them, Aram Sarkisian,
told RFE/RL.
Artashes Geghamian, another opposition leader who met with Jaskiernia,
complained that the PACE mainly met with various-level government
officials while in Yerevan, arguing that he could have familiarized
himself with their position without leaving Strasbourg. “I warned
him that if yet another subjective monitoring [of the situation] is
carried out, it will further deepen the socioeconomic and political
crisis in Armenia,” Geghamian said.
The opposition also renewed its allegations that the publication
earlier this month in Yerevan of Jaskiernia’s book about the PACE,
which was sponsored by the Armenian parliament, amounted to a political
kickback which was meant to influence the content of his upcoming
report to the Strasbourg assembly. “I don’t think the Armenian public
couldn’t wait to read the book by the PACE rapporteur,” said Victor
Dallakian of the Artarutyun alliance. “I consider that an example
of corruption.”
Jaskiernia has denied any conflict of interest between his PACE
position and the promotion of his writings. He argues that he had no
material gains from the book’s translation to the Armenian language.

Opposition figure released as rights monitors arrive in Armenia
Associated Press Worldstream
June 12, 2004 Saturday
YEREVAN, Armenia — Authorities in Armenia have released an opposition
leader from jail after European human rights envoys arrived in the
former Soviet republic, a lawyer said Saturday.
Former Defense Minister Vagarshak Arutyunian was released late Friday,
but the case against him has not been closed and he is barred from
leaving the capital Yerevan, his lawyer Robert Grigorian said.
Grigorian said the release came after an appeal from the nation’s
human rights ombudsman, but he noted that it occurred the same day
that two representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe, or PACE, arrived in Armenia for talks on the political
situation and judicial reform.
Arutyunian was arrested during an April 12 protest in which
demonstrators called for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian,
and is accused of attempting to seize power and calling for change
in the country’s constitutional order. Six people arrested during
opposition protests remain jailed, Grigorian said.
Opposition leaders in the small, poverty-plagued Caucasus Mountain
country have organized a series of protests this spring aimed at
forcing the resignation of Kocharian, who won a second term last year
in an election they claim was marred by fraud. The April 12 protest
was forcefully broken up by police.

Trilateral transport consortium may be based in Baku
Azer News, Azerbaijan
June 10 2004
The Azerbaijan State Railway Office told AssA-Irada that the
headquaters of the Azerbaijan-Russia-Iran consortium on the
Gazvin-Rasht-Astara railway may be based in Baku. The railway will
be part of the North-South transport corridor.
Working groups from the three countries are expected to establish the
consortium’s charter fund and work schedule by July 1. The location of
the entity’s headquarters may be determined in a meeting scheduled for
July in Baku. Funds totaling $15 million are required for Azerbaijan
to join the North-South transport corridor. The funds will be spent
on the construction of a 6-km railway connecting Azerbaijan with Iran
and a railway bridge over the Astarachay River.
Construction of the Tehran-Baku railway, which is to link up with
Russia’s railroads, may commence early in 2005. According to the
initial appraisal, $102 million is required for the implementation of
the project, under which 340 kilometers of railway lines in Iran and
Azerbaijan will be built and upgraded. Armenia may enter the project
on the construction of a new railway linking Russia, Azerbaijan and
Iran within the North-South international transport corridor. This
opinion was revealed by Vice Speaker of the Armenian parliament Vaan
Ovannisian, the co-chair of the Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary
commission. Ovannisian said that along with Azerbaijan, India and
Oman are participating in the project. “It is common knowledge that
Azerbaijan is trying to make Armenia withdraw from all transport
and economic programs of regional importance. However, at present,
our partners Russia, Iran and India don’t plan to do so and Armenia
is likely to enter the program,” he noted.

JUDGE COLLABORATES WITH SKINHEADS
A1 Plus | 14:40:40 | 10-06-2004 | Social |
The first instance court of Center, Nork-Marash began considering
case on assault on journalists on Thursday.
The case has been instigated into the incident occurred at the rally
staged by National Unity leader Artashes Geghamyan on April 2, when
skinheads beat media representatives and broke their cameras.
As many as 50 skinheads were present at Thursday’s court session. About
20 of them stood on foyer barring journalists from entering the
courtroom and insulting them. They made insulting remarks toward
Noyan Tapan news agency correspondent Sona Mashouryan and widely
smiling promised “to smash her head”.
Before letting Aykakan Zhamanak newspaper’s editor-in-chief Nikol
Pashinyan and the same newspaper’s correspondent Hayk Grigoryan enter,
the skinheads questioned them who they are and why came here.
When the newspaper representatives passed the first barrier and
eventually entered the courtroom, one skinhead start questioning them
here and asked the judge whether to let them sit down or not.
Nikol Pashinyan said he has nothing to do in the court where skinheads
decide everything and went out.
Many journalists failed to get in session room to hear the case on
the assault on their colleagues and remained outdoors.

UKRAINE IS FOR RESTORATION OF AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
ArmenPress
June 4 2004
KIEV, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS: The president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma,
endorsed Thursday Azerbaijan’s efforts to restore its territorial
integrity and bring Nagorno Karabagh back as soon as possible. At
a joint news conference in Kiev after concluding talks with the
visiting president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, Kuchma said there
were no disagreements in how his government and Azerbaijan evaluate
the situation in the South Caucasus.
“A spade should be called spade. It is a huge tragedy when 750,000
Azeris are forced out of their homes,” he said, adding that Ukraine
has always supported the principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. Kuchma went on to argue that the OSCE Minsk group should
step up its work to help find a peaceful solution to the dispute.
Thanking Kuchma for his support, Aliyev said: “The truth is that
20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory is under Armenian occupation.
Unfortunately, some circles in different countries either do not wish
to notice this truth or wish to render it to oblivion.” He said the
conflict must be resolved based on international laws.

SEPARATIST LEADER SAYS USE OF GEORGIA’S EXPERIENCE IMPOSSIBLE IN KARABAKH
Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan
3 Jun 04
Stepanakert, 3 June: “Azerbaijan will sooner or later be forced to
conduct negotiations with Nagornyy Karabakh despite its attempts
to avoid this,” the president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic,
Arkadiy Gukasyan, has told a briefing.
According to Gukasyan, the repetition of the Georgian scenario
for the settlement of conflicts is impossible in Artsakh (Nagornyy
Karabakh). He expressed his hope that the Azerbaijani authorities
will sooner or later become politically mature for talks with Artsakh.

Book Review: Learn to speak fenugreek
New York Daily News
June 2 2004
Armenian cuisine – which combines the flavors of the Mediterranean with
Persian and Russian cooking – is the subject of an intriguing new book
by Victoria Jenanyan Wise, “The Armenian Table” (St. Martin’s Press,
$29.95). The signature ingredients for this style of cooking are herbs
such as fenu­greek and tarragon, and such seasonings as orange flower
water. To get to know them, the author takes us on a comprehensive
tour of the typical Armenian pantry. First, though, there’s an
interesting chapter on the homelands of the Armenian people, maps and
all, followed by shopping hints and descriptions of frequently used
foods. Wise discusses the assorted extracts, spices, herbs and fresh
produce she uses in her kitchen to turn out such dishes as mussels
in tomato-onion broth, spicy meatballs in tomato-cilantro sauce and
bulgur pilaf with chickpeas and spring onions. A chapter on yogurt
includes instructions on how to make yogurt, called madzoon, and a
variety of drinks such as jajik (yogurt with cucumber), yogurt cheese,
yogurt bechamel and tanabour, a yogurt and barley soup with mint and
parsley. There are some fine recipes here that you’re not likely to
find elsewhere, including a fresh fava bean salad with string cheese
and chive oil, Armenian moussaka with lamb, potatoes and a yogurt
bechamel, and an Armenian rata­touille that’s generously seasoned
with fresh marjoram and paprika. If you’re looking for a new cuisine
to explore, this is very satisfying.

ARMENIAN MPS WILL RETRAIN IN OSCE
A1 Plus | 15:17:03 | 01-06-2004 | Politics |
For the first time in Southern Caucasus OSCE Yerevan Office jointly
with OSCE PA are holding retraining courses for the members and
employees of Armenian, Azeri and Georgian Parliaments.
During presentation of program for retraining the expert staff
of Armenian Parliament OSCE Yerevan Office head Vladimir Pryakhin
informed the aim of the project is to manage the law-making process
in Armenia more efficiently and transparently.
Courses for the experts of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign
Relations, Committee on State and Legal Issues and Committee on
Defense, National Security and Home Affairs are envisaged within
retraining. The courses will be held as interactive seminars.
According to Pryakhin, OSCE experts will focus on reforms of Armenian
Electoral Code and Armenian Constitution.

Haglund Murder: Police, embassy not giving up information in killing of US citizen
By Julia Hakobyan and John Hughes, ArmeniaNow reporters
ArmeniaNow
28 May 2004
After a week of investigation, police are not saying if a motive
has been uncovered in the killing of United States citizen Joshua
Haglund. Police are, however, calling the crime “premeditated murder”.
Haglund, 33, was found with stab wounds in the backyard of his
Yerevan apartment in the evening of May 17. He died of the wounds
while awaiting emergency medical aid. He is believed to be the first
American to be murdered in Armenia.
The U.S. Embassy has not released any information about Haglund,
who was in Yerevan to teach at the Brusov Linguistic University as
part of a U.S. State Department language fellow program.
He was a native of Minnesota, and was scheduled to return there
next month.
Police are investigating Haglund’s personal life, but investigators
and the embassy are being tight lipped about the crime. Meanwhile
rumors swirl, including speculation of a “contract killing”, put
out by someone jealous of Haglund’s attention toward a certain
girl. Others speculate that it was a “hate crime”, carried out by
a person or persons who objected to aspects of Haglund’s personal
life. One rumor even has Haglund as a CIA operative and that the
murder took place on the eve of a departure to Iraq.
In any case, ArmeniaNow has learned that the fatal wounds were
consistent with those often inflicted in so-called “crimes of
passion”. Typically, that means that the attack is more brutal,
suggesting that the perpetrator has been enraged by some conflict
between the two parties.
A theory that Haglund knew his attacker(s) is supported by evidence
from his apartment, where police found three glasses and a recently
opened bottle of wine. Blood stains were also found in the apartment,
suggesting that the confrontation either started or was entirely
centered in Haglund’s home.
Marietta Yeranosyan, who lives in front of the apartment Haglund was
renting, says that the day before the murder there was party at his
home. And when she heard the noises on the day of murder she thought
another party was in progress.
Residents of the building also say that Haglund (who was not fluent
in Armenian) socialized mostly with English-speaking acquaintances.
“We heard several men’s loud voices but it was not clear if it was
a quarrel or just talk, as they were speaking English,” Yeranosyan
said. “Then his door opened as if people left.”
Yeranosyan says her husband was coming home around that time and saw
two men quickly running in different directions.
Yeranosyan believes that Haglund might have been pursuing his
attacker(s) when he collapsed in the yard, around 10:30 p.m.
Elmira Harutyunyan, a neighbor, says Haglund was alive when she and
others found him.
“He was trying to say something, but no one understood it, because he
was speaking English. Then it seemed he showed ‘three’ with fingers
and died,” she says.
Though known in the expatriate community, Haglund’s American
acquaintances are not commenting publicly on the murder, saying
that they are under obligation to restrict comments to the police
investigation.
It is believed that in the hours before his murder, Haglund visited
the Wheel Club, a restaurant and bar popular among expats on the
opposite end of the street where Haglund’s apartment was located.
Haglund’s social life in Armenia included association with members of
Armenia’s gay community. One theory being advanced is that he became
a victim of a “hate crime” based on that association.
Last Sunday, about 100 mourners attended a memorial service for
Haglund at the American University of Armenia.
“I was fascinated with his sensibility and sense of humor. We share
everything, good and bad,” said Amelia Weir, a friend who spoke to
the assembly. “Something that struck me – he was fully present in
this life. He wanted us to be dedicated to what we do.”
Haglund had finished the semester’s lectures at Brusov on the morning
of his murder. His students (though reluctant to give their full names)
characterize him as a kind and respected professor.
“We all were shocked when we learned what happened,” says Silva,
a third-year student of the University. “We completed his course
‘Speaking Skills’. We said goodbye to each other and a few days later
learned he was killed.”
“He was a very qualified professor,” says Arevik, another student. “His
lessons were interesting, he was polite with everyone and never
offended any of us.”
His hometown newspaper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune
() reported that Haglund had lived for extended
periods in Japan, India and Puerto Rico.
His mother, Maxine Haglund-Blommer, told the newspaper that her son
had been offered a job in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and that
he would relocate there after visiting Minnesota.
She said Haglund told her he would take the job in UAE, after which
he would move back to the States to live near his family.

Banking on international adoption: More affordable than it seems
by Sandra E. Martin
National Post (Canada)
May 29, 2004 Saturday National Edition
When blond Deana Wilson goes out with her two dark-haired daughters,
Tia, 6, and Tessa, 21 months, they attract a certain amount of
attention. Much of it is admiring; some of it is annoying.
Upon learning that Ms. Wilson’s children were both adopted from China
— Tia in 1998 and Tessa last July — curious strangers often comment:
“Oh, my God, that must have been so expensive!”
Her response is swift and pithy: “I’m thinking, you know what? So’s
your car. How do you put a price on a baby?
“Ever since we got Tia — I’m always blown away by how much I love
her. And now Tessa, too.”
For Ms. Wilson, her husband, Jeff, and the approximately 20,000 other
Canadian families who’ve adopted children from abroad over the past
decade, the financial outlay involved — which, depending on the
country, can top $30,000 — is the best investment they ever made.
And to couples who are considering international adoption, but may
be intimidated by the cost, Ms. Wilson and others who’ve already
been through the process assure that it’s much more affordable than
it seems.
For starters, you don’t need to have the full amount up front.
“The thing that people don’t realize is it’s all done in stages. It’s
not like you go to an agency and hand them $20,000,” says Kathleen
Dennis of Toronto, who adopted a little girl from China’s Guangzhou
province last year.
Fellow Torontonian Ruth Hatch, who adopted a baby boy from Armenia in
2001, and has already started the process for a second adoption, agrees
the staggered payments take the shock out of the financial equation.
“It was split up in four chunks, which was pretty manageable,”
she recalls.
The process of international adoption begins with a home study, which
is performed by a social worker over the course of several months.
It’s mandatory and costs $900 to $1,800, depending on where you live.
The idea is to assess your suitability as an adoptive parent, check
out your home, and help you figure out which countries would be the
best fit.
Although Ms. Dennis and her husband, John Slama, had been considering
both Haiti and China, ultimately, the choice was clear.
“We just had a gut feeling about China. We felt an affinity, being in
downtown Toronto, having Chinese neighbours, being around Chinatown
a lot,” Ms. Dennis recalls.
Ms. Wilson, who lives west of Toronto in Burlington, Ont., says China
is also a good choice because the adoption process is well-established
and very smooth. “It’s a guaranteed thing,” is how she puts it.
In addition, Ms. Wilson had heard rumours about hidden fees for
adoptions in other countries, such as Guatemala (which is now closed
to international adoption), and didn’t want any surprises. “Nobody
was going to get us there and tell us we owed another four grand,”
she says.
China can also be more affordable than other countries, because
adoptive parents are allowed to bring their children home almost
immediately, keeping travel costs to a minimum.
Ms. Dennis and Mr. Slama saved even more money, thanks to the
generosity of well-travelled friends who “bought” their airfare to
China with spare Aeroplan points. The couple’s only travel expense
was $300 in ticket transfer fees. Return airfare for the two of them,
plus a one-way ticket to Canada for daughter Annie, would have cost
about $5,000.
But in the Ukraine, for instance, there’s a wait of up to six weeks
between your acceptance of a child, and when you can take him home.
Because both parents must appear in court initially, that generally
requires two return trips from Canada, potentially doubling the cost
of airfare and accommodations.
According to Darla Penner, executive director of Ukrainian Adoption
Services in Manitoba, some couples spare themselves the cost of a
second trip by arranging for one of them to stick around until the
adoption is finalized, while the other goes back to work. (Both
adoptive parents must be present initially.)
Occasionally, adoptive parents who are dealing with two-trip situations
catch a break from a compassionate judge who waives the waiting period.
That was the case with Amanda and Sean Moriarty, who got their
daughter, Maggie, from the Ukraine last September. From an emotional,
as well as a financial perspective, it was a good thing, too. Having
met Maggie, and visiting with her at the orphanage for two hours, twice
a day, Ms. Moriarty says, “There was no way I could leave her there.”
Many couples who pursue international adoptions have already either
looked into or tried fertility treatments, which can quickly eat up
tens of thousands of dollars — so they aren’t shocked by the cost
of adopting abroad.
To put the dollars and cents into perspective, a single in-vitro
fertilization attempt costs $6,500 to $8,000, including drugs. After
four failed attempts, you’ve already overshot most international
adoption budgets.
Ms. Wilson, who had tried different fertility drugs and a single
course of IVF before committing to the adoption process, says: “I
don’t agree with wasting all this money [on fertility treatments]. I
just want to be a mother, and I don’t care how I get there.”
She and her husband had saved some money before embarking on their
first adoption. But, like many parents who choose international
adoption, they looked to their bank for help.
“Financially, it’s been tough,” says Ms. Wilson, who is now working
part-time; her husband is a dispatch manager for a transportation
company. “We maxed everything out when we did the first adoption. We
maxed out the line of credit, we maxed out the credit card.”
Regardless of the expense, they had such a wonderful experience
raising Tia that they began to talk about returning to China —
if they were able to come up with the money.
Fate intervened. Jeff’s grandmother, with whom he was extremely close,
passed away. He was broken up by the loss, but also extremely grateful
for the fact that she had left him enough money to cover about half
the cost of a second adoption. “It was kind of helping to pay off
Tia’s adoption and a downpayment on the second one,” Ms. Wilson
says. For the remainder, they again drew on the equity in their home.
“If we didn’t go into debt over this,” she says frankly, “we would
have gone into debt over something else.”
According to Maria Racanelli, vice-president of personal and commercial
banking at BMO Bank of Montreal, the Wilsons’ financing strategy is
a sound one.
She says a line of credit, secured by a large asset such as your home,
offers the best rates and flexibility for people who are anticipating
a foreign adoption.
Because you only pay interest on the portion of your credit limit that
you’re currently using, a line of credit usually ends up costing less
to service than a loan, for which you pay interest on the full amount,
right from the start.
The Moriartys, who had managed to save $10,000, financed the remaining
$18,000 or so of their costs with a loan designed especially for
adoptive parents, from National Bank of Canada.
With a low, variable interest rate of prime plus 0.75%, and the option
of taking up to 15 years to repay, the loan is “very manageable,”
says Ms. Moriarty, whose monthly payments are in the neighborhood
of $220 — less than the cost of carrying a car loan. She and her
husband are also free to make extra payments whenever they choose,
allowing them to reduce the principal faster.
If you’re thinking about adopting internationally, talk to your
employer; some have begun to provide parental-leave top-ups similar
to those for biological parents. Bank of Montreal, for instance,
provides a small income during the two-week waiting period for
government benefits, then tops up those benefits for four weeks,
to a total of 95% of the employee’s gross weekly pay.
You might also consider writing a letter or two to the federal Finance
Committee, which is currently reviewing Bill C-246, a proposal for
income-tax deductions for adoption expenses of up to $7,000. After
dying several times in the past several years, the Bill was finally
passed by a 168 to 50 vote last month, but isn’t out of the woods yet.
Quebec residents can already avail themselves of a provincial tax
credit of up to $6,000 per child.
Not that the availability of tax credits and top-ups would have made
a whit of difference to any of these parents’ decision to adopt.
Kathleen Dennis still gets emotional when she thinks about how much
Annie has brought to her and her husband’s lives.
She recalls that while they were travelling with Annie in China, many
locals smiled at them, calling their new daughter a lucky baby. “We
would say, ‘we’re the lucky ones.'”
COST TIMELINE:
A chronological breakdown of major expenses:
– Home study: $900 to $1,800
– Agency fees, first instalment: $1,750 to $2,750
– Travel and accommodation: $5,000+
– Foreign/program fees: US$5,000 to US$15,000
– Orphanage donation: varies
– Agency fees, second instalment: $1,750 to $2,750
– Extras: $100 immigration fee; $250 post-adoption assessment; $925
fee for Ontario residents
– Total: $20,000 to $40,000
Sources: and Financial Post
GRAPHIC: Color Photo: Peter Redman, National Post; Deana and Jeff
Wilson with their daughters, Tessa, 21 months, and Tia, six years old,
at their Burlington, Ont. home.