Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

RUSSIAN COMPANY MODERNIZING ALUMINIUM PLANT IN ARMENIA
Mediamax news agency
16 Aug 04
YEREVAN
“Armenal will become the best plant in Europe for the rolling and
production of aluminium foil.”
This is what the deputy general director of the Russian company Rusal,
Aleksandr Livshits, said today in Yerevan at a briefing on his meeting
with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Mediamax reports. Rusal owns
the Armenal enterprise, set up on the basis of Yerevan’s Kanaker
aluminium plant.
Aleksandr Livshits said that 70m dollars would be invested in
modernizing Armenal. Of this, 50m is provided by credits from a group
of German banks and 20m is invested directly by Rusal.
In 2002, Armenal produced 5,500 t of aluminium foil and in 2003 9,000
t. Livshits said that after modernization the annual volume of foil
production would reach 25,000 t.
Rusal’s deputy general director said that Armenal’s modernization
would be finished by 2005.

Capital News 9, NY
Aug 15 2004
Church holds Armenian Festival
It was a festival of tradition and culture in Watervliet Sunday.
St. Peter’s Armenian Church held its annual Armenian Festival. The
church has been a staple of the community for more than 100 years and
enjoys sharing their food, music and heritage with the Capital
Region.
Bob Meeson, Parish Council Chairman, said, “We all come together to
enjoy Armenian food, dance and music, and for a good cause — it
helps us keep our church growing and alive.”
A Penny Social Auction was also held to raise funds. Local merchants
and members of the parish donated items that were auctioned off to
those in attendance. The proceeds are going toward building a new
addition to the church.

Pasadena Star-News, CA
Aug 16 2004
Church blesses grapes
Father Nareg Pehlivanian performs a blessing of the grapes at Saint
Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Pasadena on Sunday. The ceremony
took place in celebration of an Aug. 15 feast day honoring the
assumption of St. Mary into heaven. Roza Balyon and Knarik
Chaparioin, bottom left, grab a bag of blessed grapes at the Pasadena
church. The blessing of the grapes, a fruit used to make wine, is
symbolic in the church as the blood of Jesus. Nevait Der Ohanessiam
of Pasadena buys nuts from Kevork Babasan, bottom right, at the
church’s street fair to celebrate the Blessing of the Grapes festival
Sunday.

TOP NKR OFFICER WARNS AZERBAIJAN AGAINST RESUMING HOSTILITIES
Arminfo, Yerevan
7 Aug 04
STEPANAKERT
“There is no need to pay attention to Baku’s threats regarding a
military solution to the Karabakh problem. If the hostilities resume,
Azerbaijan will sustain serious losses,” Movses Akopyan, chief of the
general staff of the defence army of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
(NKR), said in an interview with the republican newspaper Azat
Artsakh.
He said that the NKR defence army is getting stronger year by year.
Large-scale exercises which involve the entire personnel and are meant
to increase the combat readiness of the troops and learn the resources
of the army reserve are under way at the moment. Work is under way to
improve engineering installations. At the same time, the Karabakh army
chief of staff pointed out that the situation on the contact line
between the armed forces of Nagornyy Karabakh and Azerbaijan remains
tense – the war of snipers and sabotage-reconnaissance groups is
continuing.

Zaman, Turkey
Aug 7 2004
ETYEN MAHCUPYAN
Which Armenian Issue?
During Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s tour of France, one of
the most anticipated meetings was the one with Socialist Party leader
Francois Hollande.
Because in previous statements, the party had emphasized that it
expected the Armenian issue to be taken up in the human rights
context. It seems that the prime minister’s visit did not change the
other side’s expectation. In other words, the French Socialist Party
wants Turkey to make a gesture concerning the events that happened in
1915, which perhaps will not even necessitate a debate on “genocide.”
That is to say, it wants Turkey to accept that these events took
place. On the other side, it is obvious that there is no such
condition in terms of the Copenhagen Criteria because these criteria
were determined collectively for all the countries concerned.
Therefore, handling specific historical, geographical or cultural
problems of countries in the “human rights” context, could turn into
a sort of psychological condition according to the disposition of the
person or institution dealing with the issue. This is extremely
natural because European Union (EU) membership is both a legal and
political issue; and the political aspect of the issue cannot be
independent of the perceptions, expectations and domestic policies of
the societies.
However, this situation causes historical events, like those in 1915,
to be protracted and become a natural part of today’s politics.
Hence, many different Armenian issues surface… Today, European Union
(EU) institutions, the Armenian diaspora, Armenia, the government of
the Turkish Republic as well as the state, and finally, the Armenian
congregation in Turkey, all have different perceptions of the
“Armenian issue,” and the political functions and meanings of these
approaches may differ from one other. Therefore, the critical point
is how to shape the required strategy that will make Turkey play an
active role both in the EU process and in its own geography. Here,
three important factors come to the fore: The first one is naturally
Turkey’s own objectives, its responsibility before its own eyes and
its position before its own society. The second point is what the
right attitude should be when looking forward in light of the
globalization process in the world. And the third is to what extent
honesty over historical facts would be adopted…
Such an analysis cannot arise independently of the mentality you
possess; however, if being active in the future world is desired,
then the probable mentality of the future needs to be shared. What
this implies is that a solution to the Armenian problem needs to be
sought with a democratic mentality. Above all, this approach implies
being open to talks, and basically, Turkey talking to itself. For
example, the fact that Turkish historians with different approaches,
still cannot come together on the same platform, is an attitude that
implies that they are dodging the truths. Turkey taking this
[positive] step will bring two advantages: On one side, “a moment to
take a breath,” that will ensure the elimination of accusations
reflected from “abroad” will be gained, and the depression caused by
the “illegitimate” attitude carried out so far will be eradicated. On
the other side, Turkey will be able to come closer to some of the
“different Armenian issues” hovering around, it will particularly be
able to bring to the agenda different aspects of this event thanks to
approaches that will include Armenians living in Turkey and various
coalitions.
The distinguishing aspect of the “genocide” concept kills the debate
and makes the quest of living together more difficult. However, it is
necessary to see that the logic of mutual conflict, that reaches the
point of rejecting historical events, will not benefit any of the
sides. The Turkish Republic overlooking this fact is a burden too
heavy to bear before the international community.
Aug 6, 2004

Armenian war veterans continue sit-in outside government building
Noyan Tapan news agency
5 Aug 04
YEREVAN
A sit-in of 20 azatamartiks freedom fighters – members of nine units
of the Artsakh Armenian name of Nagornyy Karabakh liberation movement,
which started on 3 August at Yerablur monument to martyrs in Yerevan ,
continued outside the Armenian government building at 0900 0400 gmt on
4 August. We should recall that the government is the addressee of
the protesters’ main demand: to allocate funds to provide their
families with flats.
A Noyan Tapan correspondent has learnt from the leader of the Armenian
Aryan Union, Armen Avetisyan, that representatives of the Defence
Ministry visited the protesters on the first day of their action.
Passage omitted: Background details

Associated Press
Aug 3 2004
Iraqi Christians slowly fleeing to Syria
Pressure from Islamists forcing minority out, exiles say
SALIM ABRAHAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAMASCUS, Syria – In small but steady numbers, Iraqi Christians are
moving to Syria to escape the threats and violence of Islamic
extremists, say Iraqi Christian exiles.
“The religious and ethnic pressure on us is tremendous,” said
Shamasha Muayad Shamoun Georges, 45, a deacon of the Chaldean Solaqa
Church in Baghdad, who fled to Syria two weeks ago with his wife and
five children.
Georges said the pressure comes from “Muslim extremists,” not from
the interim Iraqi government, which has a Christian as minister of
immigration and refugees.
During Sunday evening mass, suspected Islamic militants set off a
series of explosions at five churches in Baghdad and the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul, killing at least seven people and wounding
dozens. It was the first major assault on Iraq’s Christian minority
since the Iraqi war began last year.
Christians number about 750,000 people among Iraq’s total population
of about 25 million. They include the Chaldean-Assyrians, the
majority sect, Armenians – one of whose churches was bombed on
Sunday, Syrian Catholics and Syrian Orthodox.
Islamic militants have told Christian owners of liquor stores to
close down their businesses, and they have threatened Christians who
run beauty salons and shops selling fashionable clothes.
Georges said he does not expect such pressure to end soon.
Another Iraqi Christian in Syria, Jacqueline Isho, said that when
Christians complain to the authorities in Iraq, they are “always
ignored.”
“Some police sympathize with, or support, those Islamists and gangs,”
Isho said.
Scores of Iraqi Christian families move to Syria and Jordan every
day, according to Emanuel Khoshaba, a representative of the Iraqi
Assyrian Democratic Movement in Syria.
Khoshaba said there are now 10,000 Iraqi Christians in Syria, and 90
percent of them arrived after the Iraqi war began in March last year.
Such figures could not be confirmed with government officials as
Syrian and Jordanian immigration forms do not ask a person’s
religion.
“I have run away because gangs kept on threatening me,” said Adeeb
Goga Matti, 48, who belongs to a wealthy Chaldean-Assyrian family in
Baghdad.
He said his 10-year-old nephew, Patrous Yakou, was kidnapped at the
end of 2003 and released only after his family paid a ransom of
$15,000 (U.S.).
After the kidnapping, Matti stopped sending his four children to
school.
“Chaldean-Assyrians are the easiest targets for gangsters because
they don’t belong to a tribal system like other Iraqis,” Matti
stressed. Muslim Iraqis tend to belong to clans who rally round and
protect their members.
Matti is in Damascus applying for a visa to Australia. Iraqi
Christians in Syria are also applying to emigrate to Canada, the
United States and other Western countries.
Albert Sargon, 24, and his wife, Suhat, 26, left Iraq last month.
“I ran away from threatening messages sent by Islamists because I was
working as a cook for Americans,” Sargon said.
He and his wife do not plan to return.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Xinhua, China
Aug 2 2004
French Casoni named Armenia coach

PARIS, Aug. 1 (Xinhuanet) — Former French international defender
Bernard Casoni has been named as coach of Armenia.
Casoni, 43, said he had signed a one-year contract with the
Armenian football federation.
Casoni, who has previously coached Marseille from 1999-2000,
Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel and Cannes, will be assisted by fellow
former international and close friend Bernard Pardo.
Casoni heads to Armenia on Thursday for preparations for the
national team’s first qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup, a game
against Macedonia on August 18. Armenia is currently ranked 118th in
FIFA’s world rankings. Enditem
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

La Tribune
30 juillet 2004
EN ROUTE POUR L’AVENTURE
Un choix de bonnes bandes dessinées pour des voyages dans le temps et
dans l’espace. Aventures assurées.
“Les Mille et Une Nuits”, version noire
Nous sommes à Bagdad, en l’an 808, sous le règne du calife Haroun
al-Rashid. La très discrète corporation des chercheurs de trésor
représente à peu près tous les peuples et religions du Moyen-Orient.
On y trouve un juif, bourreau du calife, un voleur chiite, un médecin
arménien, etc. Le mystère auquel elle s’attaque est terrifiant :
certaines personnes perdent leur ombre. Il ne faut pas longtemps aux
chercheurs de trésor pour comprendre que le coupable est le prophète
voilé, dont personne n’a jamais vu le visage, et qui fut tué jadis
dans une grande bataille. Sauf qu’il n’est pas vraiment mort (sans
être réellement vivant, d’ailleurs), et qu’il veut désormais se
venger.
Dans cette histoire folle, on croise démons et génies, un fantôme et
l’ange de la mort. Ainsi d’ailleurs que la favorite du calife et son
bébé. On plonge surtout dans une atmosphère envoûtante, nourrie de
l’ensemble des contes, légendes et mythes des Mille et Une Nuits, en
version plutôt noire.
Ce récit délirant est servi par une virtuosité graphique
époustouflante. Le dessin faussement naïf de David B. évoque parfois
les BD les plus enfantines, tout en livrant des images à couper le
souffle avec un étonnant travail sur les ombres et les couleurs.
L’auteur n’hésite pas à rompre avec tous les codes de la BD pour
donner des planches à la mise en pages complètement éclatée où la
lecture se fait parfois circulaire et où l’on retrouve le style des
miniatures persanes.
“Les Chercheurs de trésor”. Tome 1, l’Ombre de Dieu et tome 2, la
Ville froide, par David B. Dargaud. 9,45 euros le volume.
La quête des origines, dans le New York du XIXe siècle
Situé en 1879, ce récit met en scène un jeune Anglais qui débarque
aux Amériques à la recherche de ses origines partiellement indiennes.
Dans un New York de la fin du XIXe siècle parfaitement reconstitué,
il se trouve rapidement mêlé aux trafics des gangs locaux et recruté
en parallèle par la police fédérale. De facture classique, ce premier
tome est prometteur de par la personnalité hors norme de son héros, à
cheval entre deux mondes et deux cultures. On attend la suite.
“Ethan Ringler, agent fédéral.” Tome 1, Tecumska, par Gilles Mezzomo
et Denis-Pierre Filippi. Dupuis, 9,50 euros.
Deux visions de l’Amérique latine
D’un côté, Medellin en Colombie, l’enfer de la drogue et des mafias.
Tel est la toile de fond de Cuervos, une série centrée sur les
enfants recrutés comme tueurs à gage par les trafiquants. Violent et
impossible à lcher.
De l’autre, le Nicaragua, pendant la dictature de Somoza. Le jeune
séminariste de bonne famille de Muchacho découvre les réalités
sociales et la répression dans un village perdu. Beau et émouvant.
“Cuervos.” Tome 1, le Contrat et tome 2, Sicaires de la sainte Coke,
par Richard Marazano et Michel Durand. Glénat, 12 euros le volume.
“Muchacho.” Tome 1, par Emmanuel Lepage. Dupuis, 12,94 euros.
Road-movie dans le Lot
Comment la rencontre d’un jeune auto-stoppeur conduit un paisible
bouquiniste à se retrouver aux prises avec des tueurs à la Tontons
flingueurs. Une aventure parfaitement loufoque dans la France
profonde…
“Blues 46.” Tome 1, la Chanson de septembre, par Laurent Moënard et
Eric Stalner. Dargaud, 13 euros.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:

PRESS RELEASE
27 July 2004
Foreign Minister Oskanian Meets With Ambassador Janez Lenarcic of
Slovenia, Incoming Chairman of OSCE Permanent Council
On 26 July, Minister Oskanian received Ambassador Janez Lenarcic,
Slovenia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE. Slovenia assumes the
chairmanship of the OSCE in 2005 and Lenarcic, as Incoming Chairman of
the OSCE Permanent Council was on a get-acquainted visit to Armenia
and the region.
In view of Slovenia’s imminent OSCE chairmanship next year, Ambassador
Lenarcic requested that Foreign Minister Oskanian share Armenia’s
views on cooperation with and within the OSCE. The Minister stressed
that the OSCE is an important organization for Armenia, both as a
supporter of democratization efforts, and in its support of media, of
the government’s anti-corruption strategy and in other civic
programs. The Minister spoke about the useful and effective role of
the OSCE Yerevan office in these programs.
The Foreign Minister also commented on the recent declaration by CIS
member countries on the need for OSCE reform, for greater transparency
and inclusivity, and pointed out that Armenia’s Permanent Mission in
Vienna repeatedly raises this issue with the OSCE leadership.
At the same time, both parties stressed that the OSCE, as the forum
within which the OSCE Minsk Group operates, is very important in its
role in conflict resolution and peace building. The parties exchanged
opinions on the various directions and areas of OSCE operations in
terms of their relevance to regions in transition, specifically the
South Caucasus.
Minister Oskanian also informed Ambassador Lenarcic on the latest
developments with the Nagorno Karabagh conflict settlement process as
well as Armenia-Turkey relations.
Ambassador Lenarcic was accompanied by Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhyn,
Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office, and Ambassador Andrej Kasprzyk,
Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman for the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict.