Author: Zakarian Garnik

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN ADDRESS ISSUE OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH IN UN DEBATE

NewsBlaze, CA
Sept 27 2006

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on the fifth day of
its annual high-level debate, the foreign ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan expressed their views on the Nagorno-Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Monday that "the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh chose long ago not to be represented by the
Government of Azerbaijan. They were the victims of state violence, they
defended themselves, and succeeded against great odds, only to hear
the State cry foul and claim sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Mr. Oskanian said that last December Azerbaijan destroyed or removed
thousands of hand-sculpted mediaeval Armenian tombstones.

"Such destruction, in an area with no Armenians, at a distance from
Nagorno-Karabakh and any conflict areas, is a callous demonstration
that Azerbaijan’s attitude towards tolerance, human values, cultural
treasures, cooperation or even peace, has not changed."

He added that "one cannot blame us for thinking that Azerbaijan is
not ready or interested in a negotiated peace."

Elmar Mammadyarov, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, told the Assembly
that a recent joint environmental operation between the two countries
to tackle major fires inside Nagorno-Karabakh has been "the only
positive development so far."

"The occupying forces have to withdraw from the occupied territories
and necessary conditions have to be in place to allow secure
and dignified return of the Azerbaijani displaced persons to the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding territories of Azerbaijan,"
he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s status can only be defined "through peaceful,
democratic and legal process with direct participation and consent
of both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities," he said, adding
that the region’s economic development must be strengthened and its
inter-communal relations enhanced.

But "it is difficult to hope for a breakthrough in the negotiations
when Armenia rejects face-to-face meetings and refuses to take a
constructive approach to solve existing problems."

ARMENIAN SOLDIER ‘KILLED BY AZERI SNIPER’

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 25 2006

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Monday that an Azerbaijani sniper
had killed an Armenian soldier.

Warrant officer Garnik Melian was fatally shot in the chest Saturday
near the Armenian city of Ijevan in what the ministry called an
Azerbaijani cease-fire violation.

The two countries are at odds over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an
ethnic Armenian territory inside Azerbaijan. A cease-fire agreement was
reached in 1994 after six years of fighting, and the territory is now
under the control of ethnic Armenians, whose troops face Azerbaijani
forces across a half-mile-wide (kilometer-wide) no man’s land.

Clashes break out sporadically along the tense border, and the
countries’ presidents have traded increasingly bellicose statements.

LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER INVITED BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Sept 24 2006

Following the recent visit of Josep Borrell, President of the European
Parliament (EP), to Lebanon, Fouad Siniora, Lebanese Prime Minister,
will address a meeting of leaders of the political groups in the EP
on Wednesday in Strasbourg.

When visiting Beirut, Borrell stressed EP’s support for a" sustainable
peace" in the region.

Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Darfur, secret CIA prisons, EU-India
relations and nanosciences and nanotechnologies are some of the other
issues the EP will discuss during its full session in Strasbourg
starting on Monday.

On Turkey, the Socialist group in the EP – the parliament’s second
biggest bloc – is concerned about the draft report which the EP’s
foreign affairs committee has approved.

The report on Turkey demands that Ankara must recognise the" Armenian
genocide" as a precondition for EU entry.

Heated discussion is expected during the debate on Turkey in the EP
on Tuesday followed by a vote on the report Wednesday.

Armenia can become regional IT-center

REGNUM
September 21, 2006

Investments into Armenian information technologies sphere have been
considerably increasing for last several years; it is stressed in
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan’s address to participants
of the international ‘Innovative Information and Telecommunication
Technologies-2006′ Conference, which opened in Yerevan.

As REGNUM is told at the governmental press office, it is stressed in
the premier’s message that share of IT-sphere totals 1.7% in country’s
GDP. "New educational and training programs have been introduced
at republican schools and universities; regional training centers
have been founded. All that demonstrates that Armenia has sufficient
potential to become regional center of information technologies,"
Mr. Margaryan stated. According to him, Armenian information
technologies’ sphere is presented in a broader and more efficient
way at international scene after a number of years. "Annual Digitec
Exhibition of Information and Telecommunication Technologies in
Yerevan has become traditional," the Armenian premier added.

The conference has been organized by Enterprises’ Incubator Foundation;
it is held in framework of Armenia-Diaspora Forum. Specialists of
Armenian IT-Companies, as well as representatives of such world majors
like Microsoft, Alcatel, Sun Microsystems attend the conference.

–Boundary_(ID_Mkw0FTOYsccBszUxO4T0yQ )
Content-type: message/rfc822; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-description:

From: Sebouh Z Tashjian <[email protected]>
Subject: Armenia can become regional IT-center
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT

REGNUM
September 21, 2006

Armenia can become regional IT-center

Investments into Armenian information technologies
sphere have been considerably increasing for last
several years; it is stressed in Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan?s address to participants
of the international ?Innovative Information and
Telecommunication Technologies-2006? Conference, which
opened in Yerevan.

As REGNUM is told at the governmental press office, it
is stressed in the premier?s message that share of
IT-sphere totals 1.7% in country?s GDP. ?New
educational and training programs have been introduced
at republican schools and universities; regional
training centers have been founded. All that
demonstrates that Armenia has sufficient potential to
become regional center of information technologies,?
Mr. Margaryan stated. According to him, Armenian
information technologies? sphere is presented in a
broader and more efficient way at international scene
after a number of years. ?Annual Digitec Exhibition of
Information and Telecommunication Technologies in
Yerevan has become traditional,? the Armenian premier
added.

The conference has been organized by Enterprises?
Incubator Foundation; it is held in framework of
Armenia-Diaspora Forum. Specialists of Armenian
IT-Companies, as well as representatives of such world
majors like Microsoft, Alcatel, Sun Microsystems
attend the conference.

___________________________________________ _________
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–Boundary_(ID_Mkw0FTOYsccBszUxO4T0yQ)–

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.09.2006 13:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
demands time to let Armenia determine the notion of security for
the people of RA and NKR, said Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson
of the European Armenian Federation (EAFJD) in an interview with
PanARMENAIN.Net. In her words, Armenia’s position should be tough and
fundamental. "The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict demands
time to let Armenia determine the notion of security for the people
of RA and NKR and understand what we can expect if we return just
a single region that forms the NKR security belt. In this view the
responsibility lies on the Armenian authorities, who should realize
every step undertaken for the conflict settlement," she underscored.

STATEMENT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AT FORUM
Author: R.Agayev

Trend
Today 19.09.2006

"Armenia-Diaspora" is intended for Armenian Public and Diaspora –
Russian Politician

The recent statement made by the Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
at the Forum "Armenia-diaspora" has been intended primarily for the
Armenian people and the Armenian diaspora, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief
of Russian "Kommersant" Newspaper, Politician Azer Mursaliyev
exclusively told Trend.

"Simply he regards himself as a patriot, a man who always protects
national interests. It is clear that at present Armenia is deeply
involved politically. It is unclear that Kocharyan will hold the power.

Meanwhile a fight for power has begun, and I think that these
statements have been implied firstly for the internal auditorium,
especially at the meeting with diasporas," Mursaliyev said, adding that
"to gain the sympathy of diasporas, with such statements, Kocharyan
demonstrates that only he is capable of protecting national interests".

Answering the question regarding the results of the referendum in
Pridnestrov, Mursaliyev stressed that the voting demonstrated a small
solidarity of population for unrecognized education. "On the other
hand, the referendum is a tool for pressure on the other side of the
conflict. Initially all international organizations announced the
referendum as illegal. For instance, the same referendums are held
in South Osetia through the same scheme and results," he emphasized.

Touching on Nagorno-Karabakh, the politician spelled out that various
types of referendums have already been held there. "From juridical
standpoint, all of them are simply insignificant. Each referendum
is considered illegal. And the visit of several foreigners may not
demonstrate the seriousness of the legal results of the referendum,"
Mursaliyev concluded.

ERDOGAN WANTS TURKIC WORLD TO BECOME INTERNATIONAL POLITICS CENTER

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.09.2006 16:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Turkic world will become center and initial
point for all major events of the world politics. The geographic and
historical legacy of our countries demands that," Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan stated at the 10th Congress of Turkic States.

In his words, "Turkic-speaking world from the strategic, economic
and cultural points of view comprises large space." "We should know
that we have only two choices. We will either be the center of world
events or one of the many figures. Maybe, other countries have a third
choice. However, we do not have it. There is no doubt that core events
of the world develop exactly in our geography," Erdogan concluded.

Turkish Daily News
September 14, 2006 Thursday

TURK-AMERICAN CANDIDATE LOSES PRIMARY FOR HOUSE SEAT

Osman "Oz" Bengur, the only Turkish-American seeking to win a seat in
the House of Representatives in November’s congressional elections,
lost the Democratic Party’s primary in Maryland’s third district on
Tuesday

After counting was complete in more than 63 percent of the precincts,
Bengur was able to garner only about 4 percent of the vote, coming
sixth in a tight race involving eight candidates. He was competing in
Maryland’s largest district, including the capital Annapolis and
Baltimore, the state’s largest and most important city and a key
commercial port

John Sarbanes, a Greek-American and son of Maryland’s senior
Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes, was leading the Democratic primary
with nearly 31 percent of the vote as counting was continuing on
early Wednesday

Peter Beilenson, a former health commissioner in Baltimore, was a
strong runner-up with 25 percent after more than 63 percent of the
votes were counted

The elder Sarbanes, who has been championing Greek, Greek Cypriot and
Armenian causes against Turkey in Congress for decades, has already
announced that he will not seek re-election in November.

This was Bengur’s second loss in four years in his pursuit to become
the first Turkish-American to enter Congress. This time his
performance was worse than in 2002, when he narrowly lost the
Democratic primary in the same district

Like in 2002, the area’s small Turkish-American community supported
Bengur, but his efforts to draw a larger backing apparently failed.

Bengur, 57, is the grandson of Turkish immigrants who arrived in the
United States in the 1920s. He had served as treasurer of the
Maryland Democratic Party

Bengur, whose son Noah, a Marine captain and fighter pilot recently
fought in Iraq, has sought to boost his chances by bashing Republican
President George W. Bush’s Iraq policies. But other Democratic
contenders also had similar strategies

One-third of the Senate, Congress’ upper chamber, and the whole of
the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, will be renewed in
the November elections.

The Republican Party presently has command of both congressional
chambers, but following a steep drop in Bush’s public support because
of the unpopular Iraq war and a poor government response during and
after last year’s hurricane Katrina, the Democratic Party is likely
to regain majority in the House in November, many political observers
suggest

Maryland’s third district is viewed as a Democratic bastion, so the
winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, most likely to be the younger
Sarbanes, is expected to defeat the Republican rival and grab the
House seat in November.

John White was leading the Republican primary in the same district
with 38 percent of the vote.

A native of Maryland, Bengur is a graduate of public schools in
Montgomery County, Maryland and Washington, D.C. He graduated from
Princeton University and holds a graduate degree in criminology from
Cambridge University. He lives in Towson, Maryland.

A1+

MODESTY ADORNS THEM
[03:52 pm] 15 September, 2006

`It is better for an oligarch to privatize an electoral area than a
whole party’, says Vahram Baghdasaryan, who has been elected deputy
from Vanadzor by the majority system.

He is against the 100% proportional system. According to him, if the
political agreement is violated and a similar draft is put to
discussion, he will introduce another draft which offers the
correlation 75/56 in the Parliament. The deputy wonders how a country
which did not have an electoral system for 70 years can pass on to the
proportional system at once.

According to Baghdasaryan, the electors do not know the majority of
those whose candidacy was put forward by the party rolls. He said that
the 70% of the legislative initiatives in the Parliament are taken by
deputies elected by the majority system.

Vahram Baghdasaryan who is member of the initiative group of the party
«Unity for the Sake of Armenia» thinks that they do not found a new
party; they `revive the old’. The party will decide during its October
referendum if they will participate in the coming Parliamentary
elections or not.

According to Vahram Baghdasaryan, the party has 37 000 members, as
`they are modest and do not like talking much’.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Government House # 2, Republic Square
Yerevan 0010, Republic of Armenia
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

INFORM ATION FOR JOURNALISTS

14-09-2006

Vladimir Karapetian, Acting Head of Press and Information Department,
Responds to ‘Armenpress’ News Agency

Question: How does Armenia assess yesterday’s initiative by GUAM, and the
vote that followed, to place protracted conflicts on the agenda of the UN
General Assembly?

Answer: Armenia accepts and respects the right of each country to present a
question or an agenda item at the UN. Although this particular item has
reached the General Assembly Agenda according to UN procedures, however the
fact that the UN General Committee rejected this initiative and that the
item passed into the General Assembly with a mere 16 in favor, 15 against,
clearly indicates the mood of the international community.

The initiative has been presented by GUAM, of which Azerbaijan is a part.
The fact that Azerbaijan has presented such an initiative in such a forum is
evidence again that Azerbaijan is backing down from the right of
self-determination identified in the last version of the negotiating
document that the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have put on the table,
as well as from discussions surrounding the right of Nagorno Karabakh to
determine its status through a referendum.

On the other hand, if Azerbaijan’s purpose is to delay and postpone the
settlement process within the OSCE framework with the intention of later
transferring that process to other forums, that is categorically
unacceptable for Armenia. In that case, Azerbaijan must sit around the
negotiating table with Nagorno Karabakh.