Author: Zakarian Garnik

RA Prime Minister received Head of the OSCE Office in Armenia Vladimir
Pryakhin

ArmRadio.am
02.06.2006 16:35

RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan received today Head of the OSCE
Office in Armenia, Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin.

Issues related to cooperation with RA Government were discussed during
the meeting, Information and Public Relations Department of RA
Government informs.

Vladimir Pryakhin appreciated the cooperation in a number of spheres,
referring particularly to the program of recycling of 872 tons of
mélange rocket fuel, accumulated in the course of decades. Head of the
OSCE Office in Armenia emphasized also the cooperation with RA
Government in the spheres of ecology, fighting trafficking,
accomplishment of anti-corruption programs, implementation of police
reforms, etc. The interlocutors dwelt on implementation of certain
programs, the results achieved, existing problems and the possible
OSCVE assistance in resolving these.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x128
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Friday, June 2, 2006

BEIRUT AGBU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM TOPS ARAB CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The unstoppable AGBU Armenian Youth Association (AYA) Antranik Beirut
Women’s Basketball team rose to the top of the Arab Champion League
tonight in Dubai after defeating the Syrian national champion team “Al
Wahda.” The victory holds particular sentiment as AGBU is celebrating
both its Centennial and the 75th Anniversary of AYA this year.

Playing a series of games with Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait and
Syria, the final buzzer signaled yet another winning moment for AGBU’s
female basketball stars from Lebanon. With the Antranik team leading
after every quarter, and by at least a 10-point margin after the first
quarter, the final result was 76 – 59.

Upon their arrival home to Beirut on June 2, the athletes were greeted
at the airport with an official reception led by Lebanon’s Youth &
Sports Minister, Ahmed Fatfat, and joined by the Chairs and members of
the Lebanese Olympic Committee and Basketball Federation. AGBU Lebanon
District Chairman Avedis Demirdjian, along with Chapter and AYA
committee members and supporters, also attended the victorious
celebration.

This is not the first major championship for the Beirut AYA Antranik
team this year. In March 2006, the basketball athletes participated in
another arduous tournament to win the Lebanese National Women’s
Championships for the fourth consecutive year.

Since 1931, the AGBU Armenian Youth Association (AYA) has been
bringing together thousands of Armenian youth around the world through
athletics, scouting and other youth programs. For more information on
AGBU AYA and youth endeavors, please visit or email
[email protected].

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meets Jacques Chirac today

[ 30 May 2006 15:25 ]

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev today met with France’s President
Jacques Chirac in France. The Azerbaijani delegation in France told
APA that the discussions focused on international and regional issues
as well as prospects of settlement of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict.

President Aliyev is also due to have talks with president of French
Senate Christian Poncelet during a businesslike dinner party today.
Mr.Aliyev attended the opening of new premises of the Azerbaijan’s
Embassy in France yesterday. He also received president of French
Teknip Group of Companies, representative of Total Company as well as
met with French businessmen.
The Azerbaijani President today also addressed to the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly’s session./APA/

IMPLEMENTATION OF “AWARE AND CAPABLE COMMINITY” TO CONTINUE IN MARZ OF
GEGHARKUNIK

GAVAR, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The “Aware and Capable Community”
education program was implemented last year in the communities of
Sarukhan and Ljashen of the marz of Gegharkunik by the Finnish
Government’s financing. 130 employees of the local self-government
bodies passed re-training within the framework of the mentioned
program. The 17 thousand evro program was implemented by the “Public
Dialogues’ and Initiatives’ Center” NGO. To get acquainted with
results of the program in the above-mentioned communities, Terhi
Hakala, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to
Armenia visited the marz of Gegharkunik on May 23. The “Aware and
Capable Community” program gave its positive results. I became sure of
it while talking to people,” the Ambassador mentioned. According to
him, the program will implemented in 2006 in a number of other
communities of the marz of Gegharkunik.

MAIN MISSION OF “YELLOW BIRD” TO PRESERVE AND PASS TO GENERATIONS
TRADITIONS OF AMERICAN INDIANS

YEREVAN, MAY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. “It’s a great honour for me to be in
your country. Here people are warm and hospitable. I am glad that I’m
in a far and hospitable Armenia,” Ken Duncan, the “Yellow Bird” apache
tribe dance group head stated at the May 25 press-conference taken
place in Yerevan. According to Ken Duncan, the “Yellow Bird” dance
group may be considered a family group as well, as his wife, daughter
and seven sons are involved in it. And the group’s name is his wife’s
maiden tribe name. Besides the family members, apaches of other tribes
are also involved in this apache group having creative history of more
than 20 years. According to Ken Duncan, the primary mission of the
dance group is to preserve and pass to generations American Indians’
traditions. He mentioned that besides dancing performances, their
group also performs ancient stories and shows on those themes.

According to Duncan, as a dance group of American aborigines, they
present different phenomena of nature by music and dancing performances.
And according to him, culture is important for everybody understands
“where he comes from and where he goes to.” Besides the concert
mission, according to their ancestors’ traditions, the group builds
apache villages and settlements in different countries of the
world. One of Duncan’s sons presented his music instrument, a pipe
belonged to American aborigines by which he performed an interesting
music work: when a boy decided to court a girl, he starts playing pipe
and after the 4th performance, he gave it to the chosen girl. As for
the problem of using together the modern techniques and apache
traditions, according to Ken Duncan, they work and create by using
both variants: for example, “during the period of time when young
girls come to age, the whole tribe goes up to hills and implements
traditional ceremonial rites.” And in other cases, of course, they
make use of technics. 50 thousand apaches live today in the U.S. who
has a sovereign status there. The “Yellow Bird” group has had concert
tours during these years in different countries of the world. They
must leave for England immediatly after the Armenian tours.

SOUNDUKIAN THEATER TO PERFORM IN GYUMRI ON FOUR-DAYS TOURS DEDICATED
TO VARDAN ACHEMIAN’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

GYUMRI, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. After a ten-years break, the G.Soundukian
National Academic Theater will perform on tours on June 1-4 on the
stage of the Gyumri Vardan Achemian Dramatic Theater. The tours are
dedicated to Vardan Achemian’s 100th birthday anniversary. According
to Vahe Shahverdian, the head of the Soundukian Theater, inhabitants
of Gyumri will have possibility to see the best performances of the
theater: Levon Shant’s “Hin Astvatsner” (Old Gods), Alvard Petrosian’s
“Yes Mi Tsar em Tsirani” (I’m an Aprivot-Tree) and Khoren Aramuni’s
“Anveradardz Apaga” (Irretrievable Future).

SERGEY KIRICHENKO: UKRAINE RESPECTS ARMENIA NOT LESS THAN OTHER
COUNTRIES OF REGION

YEREVAN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Colonel General Sergey Kirichenko, the
Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff of Ukraine and Commander
General who is in Armenia on a two-days official visit, and Colonel
General Mikayel Haroutiunian, the Chief of the Armed Forces
Headquarters General of Armenia signed on May 24 a report concerning
results of the visit. As the Armenian Armed Forces Headquarters
General Chief mentioned, it has been the first similar visit of the
Ukrainian high-ranking serviceman since establishing diplomatic
relations between the two contries. According to him, the countries
are bilaterally interested in developing relations in the defence
sphere. International agreements, annual planning of bilateral
military cooperation and its implementation, joint participation of
Ukraine and Armenia in the “Partnership for Peace” program are a basis
for development of bilateral relations. The sides mentioned at the
meeting prospects of future cooperation, discussed issues of regional
and international cooperation, modernization of the Armed Forces,
participation of the Armenian and Ukrainian Armed Forces in
peace-keeping activities. Responding journalists’ issues, Sergey
Kirichenko disproved the information about Ukraine’s supplying
Azerbaijan with armour technics, military aircrafts and rockets. He
stated that Ukraine does not respect Armenia less than amy other
country of the region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander also
disproved the possibility of placing in Georgia the Ukrainian armed
forces instead of the Russian military bases.

KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE WOULD SET PRECEDENT FOR EX-SOVIET REPUBLICS – ZHIRINOVSKY

Interfax
Ukraine General Newswire
May 25, 2006 Thursday 8:31 PM MSK

If Kosovo is granted independence, the self-proclaimed republics
in the territory of the former USSR could also claim independence,
Russian State Duma Deputy Chairman Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal
Democratic Party has said.

“If Kosovo gains independence this year, which is likely to happen,
such republics as Transdniestria, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh
will also have a legitimate right to independence,” Zhirinovsky told
journalists Thursday.

“Kosovo is seeking self-determination on a territory that does not
belong to it, while the populations of those republics live on their
territories fro the most part,” Zhirinovsky said.

“Transdniestria has never been a Moldovan territory: Moldova is
historically Bessarabia, but Transdniestria is what [Russian military
leader Alexander] Suvorov won from the Turks. Abkhazia joined the
Russian Empire earlier than Georgia. As for Nagorno-Karabakh, I would
not like to offend Baku, but it should gain absolute independence
and maintain strategic relations with Armenia,” he said.

Zhirinovsky suggested that these republics might in the future join
the CIS.

Zhirinovsky is attending the 3rd congress of the Union of Armenians
of Russia as a guest. The congress opened in Moscow on Thursday.

EXPERT: MONTENEGRO MAY NOT BE EXAMPLE FOR KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 14:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The referendum in Montenegro cannot be applied to
Nagorno Karabakh, head of the Department of Turkey of the Institute
of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Doctor
Ruben Safrastyan told PanARMENIAN.Net. In his words, Azerbaijan will
never recognize the independence of NKR as different from Serbia,
which agreed with the referendum returns.

May 21 a referendum on independence was held in Montenegro. The
Montenegro independence block collected 55.5% of constituency votes,
while the supporters of preservation of the common state got 44.5%
of votes.

SAFAR ABIYEV: “OUR AIM IS TO RESTORE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN”

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 25 2006

Today Ukraine Armed Forces Main Headquarter chief general colonel
Sergey Kirichenko has paid an official visit to Baku.

Azerbaijan Defense Ministry press service has told APA that delegation
headed by Kirichenko today have visited late president Heydar
Aliyev’s grave in Honorary Avenue, Martyrs’ Alley. Defense minister
of Azerbaijan, general-colonel Safar Abiyev has received delegation
headed by Kirichenko. After gaining independence Azerbaijan and Ukraine
cooperated in all fields, especially in military field, Azerbaijani
defense minister informed the guest of existed military-political
situation in the South Caucasus, Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. He
stated that Armenia has destructive position in the settlement of the
conflict and tries to legalize the occupation of Azerbaijani lands: “We
will not give way to it. Our aim is to restore territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.” Kirienko said that he attaches great importance to
cooperation between Ukraine and Azerbaijan.