Category: News

NATO official says South Caucasus becoming “priority” – Azeri agency
Turan news agency
25 Nov 04
Baku, 25 November: The 58th Rose-Roth seminar of NATO’s Parliamentary
Assembly dedicated to security issues in the South Caucasus opened
in Baku today. Parliamentarians from over 20 NATO member states,
representatives of international organizations and diplomats are
attending the seminar.
The speaker of the Milli Maclis [Azerbaijani parliament], Murtuz
Alasgarov, opened the seminar and talked about the importance of
the South Caucasus region in the Euro-Atlantic security system. The
implementation of large regional energy and transport projects is
adding to the region’s importance, he said. However, the process is
being hampered by unresolved local conflicts, among which is also
the Karabakh problem, Alasgarov said. He called on the participants
in the seminar to openly discuss the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
NATO Parliamentary Assembly Secretary-General Simon Lann said for his
part that the South Caucasus region is going to become a “priority”
for Brussels in the nearest future.
“The number of visits to the region and meetings here will increase
starting from the next year. The Norwegian government will prepare
a special programme together with parliament members of the three
South Caucasus countries,” Lann said.
Asked about NATO’s attitude towards Iran, Lann said that any
prognostication would be possible only after the members of the
alliance formulate their policy towards Iran and the Middle East
in general.
The seminar is continuing. Two Armenian MPs, [Mger] Shakhgeldyan and
[Aleksan] Karapetyan, are expected to join the seminar during the
second half of the day.

GOVERNMENT IN SESSION
A1+
25-11-2004
GOVERNMENT LAVISHES MONEY FOR WORLD WAR II VETERANS
On Thursday, Armenian government approved amendments to the law on
World War II veterans at its regular session.
The amendments envisage a 3,000-dram benefit for veterans and
4,500-dram benefit for disabled veterans to help them pay for utilities
and public transportation.
GOVERNMENT FORK OUT MONEY FOR LAW-INCOME FAMILIES
The government also decided that families living in poverty will pay
only 30% for round-the-clock water supply and 15% in the event of a
few-hour daily water supply.
OTHER DECISIONS
Amendments were made also in the 2003 government’s decision on
Armenia’s representatives in European Court.
The government included Kotayk region’s areas in the list of
state-protected territories intended for rest.

AGBU Southern California
Central Sports Committee
2495 E. Mountain St.
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 794-7942 Office
(626) 794-2662 Fax
Contact: Carl Bardakian
November 24, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
President Arkady Ghoukasian and Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian of
Artsakh Participate in Athletic Events at Pasadena AGBU Center
On Tuesday, November 23, 2004 the AGBU Southern California District
Committee (SCDC) and AGBU-AYA Southern California Central Sports
Committee (CSC) hosted His Excellency Arkady Ghoukasian, President of
Artsakh and His Eminence Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian, Primate of
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in an afternoon of athletic events at the
AGBU Center of Pasadena. The basketball and indoor soccer games were
between the Consulate of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles and AGBU.
President Ghoukasian and Archbishop Mardirossian are currently visiting
the United States to encourage Armenians to contribute to the Armenia
Fund’s Thanksgiving Day Telethon. Telethon 2004’s goal is to raise
funds to complete the remaining 56 miles of the North-South “Backbone”
Highway in Artsakh. Upon completion, the $25 million, 105-mile highway
will link 150 towns and villages and provide crucial economic, trade and
development opportunities. Telethon 2004 will also provide continued
assistance in the areas of health care, education and infrastructure
development in the Republic of Armenia.
Other guests participating in the friendly basketball and indoor soccer
games along with President Ghoukasian and Srpazan Hayr included the
Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles Gagik
Kirakosian, Representative of Artsakh in the United States Vardan
Barseghian, Armenia Fund Inc. Public Relations Executive Sarkis
Kotanjian, renowned actor and comedian Hrant Tokhatian, and Executive
Committee Member of the Pan Armenian Games World Committee and lifelong
AGBU-AYA supporter Albert Boyajian.
President Ghoukasian and Archbishop Mardirossian, both active and avid
sportsmen, teamed up on the basketball court and competed with and
against members of the AGBU Valley Men’s Basketball team, winners of the
First and Second Pan Armenian Games in Yerevan in 1999 and 2001. Both
President Ghoukasian and Archbishop Mardirossian were warmly greeted by
younger AGBU-AYA boys basketball players who cheered their every move
during the games. President Ghoukasian completed five 3-point shots,
which delighted the crowd. Jano Baghdanian, AGBU Central Sports
Committee Chairman and executive director of the AGBU Valley 2003 Pan
Armenian Games championship soccer team in Yerevan, organized the indoor
soccer competition, in which both President Ghoukasian and Barkev
Srpazan scored goals.
A reception followed the basketball and indoor soccer games at Boyajian
Hall during which the AGBU honored President Ghoukasian and Archbishop
Mardirossian. Vahe Imasdounian, Chairman of the AGBU Southern
California District Committee, extended his greetings to President
Ghoukasian and Barkev Srpazan, welcomed them to the Pasadena AGBU
Center, and wished them much success with Telethon 2004. He
specifically paid tribute to President Ghoukasian and his leadership
over the past seven years, and reminded those in attendance that since
its inception in 1906 the AGBU has consistently and magnanimously
supported the development of Armenia and Artsakh through numerous
humanitarian and development projects. A book gift was presented to
President Ghoukasian entitled /Armenian-American / Canadian-American
Who’s Who of Outstanding Athletes, Coaches and Sports Personalities
(1906-1989),/ authored by Richard N. Demirjian. President Ghoukasian
thanked AGBU for their support of Artsakh and for hosting a memorable
afternoon of sports competition and friendship. He encouraged the AGBU
Valley men’s basketball team members to compete in the First
Pan-Armenian Basketball Championship – the Armenag Alajajian Basketball
Cup – and to visit Artsakh in August 2005.
On behalf of AGBU, Mihran Toumajan, AGBU Central Sports Committee and
Pasadena Chapter member, presented Archbishop Mardirossian with four
copies of /Gomidas Badarak and Explanation/ for use in Artsakh. Toumajan
praised His Eminence Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian and stated that he
continues to inspire Armenians in Artsakh, Armenia, and throughout the
Diaspora with his unwavering faith in, and dedication to, the Armenian
Church and Nation. Archbishop Mardirossian has served on the front
lines in defense of Artsakh and continues to lead his flock. Toumajan
appropriately referred to Barkev Srpazan as a modern-day Ghevont Yeretz,
the latter having defended the Faith and the Nation at the Battle of
Avarayr in 451 A.D. The reception concluded with a prayer by Archbishop
Mardirossian.
For further information on the AGBU Sports Program, please contact Alan
Woskanian, Southern California AGBU Athletic Director, at the Pasadena
AGBU Center at 626-794-7942.

The Economist
Backgrounders
Azerbaijan
Nov 19th 2004
>>From Economist.com
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan’s living standards
have plummeted and its putative stability has come at the cost of
stagnation. Azerbaijan’s Communist-era leader, Heidar Aliev, served until
2003, when he disappeared after appointing his son, Ilham, prime minister;
the son continues the father’s policies. A long-running war with Armenia
over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnically Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan’s
borders, remains unresolved despite a near-settlement in 2000.
Azerbaijan anchors a Kazakhstan-Turkey oil pipeline (which bypasses Russia
and Iran), scheduled to start production in 2005, despite worrying military
clashes over the Caspian’s resources in 2001. The windfall from that and
from the United States, which approved aid to Azerbaijan for the first time
in 2003 (despite its popularity among Chechen militants), could make Ilham’s
transition smoother. But he sounds belligerent over Nagorno-Karabakh, and in
distributing the oil bonanza must confront his country’s pervasive
corruption.
–Boundary_(ID_Q8UO2rGb5TthnO/3Xdv4EA)–

Minister Sees ‘Natural’ Economic Slowdown
By Shakeh Avoyan 25/11/2004 13:56
Radio Free Europe, Czech republic
Nov 25 2004
Economic growth in Armenia, which hit a double-digit rate last year,
will slow down in the coming years but will remain strong in relative
terms, Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian predicted on
Wednesday.
Khachatrian said the country’s Gross Domestic Product is on course to
expand by up to 11 percent this year and 8 percent in 2005, down from
13 percent reported by the government in 2003. Official figures put
GDP growth in the first nine months of 2004 at 10.3 percent.
“There is a tendency of [growth rate] decrease and that is natural.
The greater the economic base, the slower its further growth,”
Khachatrian told RFE/RL.
“Many countries and organizations hold up Armenia as an example,” he
added. That is especially true for the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund that have praised the country’s
macroeconomic performance, rewarding its government with more
multimillion-dollar loans. The World Bank described that performance
as “exemplary” in a statement last week.
The key question arising from the rosy macroeconomic data is their
impact on still low living standards. Many local and foreign
economists believe that the growth has mostly benefited a small
number of wealthy Armenians that continue to routinely evade taxes.
But Khachatrian repeated the government view that the benefits are
beginning to trickle down. “The poorest section of the population may
still not be happy but it does feel change,” he claimed.
According to official statistics made available to RFE/RL in
September, the proportion of Armenians living below the official
poverty line fell from 49.7 percent to 42.9 percent in the course of
last year. They also showed the rate of “extreme poverty” tumbling
from 13 percent to 7 percent during the same period.
The credibility of the latter figure, based on household income
surveys by the National Statistical Service, was seriously questioned
on Wednesday by Hranush Kharatian, a prominent sociologists and the
head of a government department on minority affairs. “I think most
experts find this figure extremely suspicious,” she said. “If I’m not
mistaken, even the Finance Ministry has asked for a repeat of that
survey.”
Other experts say that the official poverty line is set too low.

Desperately seeking investment
Another key business forum on horizon in Tbilisi
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 25 2004
Central to the administration’s economic policy is the attraction
of foreign investments to the country. To attract investment, the
government is straining to improve the investment climate as quickly
as possible, as well as to push forward its privatization program.
The new, more liberal tax code, which will come into force from next
year is intended to create not only the conditions for local business
to develop, but also the right conditions for investment from abroad.
According to the official statistics, between 1996-2004 foreign
investments amounted in total to USD 1.7 billion, the equivalent of
USD 386 per citizen. This is far from impressive: in 2003 alone,
Sakartvelos Respublika reports, foreign investment in Azerbaijan
equaled USD 410 per resident. Investment in Georgia is even less when
the two pipelines (BTC and Baku-Supsa) are taken out of the equation.
In 2003, as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the Rose
Revolution, foreign investment in the country decreased further,
but since coming to power the Saakashvili administration has made
increasing investment a priority. Some economists predict that next
year Georgia foreign investments will amount to USD 150 million. If
these investments are profitable, this will have a knock-on effect,
increasing investment in Georgia in the future.
Minister of Economy Kakha Bendukidze’s privatization program should
contribute towards increased foreign investment, though so far his
and the government’s attempts to arouse interest in state assets to
be privatized have produced little.
Local businessmen and economists complain that the privatization
process is not transparent, citing as an example the direct sale of
aviation manufacturer Tbilaviansheni to its current management in
a deal worth USD 67 million, which representatives of the Economy
Ministry describe, according to Akhali Versia, as one of the most
important sales of the year.
Deputy Minister of Economy Natia Turnava says that Georgian Telecom,
Rustavi Azoti (chemicals) and Elmavalmashenebeli (locomotive
construction factory) will be sold in the near future, while
the ministry is also currently preparing to put Elektrokavshiri
(state-owned telecommunications) and Poti and Batumi ports up for sale.
An encouraging step is the series of business conferences where
senior government officials have promoted investment in the country.
Already meetings have been held with U.S., Russian, British, Israeli,
Armenian and Azerbaijani businesses.
On November 29-20, the government will continue the effort with
the Italy-Georgia Business Forum at the Courtyard Marriott. Prime
Minister Zurab Zhvania is on tap to give the keynote address and the
government’s economic team is participating in most panel discussions.

Detained Armenians grapple with despair
By Kevin Simpson, Denver Post Staff Writer
Denver Post, CO
Nov 25 2004
Battling boredom, tears and uncertainty, four Armenian family members
said Wednesday that they struggle to believe their quest to remain
in the U.S. will end happily after nearly three weeks in immigration
lockup.
Their case mirrors thousands of others, say authorities, but with one
notable exception – the Sargsyans have the town of Ridgway mobilized
behind them.
“Everybody says it’s going to be fine, told us we’re going to get out
in a week, then two weeks,” said 20-year-old Gevorg Sargsyan. “It’s
already been 19 or 20 days, and we’re still locked up. Every time
your heart is broken, you get to be more unrealistic of what’s
happening. Seeing brick walls all day long, not getting the smell of
fresh air, doesn’t get your hopes up in any way.”
Despite efforts to be granted “parole status” after being adopted by
the U.S. citizen who married one of their sisters, Gevorg and his
18-year-old brother, Hayk, remain in the same legal limbo as their
father, Ruben, and older sister, Meri.
Final orders have been issued on all four, which means they could be
deported to Armenia at any time, says U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials.
Friends and townsfolk from Ridgway have demonstrated at the Aurora
detention facility in support of the Sargsyans, but immigration
authorities say the law is clear.
Meanwhile, the men bunk in an open area designed for about 45 people.
Meri lives with about 10 other women in a separate space.
Gevorg has checked out a book from the facility’s library, a novel
set in Nazi Germany.
“I’m kind of numb,” he said. “I don’t feel anything anymore. The last
17 days seem like 20 years. I used to own a car, have an apartment,
take tests, write papers – now all that seems like a fantasy.”
Gevorg, a chemical engineering student at the University of Colorado
at Boulder, said he’s had visits from two college instructors and a
high school teacher. All left him problems in math and logic to solve.
Hayk would have graduated from high school this spring.
Meri, 28, taught and played piano for San Juan Presbyterian Church
before she and the others were detained. Kids from the church Sunday
school sent her cards that have given her some comfort amid what she
regards as an impersonal system.
“They don’t care who you are,” she said, on the verge of tears.
Two family members have immigration cases still pending amid a tangle
of shifting relationships and legal wrangling.
Family matriarch Susan Sargsyan appealed her deportation order and
awaits a new hearing.
Her daughter, Nvart, married a U.S. citizen in 1999 and has been
granted permanent residence, although immigration authorities have
appealed that ruling.
Nvart’s ex-husband, an American named Vaughn Huckfeldt, met and
married her overseas and then provided family members student visas.
When Nvart divorced him, he reported the family to immigration
authorities, who charged that the Sargsyans fraudulently entered
the country.
That triggered what has become a protracted battle to stay in the U.S.
Attorney Jeff Joseph continues to pursue legal avenues to keep the
Sargsyans in the U.S., but he acknowledges that the situation is
taking a toll on the detainees.
“For someone who’s never been in jail, never been under arrest,
it’s terribly demoralizing,” Joseph said.

Conflict creates obstacles for economic development – President
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Nov 25 2004
President Ilham Aliyev, receiving a delegation led by Turkish State
Minister Gursad Tuzmen on Thursday, said he was satisfied with the
activity of the Azeri-Turkish inter-governmental commission.
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the existing
efficient cooperation between the two countries’ business people
and that meetings between Turkish and Azeri entrepreneurs positively
affect strengthening of economic ties.
The President also pointed out the existing economic potential for
expanding these relations, which are further promoted by the friendship
between the two states.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh,
Aliyev said the conflict is a serious obstacle for Azerbaijan’s
economic development.
“We demand the international community, in particular, the
organizations directly involved in the conflict resolution to approach
the issue fairly and put an end to double standards.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Community Calendar
Montreal Gazette, Canada
Nov 25 2004
Galleries and Exhibitions
The Armenian General Benevolent Union of Montreal presents an
exhibition of recent works by artist Roudolf Kharatian on Saturday
and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Dervishian Hall, 805
Manoogian St. in St. Laurent. Vernissage tomorrow at 8 p.m. Call
(514) 748-2428.
[parts omitted]

PACE observers visit Baku
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Nov 25 2004
Members of the “Ago” monitoring group of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) visited Baku last week as part of
their tour of the South Caucasus region.
The goal of the three-day visit was to monitor the fulfillment of
Azerbaijan’s commitments to PACE, in particular, freedom of speech
and human rights. The discussions covered a peace settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh as well.
The PACE monitoring group chaired by the German ambassador to the CE
Roland Vegener met with President Ilham Aliyev, government officials,
leaders of opposition parties, representatives of non-governmental
and international organizations in the country.
The group members also visited penitentiaries and met with
the convicted opposition representatives. Issues pertaining to
democratization, ensuring political pluralism in the country, the
CE-Azerbaijan cooperation, and fulfillment of Azerbaijan’s commitments
to the organization were discussed at President Aliyev’s meeting with
the monitoring group.
The parties considered discussion of the Upper Garabagh conflict
within relevant entities of the PACE as well.
The monitoring group includes ambassadors of other CE member states,
who oversee certain commitments of Azerbaijan to the organization.
The “Ago” group members are expected to submit a report on results
of the visit to South Caucasus at the next PACE session.
The monitoring group was established in January 2001 under the
leadership of Italy’s Ambassador Pietro Ercole Ago.