Category: News

A NEW SAIL FOR “CILICIA”
Azg/am
7 Oct 04
On October 6 “Cilicia” left the harbor of Tiria in Athens for Venice. The
ship will reach Dubrovnik in 3-4 days, Alexander Margarian of “Ayas” Sea
Navigation Club informs.
The biggest sail of the ship got worn out. Serge Sargsian, minister of
defense of Armenia, handed a new sail to the crew on October 6.
Karen Danielian, member of the Club, who was aboard the ship till it reached
Rhodos, is now back in Armenia. We shall present his interview these days.
By Tamar Minasian

ARTIST AS NOBLE AS A VIOLIN
Azg/am
7 Oct 04
When seeing him in the street, each person becomes kinder and recites
the words he said in a film or in a theatre performance. Yervand
Manarian is such a person. His art makes people happy and gives them
joy. Recently, an arrangement dedicated to the 70-th anniversary of
Yervand Manarian was organized at RA Union of Theatre
Figures. Notwithstanding his age, he remained young and his spirit
sings the eternal song of light, kindness and youth.
Yervand Ghazanchian, Chairman of RA Union of Theatre Workers, pointed
out one of the sides of Yervand Manarian’s talent: “He has the talent
of remaining unnoticed. He does his work in silence without attracting
additional attention to it. As a result, everyone accepts his
works. His color, his kind differs from the one the others have.”
He performed in theatre and cinema. At present he has the theatre of
his own, “Agulis” puppet’s theatre. He thinks that his theatre will
educate “future authorities, future opposition”. But he knows well
that one can become a real artist in the stage and on the screen. “The
artist should work, the artist should play on the stage. How can
someone be an artist by appearing on the stage once a year,” Manarian
says. He is sure that there is much to do to improvethe theatre’s life
in Armenia.
One of our great artists is by our side and the only thing he wants is
to have the opportunity to perform as many beautiful plays as
possible.
By Sergey Galoyan

Armenia: Jehovah’s Witnesses apply for alternative military service
Iravunk web site, Yerevan
7 Oct 04
October
The law on alternative service in the Armenian Republic has been
effective since 1 September.
Twenty young men applied to the Armenian Defence Ministry by 1
October, saying they would like to perform alternative service. Most
of them are Jehovah’s Witnesses but there are also those who want to
evade military service for other motives.

Armenians want open borders with Turkey, worried Turkey will join EU – poll
Mediamax news agency
7 Oct 04
YEREVAN
Fifty-seven per cent of those polled by the Vox Populi Centre of
Electoral Systems in Yerevan support the opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border and the restoration of transport
communications between the two countries. A total of 648 people took
part in the poll in Yerevan on 1-5 October. Thirty-three per cent of
those polled did not want the border to be opened, whereas 10 per cent
found it difficult to answer the question.
Forty-three per cent of those polled said that Turkey’s admittance to
the European Union would have a negative effect on Armenia’s
interests, whereas 17 per cent were of the opposite opinion, 18 per
cent said they did not care and 22 per cent could not answer the
question.
Asked whether present-day Turkey bears responsibility for the 1915
Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey, 19 per cent of those polled said
it did, 25 per cent said it most probably did, 17 per cent said it
most probably did not, 15 per cent that it did not while 24 per cent
of those polled found it difficult to answer the question.

Azeris tell Europe cooperation with Armenia impossible until troops withdrawn
Assa-Irada, Baku
7 Oct 04
The session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
[PACE] today discussed the fight against international terrorism being
carried out by its member countries.
[Passage omitted: details of speech by a Russian MP on terrorism]
Azerbaijani MPs delivered reports on terrorist acts committed by
Armenians in the country [Azerbaijan]. Asim Mollazada, a member of the
Azerbaijani delegation, said: “It is interesting that Russia is
raising this question now and the speaker is from Russia. Russia is a
great power, not a small state like Azerbaijan or Georgia. These small
states have been suffering from terrorism and aggressive separatism
for many years. Aggressive separatism should be named as one of the
main sources of terrorism.” He also said that the victims of the
Xocali tragedy committed by Armenians [26 February 1992] also had had
to face terrorism, but the culprits have not been punished yet.
PACE Secretary-General Bruno Haller and President Peter Schieder did
not touch upon the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands and proposed a
new meeting between the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian
delegations.
“Azerbaijan sees no need for such a meeting,” the head of the
Azerbaijani delegation, Samad Seyidov, said. He added that the
proposals by Haller and Schieder envisaged cooperation between the
South Caucasus countries.
The Azerbaijani delegation stated that any form of cooperation with
Armenia is impossible until they pull out from [occupied] Azerbaijani
lands, Seyidov said.

Azeri defence minister ends visit to Turkey without military cooperation deal
ANS Radio, Baku
7 Oct 04

[Presenter] The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict was focused on during
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev’s meetings in Turkey. The
head of the Defence Ministry press service, Ramiz Malikov, has told
ANS that the meetings also touched upon the current level of military
cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey. [ANS correspondent] Zanura
Talibova has more details.
[Correspondent] The delegation led by Defence Minister Safar Abiyev
which has been on an official visit to Turkey since 4 October returned
home last night. The head of the Defence Ministry press service,
Ramiz Malikov, spoke about the meetings held in Turkey and said that
Abiyev had first met Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. They
focused on military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey during
the meeting. The Nagornyy Karabakh problem topped the agenda of the
meeting.
[Ramiz Malikov] Mr Ahmet Necdet Sezer again supported the just cause
of our people and country in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. He
also wished a peaceful solution to this conflict and the maintenance
of peace in the South Caucasus region, in general.
[Passage omitted: details already reported]
[Correspondent] Ramiz Malikov said that no document on military
cooperation had been signed during the visit.
[Malikov] Our minister visited the military school of
languages. [Passage omitted: details of school visit] Then the
minister visited the missile industry joint-stock company in
Ankara. He familiarized himself with the work of the company and its
workshops.
[Correspondent] The spokesman for the Defence Ministry did not rule
out the purchase of missiles from the missile industry joint-stock
company in Ankara at some point in the future. To recap, this was the
fourth official visit to Turkey by the Azerbaijani defence minister.

Armenian deputy speaker urges MPs to attend NATO seminar in Azerbaijan
Arminfo
6 Oct 04
YEREVAN
Despite Azerbaijan’s protests, Armenian MPs should attend the NATO
[Parliamentary Assembly’s] Rose-Roth seminar scheduled for 27-29
November in Baku, Vaan Ovanesyan, deputy speaker of the Armenian
parliament and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation –
Dashnaktsutyun [ARFD] bureau, told our correspondent today.
He said that by their failure to attend a session of the defence and
security commission of the CIS Parliamentary Assembly [in Yerevan],
Azerbaijani MPs made it clear to their Armenian colleagues that they
should not arrive in Baku either to participate in the Rose-Roth
seminar.
However, the deputy speaker said that the Armenian delegation should
attend the seminar despite Azerbaijan’s efforts to turn their visit
into a political show. “Armenian MPs’ refusal to visit Baku will be
perceived incorrectly by NATO and put Azerbaijan and Armenia on the
same scale in the eyes of the international community,” Ovanesyan
said.
[Passage omitted: NATO to keep an eye on the visit]

Georgia denies knowledge of Russian-Armenian deal to reopen border
Kavkasia-Press news agency
6 Oct 04

TBILISI
“We have not received an official notification with regard to an
agreement allegedly reached between Russia and Armenia allowing the
passage through the Georgian-Russian border of cargo either belonging
to Armenia, or being transported from Armenia to Russia,” Nika
Laghidze, a senior aide at the prime minister’s office, told
Kavkasia-Press.
According to Armenian news agencies, the Armenian and Russian
presidents had agreed in a telephone conversation that Russia would
allow the passage of Armenian cargo through the Lars checkpoint on the
Georgian-Russian border, which is closed. Armenia is also reported to
have been negotiating with the Georgian authorities an unimpeded
passage for its cargoes.
“In any event, the Georgian government will not allow discrimination
against its citizens. As regards transit issues, they can only be
addressed through tripartite talks, especially as they involve the use
of Georgian territory,” Laghidze said, adding that Georgia is
“nobody’s backyard” and it would not allow others to agree behind its
back on transit through its territory. “However, I repeat that this
information about the Russian-Armenian agreement has not been
officially confirmed and should be double-checked,” Laghidze
said. [Passage omitted]

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
October 7, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
ASSEMBLY REPRESENTATIVE CHALLENGES AZERI PRESIDENT’S REMARKS ON NK CONFLICT
DURING A FORUM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America commended one of its own
for challenging Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to explain his
mischaracterizations of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and blaming Armenia
for the stalled peace talks.
Christina Lehmejian-Karaszewski, the Assembly’s volunteer representative to
the United Nation’s NGO Human Rights Committee, questioned the Azeri leader
on September 24 following a speech at Columbia University in New York City.
In his prepared remarks, Aliyev focused heavily on the territorial dispute,
naming Armenia as the aggressor and demanding the withdrawal of Armenian
troops who he claims are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. He
also touted the progressiveness of his government, citing its economic and
social reforms and integration in the international community.
Lehmejian-Karaszewski particularly took issue with Aliyev’s statements
regarding Azeri society which he called “tolerant and conscientious,”
despite several damaging reports from international watchdog groups who have
identified the country as one of the most corrupt and oppressive regimes in
the world. Aliyev was evasive in responding to Lehmejian-Karaszewski on
this as well as the Karabakh issue, steering clear of the question regarding
Azeri society altogether and once again tagging Armenia as the aggressor in
the NK conflict.
According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, Aliyev, who is the son of former
President Heydar Aliyev, also said that the NK “negotiations cannot go on
forever,” and that Baku reserves the right to restore territorial
sovereignty “by any means.” He was also critical of the international
community, who he blamed for failing to intervene in the conflict and
enforce the resolutions that the Security Council passed more than a decade
ago.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

NR#2004-089

Animation company sets up a film festival
UK Newsquest Regional Press – This is The Lake District
October 7, 2004
BY: Gazette News Desk
A KIRKBY Stephen-based animation company is lending its talents in organising
a major film festival for young people.
Sisters Bryony Cadi and Linnhe Catlow the directors of film company 3 Bear
Animations have helped organise this year’s Co-operative Young Film Makers
Festival.
The annual celebration of cinema is targeted at young people aged 21 and
under and aims to give a new understanding of TV and film productions.
This year’s festival will take place at the National Museum of Photography
Film and Television in Bradford. A programme brimming with activities boasts
more than 30 events for children and young people aged five to 21.
“We’re particularly proud of the programme this year said joint event
coordinator Bryony Catlow.
We have Nick Dudman coming up from the set of Harry Potter Four to talk about
his work as special effects supervisor on films such as Star Wars and Harry
Potter which we are very excited about.”
In addition to the workshops and talks there will be screenings of films made
by young people from places as far flung as Armenia and Australia.
“We received around 400 entries this year and selected 100 for screening. The
filmmakers are of all ages and abilities ranging from five and six year olds
to 21 year olds producing films of almost professional quality said Cadi
Catlow.
Some of the films will receive awards from organisations and companies
involved in the film industry including 3 Bear Animations, BBC Blast and the British
Film Institute.
We decided to present an award at the festival because we want to encourage
the next generation of animators said Linnhe Catlow.
We used to enter Co-Operative Young Film Makers ourselves when we were
younger and the festival definitely inspired us to continue to produce animation. We
know from experience how important it is to have encouragement when you’re
starting out she added.
Co-operative Young Film Makers 2004 is open to everyone and will run today
(Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday). Entry to the majority of the events is free.
For a full programme see or call the festival
office on 0161-2462216.