Category: News

ATAYAN READINGS
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
06 Oct 04
Every year on these days Atayan Readings are held in NKR. Ivan Atayan,
the first and last teacher from Artsakh honoured as Soviet People’s
Teacher, the director of the village school, was famous in the union
for training excellent specialists of physics. During this traditional
gathering the participants remember the great teacher and the
excellent specialist of physics, as wellas make practical steps to
improve the educational system, which was especially obvious this
year. At the gathering in the Artsakh State University were present
the best specialists of physics and mathematics of all the regions of
the republic, as well as the participants of the fourth conference of
young physicists from Armenia who are in NKR on these days. In his
address the minister of education, culture and sport Armen Sarghissian
highly praised this undertaking which has already become a tradition
being held for the forth time. The Ministry awarded the medal
`I. Atayan’ to a group of physicists from Artsakh and Armenia. The
rector of the ArSU H. Grigorian, emphasized the achievements of I.
Atayan not only as a teacher, and also pointed out his political
activity. He was among the avant-garde of the Artsakh movement and was
involved in the delegation that went to Moscow on the question of
Artsakh. And in the period of ` safanovshina’ his home became the
secret place of gathering for theleaders of the movement. There were
reports by specialists of Artsakh and Armenia on the sphere of cadres.
SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.
06-10-2004

NEW BOOK OF PROBLEMS
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
06 Oct 04
There is need for specialized literature in the field of physics in
the Armenian language. This time the specialist were presented with
the first volume of the book `Problems in Physics: Types and Methods
of Solutionâ=80=9D, co-authored by Kamo Atayan and his colleagues from
Yerevan. The presentation of the book was held in the framework of the
fourth conference of young physicists and Atayan Readings, and the
four co-authors of the book were present. The bookis of great
importance for the teachers and students of physics. Each type of the
problems is preceded by a theoretical part where examples are observed
as well. The book contains more than 900 problems with keys to their
solution. The book also contains tables. The second volume of the book
will come out next year.
SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.
06-10-2004

SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA IS A PRIORITY
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
06 Oct 04
On September 30 the art director and conductor of the Artsakh
Symphonic Orchestra Gevorg Muradian gave a press conference for the
local and foreignmass media. The problems and aims of the orchestra
were also presented by concertmaster Ashot Jenterejian and the
director of the orchestra Simon Sarghissian. Gevorg Muradian pointed
out that the arrival of the 12 musicians from Yerevan does not pursue
mercantile aims. The aim is to create a strong and integrated team,
and also establish a quality school of violin (if possible also alt
and cello) in Artsakh. `That our ideas, problems and aims were
approvedand assisted by the NKR government and the Armenian General
Benevolent Union is the evidence to the fact that the creation of the
state symphonic orchestra is of national importance.’ The conductor of
the orchestra believes that the mass media can contribute to this
undertaking by covering the activity of the orchestra not only in
Artsakh but also in Armenia and the Diaspora. `If the orchestra is to
make achievements, these should be displayed to public, as we consider
thisto have a political context as well,’ said Gevorg Muradian. In
reference to the establishment of the school of violin in Artsakh
Ashot Jenterejian emphasized that these two years (the term of the
contracts of the musicians) are not enough for such an important
process which will take at least 5-6 years. Mr. Jenterejian said that
three musicians already work at the Shoushi Music School after
D. Ghazarian. Gevorg Muradian said that as distinct of the Shoushi
Music School the music schools of Stepanakert did not apply to
them. The conductor has not met yet with the director of the musical
college to decide on the worksof the musicians from Yerevan. In
reference to the local musicians, Mr. Jenterejian did not hide that
there are problems with them, mainly of professional character which
will be solved by all means. According to him, these are purely the
problems of the experienced musicians and they are ready to do their
best for overcoming similar difficulties. In reference to the question
of how the problem of musicians will be solved after the expiry of the
two-year contract, the concertmaster and the conductor mentioned that
the problem may be solved through cooperation of the both ministries
of culture, by either alternative military service, or arrangement
between the ministries and the conservatoire of Yerevan to send
graduates of the conservatoire to work in the orchestra.
SUSANNA BALAYAN.
06-10-2004

Armenia and Bulgaria to boost cooperation in transport
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
5 Oct 04
[Presenter] Armenian and Bulgarian businessmen discussed economic
cooperation between the two countries during a business forum held in
Yerevan today. The Armenian and Bulgarian presidents [Robert Kocharyan
and Georgi Purvanov] also took part in the forum. Robert Kocharyan
gave assurances that the Bulgarians would find reliable partners in
the form of Armenian businessmen. The president also stressed that
Armenia has a special attitude to the development of economic
relations with Bulgaria because of Bulgaria’s world position and its
experience along the road to European integration.
[Correspondent over video of forum] Several hundred businessmen
including the Bulgarian delegation today visited various Armenian
enterprises. The agreements signed during these meetings, as President
of the Armenian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Arsen
Kazaryan said, exceeded all expectations. Agreements were signed in
the spheres of machine building, the production of beverages,
cosmetics, pharmacology.
[Kazaryan] We attached great importance to the Bulgarian SOMAT [road
haulage] company’s intention. This company is supplying us with
ferries to transport vehicles between Georgia and Russia.
[Correspondent] The Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas are the main
road and window to the European markets for Armenia. Therefore the
Bulgarian company’s assistance is of great importance. They promise to
restore the ferry and to put it into operation from 15 to 25 October.
[Bulgarian Transport and Communications Minister, Nikolay Vasilev,
captioned, in Russian with Armenian voice over] This is also a part of
the TRACECA [Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia] programme which
is of great importance for the European Union, as this road is an
alternative road to Russia. I am sure that as a result the volume of
import and export will be increased.
[Correspondent] The Bulgarian minister said that with his Armenian
counterpart [Armenian Communication and Transport Minister Andranik
Manukyan] they agreed on the main issue, the opening of a direct
airline route between our capitals [Sofia-Yerevan], which will be
implemented next year.
[Passage omitted: Kocharyan and Purvanov interested in further
improving cooperation]]

Azeri foreign minister urges OSCE to stop sitting on fence over Karabakh
MPA news agency
6 Oct 04
Baku, 6 October: “The resettlement of Armenian families in occupied
Nagornyy Karabakh goes against international law, and the OSCE should
express its attitude to this fact,” Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov said at a meeting with the heads of the OSCE missions in
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, Maurizio Pavesa, Roy Reeve and
Vladimir Pryakhin respectively. Mammadyarov hoped that that the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict would be settled peacefully with the
help of the international community, including the OSCE.
[Passage omitted: Mammadyarov met German expert]

Council of Europe urges Azerbaijan to honour commitments
Assa-Irada
6 Oct 04
Baku, 5 October: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
today discussed a resolution on Azerbaijan’s commitments to the
Council of Europe. The resolution says that serious reforms have been
conducted in the country following Ilham Aliyev’s election as
Azerbaijani president in 2003, and this was important from the
viewpoint of honouring Azerbaijan’s commitments as a member of the
Council of Europe. As far as foreign policy is concerned, the
resolution points out that Azerbaijan has been conducting a
pro-European independent foreign policy. At the same time, the
resolution stresses the possibility of tension within the government
which could lead to slowing down the pace of the current reforms in
the face of the president’s wish to have them speedily implemented.
In addition, the resolution demands that the government and parliament
resolve a number of issues. These demands include clearing up cases of
human rights violations during and after the presidential elections,
pardoning seven opposition activists arrested after the elections,
resolving the issue of political prisoners in full, eliminating
problems with regard to freedom of the press, publishing the
presidential election results in every polling station and punishing
those guilty of election fraud.
There was a discussion on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict as
well. Rapporteur Mevlut Cavusoglu [Turkish MP] said that while being a
Council of Europe member, Armenia occupies one-fifth of the territory
of another Council of Europe member country, Azerbaijan. The Council
of Europe should take serious measures to address this issue, he
added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Finnish foreign minister discusses disputed enclave during visit to Armenia
AP Worldstream
Oct 05, 2004

A disputed enclave whose status has prevented Armenia and neighboring
Azerbaijan from normalizing relations topped discussions between
Finland’s foreign minister and top Armenian officials, Armenia’s
foreign ministry said Tuesday.
In meetings with Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Erkki Tuomioja
also discussed Armenia’s efforts to strengthen economic and political
ties with Europe and Armenia’s relations with its giant neighbor and
historic adversary to the south, Turkey, according to the Armenian
ministry.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war in the early 1990s that ended with
a cease-fire in 1994. No final settlement has been reached, however,
as the two countries remain at odds over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave,
which ethnic Armenians seized after heavy fighting.
Tuomioja and his Armenian counterpart, Vardan Oskanyan, also signed
new agreements on defense and investment, the ministry said.
Before coming to Yerevan, Tuomioja was in Baku, the Azerbaijani
capital, meeting with top officials for discussions on
Nagorno-Karabakh and bilateral trade.

PRESIDENT KOCHARYAN RECEIVES AGBU CONGRESS DELEGATES
A1plus
6 Oct 04
President Kocharyan received overseas delegates of 83rd congress of
AGBU, Armenian benevolent organisation, held in recent days in
Yerevan.
He welcomed the congress participants and stressed the importance of
such a kind of events.
The union chair Perch Sedrakyan, in turn, said positive changes are
visible in Armenia though there are many obstacles that are
successfully being overcome.

Armenian-US working group discuss wide-ranging issues
Mediamax news agency
6 Oct 04

YEREVAN
The ninth session of the US-Armenian Task Force on economic
cooperation took place on 4 October in Washington, the press service
of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told our agency today.
The session discussed issues pertaining to the implementation of a
poverty reduction strategy in Armenia, maintaining a higher rate of
economic growth, an improvement in social conditions, reforms in the
banking sector and the development of power, agriculture and water
systems.
The Armenian delegation included Finance and Economy Minister Vardan
Khachatryan; the presidential aide Vagram Nersisyants; the chairman of
the Central Bank, Tigran Sarkisyan; the chairman of the State
Committee for Water Resources, Andranik Andreasyan; and the Armenian
ambassador to the USA, Aram Kirakosyan.

Georgian border closure not to affect Russian-Armenian relations – paper
Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
6 Oct 04

Text of Vardan Grigoryan report by Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkarh
on 6 October “Situation at Verkhniy Lars and around it”
The fact that hundreds of lorries bound for Armenia have been stranded
at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border is
being assessed differently.
The situation was created after the incredible terrorist act in Beslan
when the Russian leadership decided to close land borders with Georgia
and Azerbaijan. But this has affected Armenia more than the countries
mentioned. It turns out that due to limited communication
opportunities and the blockade imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan,
Armenia has found itself in this situation “through no fault of its
own”.
It has nothing in common with the rumours disseminated recently that
allegedly by closing the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the
Russian-Georgian border, Russia is trying to punish Armenia along with
Georgia for cooperation with NATO or for the intention to send
Armenian servicemen to Iraq. If Russia had really wanted to punish
Armenia, it could undoubtedly have found more effective levers.
This forcible step taken by Russia in the context of the antiterror
fight has created a very contradictory situation in both
Russian-Georgian and Armenian-Georgian relations.
The speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian State Duma, Sergey
Mironov, who was in Yerevan recently, promised that the situation
would be settled. Moreover, he hinted that the problem of the
Transcaucasus railway link to Sukhumi would be also
settled. Certainly, it is a very pleasant piece of news for Armenia,
but at present the settlement of such a complex problem is coming up
against the political dispute about the return of Georgian refugees to
Gali District, as well as the fact that the Sukhumi-Zugdidi sector of
the railway is badly damaged.
A question arises: Are these measures of Russia fruitful while it is
evident that terrorists penetrate this country through mountains and
gorges? Georgia, which has sea ports and receives large western loans,
does not at all submit to Russia’s requests to capture and extradite
them [terrorists] to Russia. Thus, the problem is not in closing the
Verkhniy Lars checkpoint but in turning the measures against Georgia
into “targeted” ones. We think that in this context economic and
political steps could be taken which will not directly affect
Armenia’s interests. This gives us the hope that they will finally
find mutually acceptable solutions that will take Armenian cargo
transportation out of this misunderstanding.
By the way, the closure of the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint may be used by
some forces to call into question Russian-Armenian strategic
partnership. Certain political forces in Armenia are interested in
this, they are spreading incredible rumours about Moscow-Yerevan
relations and politicizing the problem. But the majority of the public
understand that the situation created at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint
is not that problem which can cast doubt on Armenian-Russian strategic
partnership. Russia is not the country which Armenia can have problems
with because of this kind of incidents. Thus, we are sure that today’s
search for mutually advantageous options to resolve the situation
created around the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint will yield positive
results and thwart all attempts to discredit Armenian-Russian
relations.