Category: News

PRESS RELEASE
March 24, 2004
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected]; Web:

Pan Armenian Cultural Festival to be held in Armenia on August 14-23, 2004

A pan-Armenian Cultural Festival will be held in Yerevan, Armenia on August
14-23, 2004. The festival is organized by the Armenian Ministry of Culture
and Youth to promote cultural ties and cooperation between Armenian
organizations and individuals in Armenia and Diaspora, present modern and
traditional Armenian art forms, and promote expression of artistic and
creative spirit in Armenia and Diaspora.

Participation in the festival is open to all cultural and artistic groups
and individuals, as well as representatives of cultural organizations, and
cultural liaison officers of the Armenian communities. The program of the
festival will be finalized in July, after applications from the participants
and suggestions are reviewed.

The deadline for applications is July 1, 2004. For detailed inquiries and
application forms, please contact the Embassy of Armenia, or the Ministry of
Culture and Youth, Government House 3, Yerevan, 375010, Armenia, Tel.
(+374-1) 521972, 526065, fax: (+374-1) 523922, email: [email protected], Web:

Times Union, NY
March 24 2004

State court administration’s loss is Russia’s gain

Albany– Tireless Joseph Traficanti Jr., who oversaw operations in 57
counties, takes on challenge overseas

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff reports

Joseph Traficanti Jr. was known for his sterling character, keen
intellect and tireless enthusiasm in his 13 years as an Office of
Court Administration deputy administrative judge, his soon to be
ex-boss said Tuesday.
The 61-year-old Kingston resident oversaw court operations in 57
counties outside New York City, staffed by more than 3,000 judges and
6,000 court personnel, and always took on additional work cheerfully,
Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman said.

But now he’ll use those skills to help developing nations establish a
solid court structure, Lippman said. Traficanti announced his
departure for a career with the U.S. Agency for International
Development project in Russia — and the World Bank project in
Armenia.

“I really am leaving the best job in the world,” Traficanti said
Tuesday. “But if I’m ever going to do something different, it’s
time.”

Traficanti said he knows he will be leaving tangible proof of his
efforts behind.

The court-mandated drug treatment initiative he led now numbers 114
alternative-to-incarceration programs statewide, with another 71 in
various planning stages.

Sharp reductions in criminal and civil caseload backlogs, as well as
alternative dispute resolution initiatives across the state also made
a difference, he said: “This is a new mountain to climb. It’s
frightening and exciting.”

Albany County Judge Stephen W. Herrick called Traficanti’s departure
a great loss.

Herrick has run the county drug court since February 2002, a program
he also started in Albany City Court in 2000.

“I don’t know how anyone can replace him,” Herrick said. “He’s just a
wonderful human being.”

Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye added: “I have no doubt that
his vast experience in court administration will be a great asset to
other nations in the fledgling stages of democracy and in modernizing
their judicial systems.”

Traficanti began his career as the town attorney of the town of
Rochester. He also served in the Ulster County district attorney’s
office and conducted a private practice.

He ascended to the bench in 1982 as Ulster County surrogate judge and
has served as acting state Supreme, County and Family Court justice.

He leaves for Russia in May.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 24, 2004 Wednesday 8:26 AM Eastern Time

Armenia ready to develop economic ties with neighbouring states

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

Armenia is ready to establish and develop economic relations with all
neighbouring countries without any preconditions, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan said.

In his meeting with EU Special Envoy to the South Caucasus Heikki
Talvitie on Wednesday, Margaryan said these relations would provide a
foundation for the peaceful settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia’s membership in the Council of Europe and the compliance of
obligations before the CE will allow the country to hope that it will
be able to integrate into a European family, the Armenian prime
minister said.

In his view, the EU efforts to strengthen economic cooperation with
European countries and reforms in Armenia prove that these are real
goals.

Talvitie said the European Union was discussing a possibility of
involving the South Caucasus in Wider Europe/New Neighbours
Initiative. Ambassador Talvitie said he is hopeful that this process
would yield positive results. He is in Yerevan on a four-day visit as
part of an extended regional tour

In order to achieve this goal the EU envoy stressed that it would
necessary to develop regional cooperation, encourage economic
relations between the region and West European countries, and settle
the existing conflicts, in particular the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Talvitie said he is ready to help find a peaceful solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 23, 2004 Tuesday

Group of illegal immigrants to be deported from Russian Far East

By Marina Shatilova

VLADIVOSTOK

Over 30 illegal immigrants, most of them citizens of the People’s
Republic of China will be deported from the Russian Far-Eastern
Maritime territory shortly as part of a special operation codenamed
Illegal Immigrant, press officials at the territorial administration
said.

The operation began a mere three days ago, and yet it has helped
expose hundreds of people who broke Russia’s immigration laws.

The press officials said inspections had embraced 120 enterprises
that hired foreign workers, as well as more than 1,200 foreigners
having jobs here.

In about 400, encroachments on the foreign citizens sojourn
regulations were exposed.

Another goal of the operation is to identift the foreigners who
illegally get jobs in the Maritime territory.

Sources at the interior department here say over 16,000 foreigners
were brought to responsibility for different offences last year
alone. Most of them were holders of Chinese, Azerbaijani and Armenian
passports.

Of that number, 120 people were detained for criminal offences and
700 more, for getting illegal jobs.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 24, 2004 Wednesday

Armsberbank to become Russian Vneshtorgbank subsidiary

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

One of largest Armenian banks — Armsberbank became a subsidiary bank
of the Russian Vneshtorgbank. Under the agreement signed on Wednesday
Vneshtorgbank purchased the controlling interest or 70 percent of the
Armenian bank stock.

Vneshtorgbank President Andrei Kostin noted that this is the first
such action on the post-Soviet space. The purchase of the Armenian
bank is another step to implement the strategy of the Vneshtorgbank
development that envisages the development of the network of
subsidiary banks in Europe and CIS countries.

“The political stability, rapid economic growth and certainly growing
needs of the country’s economy are among causes of Vneshtorgbank
activities in Armenia,” Kostin emphasized. Armsberbank will provide
loans to Russian enterprises operating in Armenia including the
national gas producer Gazprom, power grid United Energy Systems of
Russia and Airlines Sibir.

Apart for the investment activities the Vneshtorgbank leadership
intends to continue development of traditional banking services for
population, Kostin pointed out.

“Armenia will gain much from the deal,” one of leading Armenian
businessmen and chairman of the Armsberbank board Mikhail Bagdasarov
remarked. According to him, “Vneshtorgbank coming to Armenia cut the
distance between the countries and their economies, and it will make
Russia and Armenia closer.”

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 24, 2004 Wednesday

Minsk Group can’t play positive role in Karabakh conflict -Aliyev

By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman

BAKU

Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev said the OSCE Minsk Group’s
current approach towards the Karabakh conflict did not allow it to
play a positive role in its resolution.

“The position of the Minsk Group is not translated into efforts to
resolve the conflict and boils down to watching the process,” Aliyev
told journalists upon arrival from Uzbekistan where he had been on a
two-day state visit.

Aliyev said he had repeatedly reminded the Minsk Group co-chairmen
about the need to mediate the peace efforts within the framework of
their mandate. “However when we are told that the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia should come to agreement themselves and the
co-chairmen will support whatever decision they make, it is not
mediation,” the president said.

Evaluating the work of the Minsk Group since its creation 12 years
ago, Aliyev said, “Nothing positive has been done over this time”.

“I cannot say that the Minsk Group was indifferent to the problem. It
tried and tried to contribute to the settlement efforts, but there
has been no result so far,” he said.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 24, 2004 Wednesday

Azerbaijan warns against opening of Turkey-Armenia border

By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman

BAKU

The European Union and some influential countries are exerting
serious pressure on Turkey to make it open its border with Armenia,
Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev said.

“If Turkey opens the border with Armenia, the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict will become impossible,” he warned on Wednesday.

“In his this Azerbaijan will lose a very important lever and further
negotiations within the framework of the peace process will be
impossible,” the president told journalists.

He believes this will halt negotiations.

“If the interested parties genuinely want the Karabakh conflict to be
resolved peacefully, they have to stop putting pressure on Turkey,”
Aliyev said.

At the same tine, he expressed confidence that Turkey will not give
in to this pressure. “The Turkish-Azerbaijani brotherhood is above
everything else both for us and for the people of Turkey,” he said.

Aliyev also criticised the OSCE Minsk Group for its inability to play
a positive role in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

“The position of the Minsk Group is not translated into efforts to
resolve the conflict and boils down to watching the process,” he
said.

Aliyev said he had repeatedly reminded the Minsk Group co-chairmen
about the need to mediate the peace efforts within the framework of
their mandate. “However when we are told that the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia should come to agreement themselves and the
co-chairmen will support whatever decision they make, it is not
mediation,” the president said.

Evaluating the work of the Minsk Group since its creation 12 years
ago, Aliyev said, “Nothing positive has been done over this time”.

“I cannot say that the Minsk Group was indifferent to the problem. It
tried and tried to contribute to the settlement efforts, but there
has been no result so far,” he said.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 24, 2004, Wednesday

A COMMAND-STAFF EXERCISE TO BE CONDUCTED IN ARMENIA ON MARCH 23-27

A command-staff exercise will be conducted in Armenia on March 23-27.
Technical, logistic and medical units will be involved in the
maneuvers. Colonel Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, press secretary of the
Armenian Defense Ministry, stated that the Armenian Army will call up
reservists during the first phase of the exercise.

Source: Regnum information agency, March 22, 2004

Translated by Alexander Dubovoi

The Russian Oil and Gas Report (Russia)
March 24, 2004, Wednesday

IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE MAY REACH EUROPEAN UNION

The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, the contract on construction of which
will be signed very soon, may be extended through Georgia to Ukraine
and further to European Union countries, reports Armenian Energy
Minister Armen Movsisyan. It is possible that the pipeline may be
build from Iran through Armenia and Georgia and further on the floor
of the Black Sea to Ukraine. The minister states, “After completion
of the Blue Stream project construction of long offshore gas
pipelines is already not a fantasy. Iran, Turkmenistan, and what is
the most important, European Union, want this. Europe plans to extend
the gas pipeline with Iranian and Turkmen gas crossing Armenia to its
territory. But this is a matter of serious and long negotiations that
also influences other countries that currently receive Russian gas.”

In 2002, the Kiev-based research institute VNIPItransgaz prepared a
business plan of the project of gas pipeline construction via the
route Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Ukraine-Europe with construction of 550
kilometers of pipes on the floor of the Black Sea from the Georgian
pot of Supsa to Feodosia in the Crimea. The project was estimated at
$5 billion. The gas supplies were estimated at up to 60 billion cubic
meters a year including 10 billion cubic meters or Ukraine.

Source: Vremya Novostey, March 23, 2004

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 24, 2004, Wednesday

A COMPROMISE IS BETTER THAN A VICTORY

SOURCE: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 22, 2004, p. 10

by Vladimir Kazimirov

Ambassador Vladimir Nikolayevich Kazimirov: head of Russia’s
mediatory mission in 1992-1996; presidential envoy for Nagorny
Karabakh; co-chairman of the Minsk OSCE group.

Negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are again at the
crossroads. Two foreign ministers will soon discuss what to do with
this process.

Settling of the Karabakh conflict has become irrational owing to the
maximalism of the conflicting sides. Negotiations held in 1994-1997
were not very fruitful. The conflicting sides rejected proposals by
the Minsk OSCE group three times; 20 meetings held by the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1999-2002 did not solve the problem
either. Negotiations were suspended for six months on the plea of
elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan. It seems that at present nothing
prevent negotiations. But it turned out that the positions of the
conflicting sides have become more uncompromising than before. First
moves made by the new president of Azerbaijan are very contradictory.
He has repeatedly promised to recover the lost territories. At the
same time, he supports peaceful methods, and all bellicose statements
are made by the defense minister. Ilham Aliyev refused to hold
negotiations with Robert Kocharyan in the current format. He states
that the process of negotiations should be speeded up. He said that
he does not needed compromises (he probably hopes to dictate his
conditions of peaceful settlement of the conflict). In the meantime,
Yerevan does not want to resume negotiations with the new president
(who is the son of the former president) and proposes to invite
Stepanakert to negotiations.

The absolute incompatibility of approaches and unwillingness to make
compromises are the cause of a long stagnation of negotiations. As a
matter of fact, the conflicting sides seek after the impossible:
Armenia wants Azerbaijan to acknowledge the independence of Nagorny
Karabakh, or make it part of Armenia; Azerbaijan demands that Armenia
leave Nagorny Karabakh (by the way, Azerbaijan does not make a
mention about this territory’s status after Armenia’s withdrawal).
Armenia does not understand that people who give up Nagorny Karabakh
will not live long in Baku. Azerbaijan does not understand that
Armenia will only leave this territory if tension decreases. Baku
relies on oil proceeds, propaganda and exterior pressure on Armenia.
A cold war against Armenia stops all contacts between the nations.

It’s natural that progress is impossible while the conflicting sides
use previous schemes. A break-through is required. The tenth
anniversary of the armistice (May 12, 2004) gives a chance to improve
the situation. This is a very good pretext to organize a meeting of
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to confirm the
armistice. Would such a gesture be useful? This move would make it
possible to resume a dialogue, taking into account the fact that the
psychological core of the conflict boils down to mutual distrust.

The conflicting sides need a stable mechanism of regular negotiations
between authorized delegations. The agenda of negotiations can be
open. Negotiations should develop in three parallel directions.
Firstly, the conflicting sides must get rid of the cause of the
conflict (security and the status of Nagorny Karabakh for a period of
transition). Secondly, the sides must eliminate the aftermath of the
conflict (the withdrawal of troops and return of refugees). Thirdly,
Azerbaijan and Armenia must relax tension and improve their
relations. It would be very difficult to advance in the former two
directions, which is why the sides must focus on the third one. At
present Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot solve even the simplest
problems.

A summit of the presidents and resumption of sound negotiations would
let the conflicting sides to advance to a peaceful solution. This
scheme does not contain aspects with which the conflicting sides
cannot put up. In addition, the conflicting sides must control their
propagandistic sources. Their role in the current processes is very
harmful for new generations.

(…)

Translated by Alexander Dubovoi