Category: News

A1 Plus | 14:38:03 | 13-04-2004 | Politics |
RESULT OF NIGHT VIOLENCE
Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper’s correspondent Hayk Gevorgyan is on the photo.
Ten demonstrators rushed Monday night into Emergency Hospital of Yerevan’s
Nor Nork district with various injuries are already undergone medical
examination.
Five of them were released from the hospital, three are kept in hospital as
they health is in precarious state, and two transferred to neurosurgical
hospital with suspected brain injuries.
According to unconfirmed information, Haykakan Zhamanak correspondent Hayk
Gevorgyan was taken to police station right from the hospital.

US raps Armenia for crackdown on opposition protests
Tue Apr 13, 3:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States expressed concern about the
“sharp escalation” in tension between Armenia’s government and the
opposition, and rapped Yerevan for its crackdown on demonstrators
calling for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian.
At the same time, the State Department called on both the authorities
and the opposition to engage in dialogue and avoid any actions that
could lead to violence or infringe on the right to peaceful assembly.
“The United States is concerned about the current political situation
in Armenia, particularly the sharp escalation in confrontation between
the government and the opposition,” spokesman Richard Boucher said in
a statement.
His comments came after Armenian opposition leaders vowed to continue
their campaign to force Kocharian’s resignation following the breakup
of an anti-government demonstration by police with water cannons,
arrests of protestors and the alleged ransacking of two political
party offices.
The police have defended their tactics, but the United States appeared
to side with the protestors, who claimed the authorities had used
indiscriminate violence against their peaceful demonstrations.
“Physical assaults, raids on political party offices and widespread
arrests and detentions of opposition activists by the police do not
contribute to creating an atmosphere conducive to political dialogue,”
Boucher said.
“We call on all sides to respect the role of peaceful assembly and to
take all steps to prevent violence,” he added.
Armenia’s opposition has been staging almost nightly protests in
Yerevan for the past week to push its demands for the resignation of
Kocharian — blamed by many Armenians for repressive rule and low
standards of living.
The stand-off with the opposition stems from a presidential election
last March that Kocharian’s opponents alleged he rigged to secure a
second term in office. International observers said at the time the
vote fell short of democratic standards.

A1 Plus | 16:33:29 | 13-04-2004 | Politics |
NIGHT ASSAULT WITNESSES COMMENTING ON POLICE’S LIBELOUS STATEMENT
The rally participants denounced the police statement about bottles with
explosives and stones thrown by demonstrators as a malign slander.
Plastic bottles with water were in hands of protesters, they explain. They
find the police statement about stones absolutely ridiculous, as there is
not a single stone on Baghramyan Avenue.
They insist the police assaulted innocent marchers without any illegal move
from their side.
Witnesses say elderly women, young people, journalists and cameramen were
thrown down over the night. The authorities do everything to suppress the
truth.

A1 Plus | 17:58:18 | 13-04-2004 | Politics |
TENANTS OF NEARBY HOUSES SHOW SYMPATHY FOR DEMONSTRATORS
Witnesses of today’s nightmare tell tenants of nearby apartment houses
seeing assault on innocent people and wanting to stop violence against
demonstrators threw onions, potatoes and eggs at police officers.
They say especially women seemed to be panic-stricken. Many of them were so
exhausted by long hours of standing on their feet that couldn’t even run
away to save themselves from beating.

Today in History – April 24
.c The Associated Press
Today is Saturday, April 24, the 115th day of 2004. There are 251 days
left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 24, 1800, Congress approved a bill establishing the Library
of Congress.
On this date:
In 1792, the national anthem of France, “La Marseillaise,” was
composed by Captain Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
In 1877, federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the
North’s post-Civil War rule in the South.
In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting
America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
In 1915, the Ottoman Turkish Empire began the brutal mass deportation
of Armenians during World War I.
In 1916, some 1,600 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising by
seizing several key sites in Dublin. (The rising was put down by
British forces several days later.)
In 1953, British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II.
In 1962, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first
satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, Calif.,
and Westford, Mass.
In 1968, leftist students at Columbia University in New York began a
week-long occupation of several campus buildings.
In 1970, the People’s Republic of China launched its first satellite,
which kept transmitting a song, “The East is Red.”
In 1980, the United States launched an abortive attempt to free the
American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of
eight U.S. servicemen.
Ten years ago: Bosnian Serbs, threatened with NATO air strikes,
grudgingly gave up their three-week assault on Gorazde, burning houses
and blowing up a water treatment plant as they withdrew.
Five years ago: On the second day of a NATO summit, the alliance ran
into objections from Russia and questions among its own members about
enforcing an oil embargo against Yugoslavia by searching ships at
sea. President Clinton urged Americans to be patient with the bombing
strategy in the meantime.
One year ago: U.S. forces in Iraq took custody of Tariq Aziz, the
former Iraqi deputy prime minister. China shut down a Beijing hospital
as the global death toll from SARS surpassed 260. In Red Lion, Pa., a
14-year-old boy shot and killed his school principal inside a crowded
junior high cafeteria, then killed himself.
Today’s Birthdays: Critic Stanley Kauffmann is 88. Actor J.D. Cannon
is 82. Actress Shirley MacLaine is 70. Author Sue Grafton is 64.
Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 62. Chicago Mayor Richard
M. Daley is 62. Country singer Richard Sterban (The Oak Ridge Boys) is
61. Rock musician Doug Clifford (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is
59. Actor-playwright Eric Bogosian is 51. Actor Michael O’Keefe is
49. Rock musician David J (Bauhaus) is 47. Rock musician Billy Gould
is 41. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 40. Actor Djimon
Hounsou is 40. Rock musician Patty Schemel is 37. Rock musician Aaron
Comess (Spin Doctors) is 36. Actor Derek Luke is 30. Country singer
Rebecca Lynn Howard is 25. Singer Kelly Clarkson (“American Idol”)
is 22.
Thought for Today: “I know of no method to secure the repeal of bad
or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.” –
Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. President (1822-1885).
04/12/04 12:15 EDT

A1 Plus | 18:33:30 | 13-04-2004 | Politics |
KOCHARYAN OUTDID TER-PETROSYAN IN HIS DETERMINATION TO STAMP ON PEOPLE’S
PROTEST
On Tuesday, National Democratic Union leader Vazgen Manukyan, speaking at a
news conference, compared today’s violence with the 1996 events and said the
then authorities resorted to force after people stormed National Assembly
building.
Unlike the then leadership, the current authorities “launched military
operation” against absolutely peaceful demonstration, he said.

A1 Plus | 13:18:49 | 13-04-2004 | Politics |
AUTHORITIES MAKE EFFORTS TO RETAIN POWER
Water-jets moved toward the crowd paving way for armored soldiers. The
soldiers attacked the people who gathered outside the National Assembly
building in peaceful demonstration Monday night and beat them with
bludgeons.
Great numbers of wounded demonstrators were rushed in hospitals with various
injuries.

Armenian president, governing coalition discuss current situation
Mediamax news agency
13 Apr 04
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today discussed the situation in
the country with representatives of the ruling coalition parties and
heads of the People’s Deputy and the United Workers’ Party deputies’
groups.
“Robert Kocharyan outlined in detail the prevailing situation and
measures dictated by it,” Mediamax today learnt from the Armenian
presidential press service. “The collocutors also exchanged views
regarding future possible developments,” according to the presidential
press service.
The ruling coalition consists of the Republican Party of Armenia,
Orinats Yerkir Law-Governed Country Party and the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun.

MSNBC
Europe
Cheapest places on earth: Armenia
Why should you plan a visit here? Besides being ultra-affordable,
Armenia offers an interesting glimpse of what happens to a culture
when East collides with West
The 12th century Armenian Apostolic cathedral Khorvirap is in the
foreground of snow-covered Mount Ararat in Khorvirap, Armenia
Photo: Misha Japaridze / AP
By Robert Kurkjian
Updated: 6:21 p.m. ET April 06, 2004
April issue, Budget Travel magazine – Its not a place that most people
automatically think of heading: just east of Turkey and north of
Iran. Armenia’s unusual position, pinioned between Arab and Western
cultures, has given it a dynamic, 3,000-year-old history, although
independence for the current republic dates only to its messy breakup
from the U.S.S.R. in the early 1990s. Being tucked into a corner of
the world, however, has its price advantages.
Strong coffee, 28″: Have it served in a demitasse, at one of the
hundreds of sidewalk cafis in Yerevan, the capital. In the summer
and fall, you can’t walk more than a block without passing a
street-side café where you can sit all day, even with just a
single cup. It’s considered rude to ask patrons to leave.
Free: The country’s ancient monuments, erected when Armenia was
ruled by, at various times, the Romans, Byzantines, Persians, and
Ottomans. The stone-arched cathedral at Echmiadzin dates back
1,700 years, and the spectacular Khor Virap Monastery, from the
17th century, overlooks the frosted peaks of Mt. Ararat, where
Noah’s ark came to rest.
A loaf of freshly baked bread, 20c: You want a full meal with it?
Figure on spending two or three dollars at most. Khorovats, barbecued
pork, is the country’s most popular dish.
A bottle of good wine to go with your meal, $2: Vintners in the
Armenian version of Napa Valley, the wine-growing regions of Areni and
Geytap in the southwest of the country, bottle mixed vintages while
you wait and charge as little as $1.
A kilogram (more than two pounds) of fresh-picked organic tomatoes or
cucumbers, 20c: In summer, produce is sold along the roads of the
Ararat Valley just outside Yerevan. Huge bags of apples and apricots
are about 20c, too.
A subway ride in Yerevan, 12c: That’s the new, inflated price; the
fare was less than 10c a year ago. Spring for a private cab ride
within the city center for about 85c, or hail a minivan, to cover
longer distances across town, for about 18c. Planning to see the
countryside? A bus from the capital to Stepanakert, a city 224 miles
away in the tiny, self-autonomous region of Karabagh, is only $3.
A museum ticket, 18c: There are dozens of state-operated museums, such
as the National Art Gallery, which under the Soviets was the
third-largest collection in the U.S.S.R. The country’s bounty of
artifacts dates to the infancy of Christianity and earlier.
Color film, $2.50: To process 24 pictures (the countrys common
fire-red poppy fields are a popular subject), the price is about the
same.
For $30 or less, a night at one of Yerevan’s Soviet-era hotels
(no-frills). A Western-style hotel (cable TV, gym) runs more like $130
– a stay of five nights would cost about what most Armenians make in a
year.
Copyright © 2004 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc.

BC-Energy Empire, Adv21,0965 Adv21
For release Wednesday, April 21
After military retreat, Russia flexes economic muscles in
neighboring countries
Eds: Also moved on general news wires.
AP Photos NY355-356 of April 12
By STEVE GUTTERMAN
Associated Press Writer
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – Several miles from the stately palace
where the czar’s envoy once governed Georgia sits a nondescript
office building in a grimy industrial district.
Drab it may be, but for some Georgians it symbolizes new Russian
power in their country, a land that spent nearly two centuries
under Moscow’s rule before becoming independent with the 1991
Soviet collapse.
The building is the headquarters of Telasi, a Russian-owned
company that provides this city of 1.3 million people with
electricity – a precious commodity in a country where blackouts are
a part of daily life.
It’s just one of the tendrils of Russian economic influence that
reach across Georgia and the rest of the former Soviet Union.
Using pipelines and power lines instead of tanks and troops,
President Vladimir Putin’s Russia is seeking to strengthen
influence over former Soviet republics at a time when the United
States and European Union are extending their presence eastward to
places that until recently were Moscow’s domain.
That change is highlighted by the entry of the three formerly
Soviet Baltic states into NATO and the European Union.
“Russia did not want, does not want and never will want to lose
its influence in the post-Soviet space,” said Ramaz Sakvarelidze,
a political analyst in Georgia, where Moscow has pledged to close
two military bases left from the Soviet era.
“And now that its economy has not only gotten on its feet but
is able to act outside its borders, Russia is replacing its
military levers of influence with economic structures.”
Telasi is a case in point, he said.
Russia’s huge state-controlled electricity monopoly, Unified
Energy Systems, bought a controlling stake in the Tbilisi utility
last year from the U.S. power company AES.
Georgian politicians protested the deal would give Russia a
powerful political lever over their Caucasus Mountain country.
Russia already controlled nearly all natural gas supplies to
Georgia, where steam heating delivered to entire city neighborhoods
is only a memory and many people rely on gas-fired heaters to warm
homes in winter.
Georgia hopes a U.S.-supported natural gas pipeline from the
Caspian Sea to Turkey will ease its dependence on Russia, but it’s
not expected to be built before 2006.
UES chief Anatoly Chubais flew to Georgia last August and sought
to reassure authorities over the Telasi purchase, saying the
company had no political goals and Georgia’s electricity supplies
would be secure.
But critics questioned the company’s motives for buying a
utility whose chances of making a profit are diminished by decrepit
equipment, corruption, poverty and what U.S. Ambassador Richard
Miles called “an innate dislike on the part of Georgians to pay
for energy.”
Miles said the American company decided to sell because it
couldn’t afford “the hemorrhaging of money.” But he said the
issue of why UES bought Telasi was “a good question.”
UES is clearly trying to expand its presence in former Soviet
republics, a campaign that Miles said could be motivated in part by
the simple desire to grow and by the hope of future profits. “What
other political motives there might be, I don’t know. You’d have to
ask Mr. Putin and Mr. Chubais about that,” he said.
Yevgeny Volk, head of the Moscow office of the Heritage
Foundation, said there is no secret to UES’s activities abroad.
“It’s practically part of the state apparatus, and naturally
the policy it pursues is state policy – and that is to strengthen
Russia’s position in the zone traditionally considered its sphere
of interest,” he said.
UES, which exports power to countries from Norway to China, says
its foreign business is coordinated with the government and
conducted in the interests of its shareholders, the largest of
which is the state. It says company experts even advise the Foreign
Ministry on policy.
Volk said UES and other Russian companies with close ties to the
government are trying to acquire property in former Soviet
republics “and then use that property as a political lever to
influence the situation in those countries to Russia’s benefit.”
Sakvarelidze and other analysts said that will allow Moscow to
influence personnel and policy decisions in those countries,
shaping their future in line with its own interests.
In February, Russia’s state-connected Gazprom briefly halted
natural gas supplies to Belarus during a dispute over Russian
efforts to gain control of Belarusian industrial enterprises,
including the pipeline company that relays Russian gas to Europe.
In December, the Russian state-owned oil pipeline monopoly,
Transneft, stopped deliveries to the Baltic Sea port of Ventspils,
Latvia. Latvian officials said Moscow was arm-twisting as part of
an effort to buy the Latvian government’s stake in the company that
loads oil onto ships bound for the West.
Also last year, Armenia ceded control over its only nuclear
power plant to UES in a bid to escape debts to Russian energy
suppliers.
Volk said Russia’s activity is a reaction to increasing U.S. and
European influence in the region.
“There’s no question of returning these countries to Russia or
to some sort of Soviet Union. Everyone understands that’s
impossible politically,” he said. “But to bind them more closely
to Russia and provide Russia with advantages in this economic space
… this is a completely realistic policy.”
APTV 04-12-04 2109EDT
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress