Category: News

Interfax
April 2 2004
Foreign investment in Armenian economy up 5.6% in 2003
Moscow. (Interfax) – Foreign investments in Armenia’s economy in 2003
totaled $229.6 million, a 5.6% increase from 2002, the country’s
National Statistics Service told Interfax. Direct foreign investment
increased 8.9% to $153 million.
In particular, investment from Russia jumped 92.2% to $91.8 million,
from the United States 9.2% to $10.7 million and from Greece 55.4% to
$29.3 million. German investments were up 32.5 times at $1.8 million.
Armenia’s communications sector attracted $29.3 million, its food
industry $12.9 million and iron ore extraction business $122 million.

Attack on Armenian rights activist “state terror”, wife says
A1+ web site
1 Apr 04
The chairwoman of the Pen club, Anna Akopyan, who is the wife of the
chairman of the Helsinki Association, Mikael Daniyelyan, has described
the violence against her husband as terror. “I expected it,” she said,
adding that the development was to be predicted from the publications
in the pro-government press.
She said that insults had been published against Mikael Daniyelyan,
but he had not responded as he would not stoop to that level.
Anna Akopyan said that Mikael Daniyelyan had described the accident as
“obvious state terror”. He monitors the authorities’ behaviour and
cannot neglect those in trouble. “In their time the Dashnaks were in
trouble, tomorrow it could be [President Robert] Kocharyan,” the
victim’s wife said.
At the same time she is sure that there are many who speak out against
the authorities now. “But why Mikael? Because he speaks harshly,
pulling no punches.”
Has a criminal case been instituted? “No. I call it state terror,
because it took me four hours to manage to bring policemen to the
scene. They came and found that Mikael was not able to speak and they
said they would come later. They have not yet come,” the chairwoman
of the Pen club said.
One of the journalists asked why this incident was politicized. “Are
not the examples of Mark Grigoryan, Nikol Pashinyan, A1+, Tigran
Ayrapetyan enough? How many examples like this do you need to
convince you that they are all ordered from above?” Anna Akopyan said
in conclusion.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 2, 2004
COMMUNIQUE FROM THE SUPREME SPIRITUAL COUNCIL
With deep concern, the Supreme Spiritual Council received the news from the
Diocesan Council of the Canadian Diocese of the Armenian Church, that the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has brought to its painful
conclusion, the process of the establishment of a parallel administrative
structure within the region of the Canadian Armenian Diocese, canonically
comprised as part of the Pontificate of All Armenians, in spite of the
fraternal exhortations made by the Catholicos of All Armenians and the
Supreme Spiritual Council.
This move has neither justifiable explanation nor foundation whatsoever,
from ecclesiological or hierarchical perspectives, or within the context of
the unspoiled preservation of the spiritual unanimity of the Armenian
people. The issue is more than the establishment of one more un-canonical
diocese. It is the confirmation that the Catholicosate of the Great House
of Cilicia, is not ready to reconsider its divisive spirit adopted in 1956,
and in accord with the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, to reestablish the
canonical status within the Armenian Church. In spite of its assurances of
being dedicated to the motto “One Nation, One Homeland, and One Church”, the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, with “new reorganizations” is
attempting to persistently expand and to solidify the dioceses it seized
with political motivations, from the Catholicosate of All Armenians during
the years of the cold war, deepening the division within the Armenian
Church, and jeopardizing the improved relations which began in 1988 with the
Mother See.
The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia does not desire to see the
changed circumstances prevailing in this present world or the imperatives
conditioned by the reality of the independence of the Homeland, nor does it
value the spirit of the new era, which proposes the demand to reestablish
and keep unspoiled the unity of the Armenian Church and Nation.
Any attempt to breach the unanimity and unity of our people dispersed
throughout the world, which is the supreme and timeless goal of the Armenian
Church, will face the firm resolve of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to
keep that unity unspoiled and unshaken.
Holy Etchmiadzin appeals to all faithful children of Canada and all seized
dioceses of the Mother See, stating that her paternal love towards all is
unchangeable, because regardless of under what guise and despite references
to “the will of the people”, (a transparent old device used to attempt to
justify such measures), undoubtedly no nation has the desire to be in
dissention.
The Mother See once again fraternally calls on the Catholicosate of Cilicia
to sound judgment, welcoming every step directed to overcoming the discord
and the reestablishment of the canonical status within the Armenian Church,
and invites her children to be zealous and unified on the road of the
settlement of disunity – a rift born from the dictates of difficult times,
and in effect for half a century. “Primacy of Love” – here is the mystery
of the supremacy of the Mother See, as it was yesterday, as it is today, and
forever.
(signed)
Supreme Spiritual Council
Catholicosate of All Armenians
##

Reuters AlertNet, UK
April 2 2004
Three die in Armenia cable car crash

YEREVAN, April 2 (Reuters) – A cablecar in the capital of Armenia
fell 10 metres (30 feet) to the ground on Friday, killing three
passengers and injuring eight, the state emergencies service said.
It said in a statement that two people died on the spot when a
12-seat cabin fell into a courtyard. Nine passengers were rushed to
hospital, where one died later.
There have been no official statements as to what had caused the
accident on the cablecar operating from the city centre to a hillside
residential district. A manager of the company running the link
suggested in a television interview that unusually strong winds might
have been the reason.
Submitted by Janoyan Ana

Associated Press
April 2 2004
Some Facts and Figures on Kurds
PEOPLE – An estimated 20 million to 25 million Kurds live mostly in
four countries – Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. The largest community,
with about 12 million people, is in Turkey.
—__
HISTORY – Kurds trace their history to ancient Mesopotamia. They were
a significant power in the early Middle Ages and after World War I
were promised an independent homeland. Recent decades have seen
Kurdish rebellions in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
—__
LANGUAGE – Kurdish is an Indo-European language like English and is
closely related to Iran’s Farsi. The various Kurdish dialects are to
a large extent mutually incomprehensible. The dialects include:
Kurmanji, or northern Kurdish, the largest spoken dialect, which is
spoken in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria as well as parts
of Armenia and Georgia; Sorani, or central Kurdish, which is spoken
mainly in parts of northern Iraq and western Iran; and Zaza, which is
spoken in eastern Turkey.
Kurdish dialects have borrowed heavily from other languages,
including Persian, Arabic and Turkish, but they are grammatically
distinct.
Submitted by Janoyan Ana

The Scotsman, UK
April 2 2004
Cable Car Crashes
A cable car crashed to the ground in the Armenian capital Yerevan
today, killing three passengers and injuring six others, officials
said.
The aerial cable car was carrying nine passengers when it plummeted
from a height of some 65 feet after the cable broke, Emergency
Situations Department spokesman Araik Movseyan said.
One of the dead and two of the injured were Armenian citizens, he
said. Prosecutors have opened a criminal case and an investigation.

The Mercury, Australia
April 2 2004
Highlights in history on this date
1993 – Armenian forces seize Kelbajar in Azerbaijan, completing a
land link to the Armenian enclave Nagorno-Karabach.
1512 – Beyazid II, Sultan of Turkey, abdicates in favour of son,
Selim I.
1559 – Peace treaty between France and Spain is signed at
Cateau-Cambresis, France, leaving Spain the dominant power in Italy
for the next 150 years.
1612 – Protestant Union of Germany signs defensive alliance with
England.
1682 – Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter best known for his
populist religious works, dies.
1721 – Sir Robert Walpole is appointed first lord of the treasury and
chancellor of the exchequer, effectively Britain’s first prime
minister.
1833 – Attempt by revolutionaries to take over Frankfurt Diet in
Germany is crushed.
1860 – The legendary Pony Express begins a US mail service between St
Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.
1865 – In the American Civil War, Union forces occupy the Confederate
capital Richmond, Virginia.
1882 – After more than 15 years of robbing banks and trains, US
outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back at St Joseph, Missouri by a
member of his gang.
1883 – State Premier Thomas McIlwraith claims British New Guinea as a
Queensland possession; the claim was later disallowed by Britain.
1897 – Death of Johannes Brahms, German composer and pianist.
1913 – English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is found guilty of
encouraging supporters to arson and sentenced to three years in
prison.
1920 – US author F Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre are married, four
days after publication of his novel This Side of Paradise.
1922 – Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Soviet
Communist Party.
1930 – Ras Tafari becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia
(Ethiopia).
1933 – First flight over Mt Everest in the Himalayas is made by four
Britons in two biplanes.
1936 – Bruno Hauptmann is electrocuted for the kidnap-murder of US
aviator Charles Lindbergh’s infant son.
1941 – British troops evacuate Libyan port Bengazi during World War
II.
1943 – Death of German actor Conrad Veidt, best known for his roles
in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Casablanca.
1948 – United States creates the Marshall Plan, allocating $US5.33
billion in aid to 16 European nations to help in rebuilding after
WWII.
1949 – Transjordan signs an armistice with the newly founded state
Israel.
1968 – Less than 24 hours before his assassination in Memphis,
Tennessee, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr delivers his
famous “mountaintop” speech to a rally of striking sanitation
workers.
1974 – More than 300 people die when a series of deadly tornadoes
strike wide parts of the US South and Midwest before jumping across
the border into Canada.
1975 – Russian Anatoly Karpov, 23, becomes world chess champion when
American Bobby Fischer fails to show up for their match in Manila.
1982 – Britain dispatches a naval task force to the south Atlantic to
reclaim the disputed Falkland Islands from Argentina; UN Security
Council votes 10-1 in favour of a resolution demanding withdrawal of
Argentine forces; A new state Labor government, under John Cain, is
elected in Victoria.
1986 – Peter Pears, British operatic tenor, dies.
1987 – The late Duchess of Windsor’s jewels are auctioned, fetching
nearly $US45 million.
1989 – Guerrillas and South African-led security forces wage fierce
hand-to-hand battles in northern Nigeria.
1990 – Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan dies in suburban Los Angeles at age
66.
1991 – UN Security Council votes 12-1 to accept a ceasefire
resolution requiring Iraq to destroy its weapons of mass destruction
and authorising peacekeeping troops to be deployed in the region;
Death of British novelist Graham Greene, aged 86, in Switzerland.
1992 – Communist Ramiz Alia resigns as president of Albania, two
weeks after a non-Communist parliament is elected.
1993 – Armenian forces seize Kelbajar in Azerbaijan, completing a
land link to the Armenian enclave Nagorno-Karabach.
1994 – Thousands jam a Sarajevo cathedral for the first peaceful
Easter in two years, but fighting continues along Serb-Muslim front
lines.
1995 – At least 150 Hutus, mostly women and children, are massacred
in a single village in north-eastern Burundi.
1996 – A US Air Force military plane carrying US Commerce Secretary
Ron Brown and 34 others crashes in stormy weather on a hillside
outside Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing all aboard; Former maths
professor Theodore Kaczynski is arrested, accused of being America’s
murderous Unabomber.
1997 – Iraq begins distributing the first shipments of 400,000 tonnes
of wheat bought under a deal with the United Nations allowing the
sale of oil for food.
1998 – The Dow Jones industrial average of the New York Stock
Exchange reaches 9,000 for the first time, five months after the
Dow’s biggest one-day drop had many thinking the market was going
into a recession; Australian Defence Force ends its six-month drought
relief operation in Papua New Guinea after delivering 3.2 million kg
of aid to remote areas.
1999 – Christians and Muslims armed with swords, spears and homemade
bombs riot and burn a church, a mosque and several houses in Ambon,
the eastern Indonesian province where chronic rioting has killed more
than 200 people; Lionel Bart, British composer of the musical Oliver,
dies aged 68.
2000 – A federal judge in Washington rules that Microsoft Corp has
violated US antitrust laws by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on
competitors during the race to link Americans to the internet.
2001 – The death toll in a meningitis outbreak in Burkina Faso tops
1,000. The government and the World Health Organisation scramble to
secure millions of vaccine doses to control the epidemic which is
spreading to neighbouring countries.
2002 – The Afghan Army is reborn when the first 600 soldiers trained
for six weeks by international peacekeepers graduate in a ceremony
attended by interim leader Hamid Karzai.
2003 – The World Health Organisation reports 2,270 illnesses,
including 79 deaths, from a spreading epidemic of a new respiratory
ailment known as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome; The US
Congress overwhelmingly votes to approve nearly $US80 billion
($A107.65 billion) to finance the war in Iraq, reward key allies,
bolster anti-terrorism efforts and help struggling airlines.

Azerbaijan, Armenia hinder peace process – Russian mediator
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
1 Apr 04
[Presenter] The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy
Merzlyakov today [1 April] made a new statement about the current
state of the [Karabakh conflict] settlement process. Saying that the
Minsk Group has prepared new proposals and ideas, Merzlyakov said that
they had not been discussed through the fault of the conflicting
parties. He also said that it is not possible to produce a proposal
which would satisfy both parties.
[Correspondent] The OSCE Minsk Group is trying to decide a place and
date for the talks on the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict. However, no agreement has been reached with the parties so
far. This is what the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Yuriy Merzlyakov, told ATV.
Commenting on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that the
OSCE Minsk Group had not made concrete proposals, Merzlyakov said that
there were new ideas and proposals, but the co-chairmen could not
obtain the parties’ consent to meet and discuss them.
[Merzlyakov, by phone, with superimposed Azeri translation] It is
impossible to produce a proposal which will satisfy all the
parties. Therefore, the talks must continue. The Minsk Group has new
ideas and proposals; but unfortunately, we fail in our attempts to
organize a discussion of the proposals with the parties.
[Correspondent] As for other complaints about the Minsk Group’s
activities, Merzlyakov said that it was the fault of the parties, not
the Minsk Group, that consultations had not taken place.
[Merzlyakov] We have been working since January 2004 to have the
consultations held. But we cannot achieve this as either one or other
party insists that the date of a meeting should be changed. We first
received Armenia’s proposal to postpone the Prague meeting. Then the
other side came out against the meeting.
[Correspondent] Merzlyakov went on to add that one cannot say that the
peace process has reached a deadlock. We are optimists and hope that
we will be able to start consultations with the sides soon, end quote.
Kamran Hasanov, “Son Xabar”.

Minneapolis Star Tribune , MN
April 2 2004
Sunday’s film festival highlights
[parts omitted]
OAK STREET:
“The Documentarist,” 9:45 p.m. (Armenia, 62 min.) Black-and-white
portrait of Armenia, a country that throughout history has been
ravaged by war, poverty, substance abuse, emigration and crime.

ArmenPress
April 2 2004
THREE DIE, SIX OTHERS GET INJURIES IN FUNICULAR ACCIDENT
YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS: Three people were killed and six
others received heavy injuries when a funicular railway car fell on
the ground today. The accident occurred at 2 pm when the car was
taking passengers to Nor Nork borough from downtown Yerevan. Another
car that was sliding towards the center did not fall down due to
braking system.
The injured were rushed to hospital. An official of the
emergencies department said the accident may have been caused by the
obsolete machinery.