Category: News

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 25, 2004 Thursday 11:35 AM Eastern Time
Opening of border with Turkey helps Karabakh settlement – view
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
The opening of the border with Turkey will have a favourable impact
on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian Foreign
Ministry senior spokesman Gamlet Gasparyan said.
Gasparyan said on Thursday Armenia is convinced, “The opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border will facilitate the development of regional
cooperation and have a favourable impact on the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
The Armenian diplomat commented on Azerbaijani President Ilkham
Aliyev’s statement saying, “Whether Turkey opens its border with
Armenia, it will be impossible to settle the conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh.” “Thus, Armenia can lose a very important mechanism
and the talks as part of the peace process will be impossible,”
Aliyev said.
The Armenian spokesman stressed, “Turkey may be an important
mechanism in the development of the economic and political situation
in the region whether it gives up its unilateral approach towards its
attitude to Armenia and Azerbaijan in favour of Azerbaijan.”

RIA OREANDA, Russia
Economic Press Review
March 25, 2004 Thursday
Yerevan Realizes Anti-Russian Gas Project
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
On March 23, 2004 Armenian Minister of Electric Energy Armen
Movsiyan announced at a session of the country s Government that
Iran-Armenia pipeline which construction is planned to be finished in
the beginning of 2005 will be prolonged through the Georgian
territory, than by the bottom of the Black Sea to Ukraine and then to
Western Europe. So, the Irani and Turkmenistan s gas will be supplied
to countries of the EU passing Russia . As a result the Russian
budget will lose several billion dollars every year. So, the most
reliable partner of Russia in the Caucasus Armenia is realizing what
the US have not been able to do: it creates an alternative route of
gas export from Central Asia to the West.

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
March 25, 2004
VTB plans to up Armsberbank’s charter capital to $15 mln
YEREVAN, Mar 25 (Prime-Tass) — Major state-owned Russian bank
Vneshtorgbank (VTB) plans to increase the charter capital of
Armenia’s savings bank Armsberbank to U.S. USD 15 million from the
current USD 5 million, VTB’s President Andrei Kostin said Thursday.
Earlier this week, VTB finalized the deal to purchase a 70% stake in
Armsberbank, one of the largest in the country.
Up until then, the bank was fully owned by the MIKA Armenia Trading
company.
The purchase came as a planned step in the implementation of VTB’s
development program, which envisages the creation of a subsidiary
chain in Europe and the CIS.
Armsberbank, with its broad chain of branches and developed client
base, including small and middle-sized businesses, will serve as a
starting point for VTB’s further expansion to Armenia’s banking
sector.
As of end-September, 2003, Armsberbank’s own capital totaled 2.652
billion drams, and pre-tax profit amounted to 181.1 million drams in
January-September. (561.62 drams – U.S. USD 1) End

Associated Press Worldstream
March 25, 2004 Thursday 12:49 PM Eastern Time
Armenian opposition parties unite for promised protest action
by AVET DEMOURIAN; Associated Press Writer
YEREVAN, Armenia
Opposition lawmakers in Armenia on Thursday agreed to join forces in
their efforts to oust President Robert Kocharian and the government
of this former Soviet republic.
Leaders of the Justice and National Unity parties announced they
would organize “a joint protest of national disobedience” within the
next three weeks.
Stepan Demirchian and Artashes Gegamian said they expected from
100,000 to 150,000 people to participate in the demonstration
demanding the “expulsion of the illegal administration and the
re-establishment of constitutional order.”
The opposition, which occupies 23 seats in the 131-seat parliament,
emphasized that they would not resort to violence and warned the
authorities that they would “answer before society and the world”
should they use force against demonstrators.
Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests, including nearly daily demonstrations between
the first round of voting in February 2003 and the runoff in early
March.
The opposition alleged widespread violations in both rounds of the
election. The election was followed by parliamentary ballot in which
the pro-government party won the most votes.
In April, Armenia’s Constitutional Court confirmed the results of the
presidential vote but suggested that a referendum be held within a
year to gauge the public’s confidence in the nation’s leaders.
Opposition leaders have pressed for the plebiscite.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
03/25/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) The Ararat Wing of the Opposition Seeks Personal Revenge 2) Latest Efforts to Save World's Historic Armenian Monuments 3) Azerbaijan Cancels Crucial Talks on Karabagh 4) Azerbaijan Warns Against Opening Turkey-Armenian Border 5) Javakhk Council of NGOs Throws Support behind Saakashvili Party 1) The Ararat Wing of the Opposition Seeks Personal Revenge THE AZG DAILY OF YEREVAN, IN ITS MARCH 25 ISSUE, RAN THE FOLLOWING REPORT UNDER THE ABOVE HEADLINE. THE TRANSLATED TEXT OF THAT REPORT FOLLOWS, WITH NO FURTHER COMMENT ON OUR PART. YEREVAN--The home of former Defense Minister Vagharshak Haroutiunian has been converted into the "Strategic Headquarters" for the realization of regime change in Armenia, reliable sources have informed Azg. Leaders of the Armenian opposition--specifically its Ararat wing, led by former Prime Minister Aram Sargsian--regularly gather there to plan out scenarios for toppling the administration of Robert Kocharian. Also active and interested in this matter are the Armenian National Movement, although for now in a supporting role, and the first President of Armenia, Levon Ter Petrosian. The undertaking is reportedly receiving financing from Vatche Manoukian, the London-based millionaire. The opposition will attempt to take to the streets, rallying crowds to surround the President's office and obstruct him from entering his workplace. The former authorities of the Republic are placing their bets on Aram Sargsian, taking into account his family's misfortune: his brother, former Defense Minister and Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian was the victim of the October 27, 1999 killings, and his other brother, Armen Sargsian, was condemned to 15 years' imprisonment on charges of contracting the killing of chief of Armenian State TV Tigran Naghdalian. The strategists of regime change seem to have made the right choice in Aram Sargsian, who is eager to take revenge on Robert Kocharian. The [current] authorities are in a determined mood and are prepared to stifle the opposition by resorting to forcible means, according to information available to Azg. Only a few weeks ago, during his television interview, Kocharian made it known to the opposition that maintaining the constitutional order is the purview of the power structures--the interior and security forces. The response of Defense Minister Serzh Sargsian was more clear and unadorned: "We'll see who slaughters whom." It is plain, notwithstanding the threats directed at the opposition, that the authorities are becoming upset. 2) Latest Efforts to Save World's Historic Armenian Monuments YEREVAN (Armenpress/ArmeniaWeek)--A Non-Governmental Organization that studies Armenian architecture has located and examined Armenian monuments in the Republic of Armenia, historic Armenia, the Diaspora, as well on sites of deportations. The aim of the organization, Research on Armenian Architecture, has been to photograph, examine, and register Armenian historical monuments and to publish corresponding informational documents. Head of the organization Samvel Karapetian, says that the task at hand is to "preserve Armenian historic and cultural treasures on paper." Examinations of Armenian cultural monuments are being conducted in Georgia, Azerbaijan, certain regions of Northern Iran, historic Gougark, Barskahayk, and Mountainous Karabagh Republic. Unlike Armenia's other neighbors, says Karapetian, Iran not only preserves but also restores Armenian monuments, allocating funds from its national budget towards that goal. Karapetian said he is convinced that the unique Armenian historic and cultural treasures prove that Armenia is an equal among other nations and civilizations. The town of Jugha was the center of Yerndjak province in the late Middle Ages. In 1605, its population was deported to Persia under orders of Shah Abbas I and the town was destroyed. Only Jugha's cemetery was left unharmed, with gravestones dating back to the Ninth Century. In 1648, there were 10,000 khachkars (stone crosses) registered at the cemetery, a number that had shrunk to 2,700 by 1973. In 1998, eyewitnesses on the Iranian side of the border reported seeing Azeris smashing the khachkars with bulldozers and removing the pieces on trucks. In February 2003, Karapetian announced that the Armenian cemetery in the Jugha has been entirely destroyed. "These acts not only harm those who have created culture, but also all of modern civilization," says Karapetian. To date, Research on Armenian Architecture has published 13 volumes, including some in English and Russian. An outline of an additional 30 volumes is ready for print. The organization's archives house 56,000 digital images and 140,000 photographs of Armenian cultural and historical monuments. "We have photographs of the majority of Armenian monuments throughout the world," revealed Karapetian. In Northern Artsakh alone, there are 2,800 monuments and a total of 6,200 in Mountainous Karabagh Republic, with 1,800 in the liberated lands. Georgia houses 650 Armenian churches. Research on Armenian Architecture was founded in Germany in 1983 by Dr. Armen Hakhnazarian. Branches were established in the United States in 1996 and in Armenia in 1998. 3) Azerbaijan Cancels Crucial Talks on Karabagh YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev has canceled his upcoming crucial meeting with his Armenian counterpart. Armenia had hoped the talks would serve to establish whether the Mountainous Karabagh conflict could be resolved in the foreseeable future. The decision was announced late Wednesday amid renewed Azeri criticism of the American, French, and Russian mediators. President Ilham Aliyev again accused the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of doing little to achieve a peaceful settlement of the dispute. He also warned ally Turkey against reopening its border with Armenia. Guliyev said that he will not travel to the Czech capital Prague to meet with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian because the agenda of the talks scheduled for Monday has not been specified. There was no immediate reaction from the Minsk Group. Russia's top Karabagh negotiator Yuri Merzlyakov, was quoted as only telling an Azeri television channel that the talks initiated by the mediators will not take place because "one of the parties" decided so. The Czech Foreign Ministry confirmed the information on Thursday. The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan declined a comment, though Hamlet Gasparian, told RFE/RL that the ministry has received no written notification from the mediators. Oskanian said last week that the Prague meeting should clarify whether Baku is ready to revive Karabagh agreements reached by the Armenian and Azeri presidents in Paris and in Key West three years ago. He added that Aliyev would have to negotiate only with Karabagh Armenians if he finally backpedals from those agreements. Aliyev, however, reiterated Baku's vehement denial of any peace deals cut by his late father and predecessor Heydar at the Paris and Key West talks. "There was and there is no agreement," he told journalists in Baku. "This is just another lie circulated by the Armenian side." Aliyev went on to attack the Minsk Group, which he said has done "nothing positive" since being set up in 1992. "When we are told that the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia should reach and agreement themselves and the co-chairs will support whatever they decide, that is not mediation," he said. Azeri leaders have repeatedly complained that peace proposals put forward by the mediators in recent years would not return Karabagh to Azeri rule. Aliyev declared recently that his oil-rich nation is not in a hurry to agree to a compromise deal because he believes it is the Armenians who suffer more from the unresolved conflict. 4) Azerbaijan Warns Against Opening Turkey-Armenian Border BAKU (Armenpress/RFE/RL)--Azeri President Ilham Aliyev warned that a reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border, not ruled out by the current government in Ankara, would further complicate the Karabagh peace process because `Azerbaijan would lose in that case an important lever.' `It is no secret that the European Union and other influential countries are putting pressure on Turkey to open its border with Armenia,' he said. `But I have said many times that if that happens then the Karabagh conflict will never be resolved.' Insisting that pressure on Turkey stop if interested parties genuinely seek a peaceful resolution to the Karabagh conflict, Aliyev confidently said that Turkey would not give in to this pressure. "The Turkish-Azeri brotherhood is above everything else both for us and for the people of Turkey." Aliyev also criticized the OSCE Minsk Group for its inability to play a positive role in finding a resolution to the Karabagh conflict. Reacting to the remarks, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said the lifting of the Turkish blockade would, on the contrary, facilitate a Karabagh settlement. `Turkey could really be an important factor in political and economic developments in our region if it abandons its one-sided approaches favoring Azerbaijan,' a ministry statement said. 5) Javakhk Council of NGOs Throws Support behind Saakashvili Party AKHALKALAK (A-Info)-- During its March 24 general session, the Council of Armenian non-governmental organizations (NGO) of Javakhk adopted a statement in support of the National Movement party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Their support lies in the bloc's `practical approach to carrying out reforms in the country,' reads the statement, stating that the number of Armenian candidates running on the party's ballot was also a consideration. The council stresses the significance of the May 28 elections in deciding the future of the country. With an interest in the establishment of stability in Georgia, the council expressed readiness to contribute to the holding of fair elections, concluding that `constitutional reforms and the establishment of democratic values will give an opportunity to resolve the problems of the population of Javakhk.' Formed by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, the National Movement was the opposition party during the Shevardnadze administration. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

News Advisory
March 25, 2004
Armenia Fund, Inc., (AFI)
Khachatur Khudikyan
Tel: 818 243-6222
Fax: 818 243-7222
E-mail: [email protected]

AFI to Raise Awareness and Expand Outreach Efforts
-AFI to Generate Momentum for Crucial Development Projects in Armenia
and Karabagh-

LOS ANGELES, CA (March 25) – The Armenia Fund, Inc., (AFI), under new
leadership, announced yesterday its objectives and goals for the
upcoming year. Laying out strategy that will take AFI beyond 2004, the
organization hopes to build on the foundations of the past, while
transitioning and implementing new and innovative outreach and
fundraising projects to benefit the Republic of Armenia and Karabagh.
Since her appointment as chairperson of AFI, Maria Mehranian has met
with numerous community leaders and organizations throughout the Los
Angeles metropolitan area to ensure participation, support and renewed
activism for AFI and its upcoming projects. “Today’s Diaspora is
stronger than ever before with its human capital and access to
resources. The AFI can be an effective channel to direct these resources
to projects that will ensure the continued economic development and
stability of Armenia and Karabagh.,” said Mehranian. “Today marks the
tenth anniversary of the AFI Inc., in California,” stated Ara Aghishian,
Esq., Vice Chair of AFI. “We sincerely thank everyone and every
organization for their support during the past ten years, and look
forward to continuing the gratifying task of aiding our homeland as
Armenian-Americans,” concluded Aghishian.
AFI’s new outreach program identifies several key components necessary
to optimize the Fund’s potential: generate increased awareness of AFI
and its projects, cultivate and solicit new donors at all levels,
enhance contacts with corporate foundations and organizations, expand
grassroots outreach efforts through special events and programs, and
identify Diaspora desired development projects in Armenia and Karabagh.
“AFI, through its annual telethon and newly established fundraising and
outreach efforts, will continue to assist Armenia and Karabagh in
implementing the vital foundations of infrastructure building, economic
growth, and social and cultural development,” concluded Mehranian.

AFI is the US West coast affiliate of the Hayastan All-Armenia Fund
(HAAF). Established in 1994 to facilitate humanitarian assistance to
Karabagh and Armenia through the united efforts of Armenian communities
throughout the world, HAAF has administered over $80 million in
humanitarian, rehabilitation and construction aid – including numerous
projects such as the Goris-Stepanakert Lifeline Highway, the North-South
Backbone Highway, as well as water, heating fuel and electricity
distribution, school and orphanage aid, hospital/health care development
and refugee and earthquake housing.
For more information on AFI and its activities, please contact
Khachatur Khudikyan at 818 243-6222 of the AFI office.
Armenia Fund, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, is the West
Coast affiliate of the “Hayastan” All Armenian Fund headquartered in
Yerevan, Armenia. Since 1996, AFI has generated over $20 million for
various humanitarian projects

Armenia regrets Uzbek leader’s Karabakh remarks
Mediamax news agency
25 Mar 04
YEREVAN
The Armenian Foreign Ministry believes that “the Uzbek president does
not have full information about the content and format of the talks
within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group”.
Mediamax news agency reports that the press secretary of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, said this in Yerevan today while
commenting on Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s recent statement that
“Armenia must withdraw from the occupied territories” and that the
stage-by-stage as published, actually package option for the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is not viable.
“Regrettably, in our opinion, the Uzbek president does not have full
information about the content and format of the talks within the
framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Otherwise, he would have refrained
from making such a controversial statement,” Gasparyan said.

What is wrong? (Security reportedly beefed up at Armenian nuclear plant)
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
25 Mar 04
Extraordinary security measures have been taken at the Armenian
Nuclear Power Station since last week. The security regime has been
tightened by twenty times.
According to our information, the National Security Service and
special police forces have been involved in these security
measures. We did not manage to get any official source to clarify what
these measures are connected with. But the form of the security
measures testifies that the Armenian Nuclear Power Station is being
protected from an external threat.
Rumours are circulating that the Armenian special services have
received information about a sabotage group infiltrating Armenia with
the aim of carrying out a terrorist act at the nuclear
plant. According to another theory, the Armenian authorities are
preparing for expected opposition actions in this way. If necessary,
they can close the highway from Armavir to Yerevan.
Anyway, all our attempts to get an official comment on this yesterday
were in vain.

Armenia uninformed about cancellation of Prague meeting
Mediamax news agency
25 Mar 04
YEREVAN
Armenia has not received from the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group
an official notification about the cancellation of the meeting between
the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers with the mediators in
attendance in Prague on 29 March.
Mediamax news agency reports that the press secretary of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, said this in Yerevan today while
commenting on a statement by the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk
Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, about the cancellation of the meeting at the
request of one of the sides to the conflict.
Gasparyan said that Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan had
received a written invitation from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to
take part in the Prague meeting.

Armenian ministry denies reports of “security measures” in nuclear plant
Noyan Tapan news agency
25 Mar 04
YEREVAN
The press service of the Armenian Energy Ministry has denied rumours
in the press that extraordinary security measures have been taken on
the Armenian Nuclear Power Station since the middle of the last week.
The press service told Noyan Tapan news agency that the Armenian
Nuclear Power Station will be refuelled again in summer.