MONUMENT DEDICATED TO MEMORY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS DEFILED IN FRANCE
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 17 2006
CHAVILLE, OCTOBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The monument
dedicated to memory of the Armenian Genocide victims was defiled by
vandals on early October 14, in Chaville, suburb of Paris. As Marmara
states quoting monk Grigor Khachatrian, the spiritual pastor of the
Saint Gregory the Illuminator church of Chaville, they stole the
bronze cross placed in the center of the monument.
The monument, erected on October 5, 2002, with resources of the
community members, symbolizes with its twelve columns 12 old Armenian
colonies, as well as both Masises, and the pivotal part makes a binding
of bronze letters that looks like a cross in the central part, what
was, factually, stolen.
The local authorities as well as police representatives believe that
the monument was stolen for its metal value, thus, the police does not
see a political motive in it, but Armenians consider interesting that
it was stolen in almost two days after the votion for the French draft
(fixing punishment for denial of the Armenian Genocide).
After the liturgy celebrated at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator
Church of Chaville on October 15, those present directed towards the
monument to condemn the mentioned deed. Deputy Jean-Jacques Guillet,
Mayor Jean Levain, representatives of the Mayor’s Office and regional
administration as well as the population of Chaville were present.
The Mayor and the Deputy not only condemned at the monument the
happened, but also promised in a short time to restore in the same
way the monument valueable for Armenians in the symbolic sense,
using resources of the Mayor’s Office and the Regional Council General.
The Turkish press stated touching upon that theme that the Police
continues examination but was not able to check any trace.

TWO EARTHQUAKES OCCURED IN ARMENIA
Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 17 2006
At 14:57 and 15:15 local time two 2.5 and 3 magnitude earthquakes
occurred in Armenia 10 km away from Lake Sevan. The strength
of underground quakes in epicenters reached 4 and 5 points
correspondingly. The quakes were felt in a number of settlements
of Armenia, particularly Sevan and Tsovaghyugh, Dilijan, Ijevan and
Yerevan, the Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection reports.

US DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND FBI CONDUCT TRAINING AT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACADEMY
Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 17 2006
A team of emergency response experts and hazardous materials
specialists from the US Department of Defense and Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) is in Yerevan to conduct a realistic two-day
training scenario October 17-18, 2006. This training scenario,
which takes place at the Emergency Management Academy and involves a
simulated Weapons of Mass Destruction incident, is the culminating
event in a series of courses taught by this team in Armenia over
the past few years under the US Department of Defense International
Counter-proliferation Program.
During this visit, the team also is providing training for
representatives from the Armenian Rescue Service, the Ministry of
Defense and the RA Police on the use of detection and monitoring
equipment, as well as evidence collection equipment. This equipment
was part of a US Government equipment donation to the Government of
Armenia in July that totaled more than $300,000.

HENRY CUNY: ARMENIA IS A COUNTRY OF HISTORIC EVIDENCES
Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 17 2006
October 17 in the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin the Catholicos of
All Armenians Garegin II received the Ambassador of the Republic of
France Henry Cuny, who completed his diplomatic mission in Armenia.
“We are extremely happy that we had the chance to enjoy your presence
in Armenia and the amity with the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin and
to see your love for Armenia and the Armenian people,” His Holiness
Garegin II said. Conveying the deep gratitude of the Armenian nation
to French authorities, the Catholicos appreciated the assistance and
support of France to Armenia in different spheres.
Mr. Cuny also shared his impressions from the period of his mission
in Armenia. “Armenia is a country of historic evidences. It possesses
inexhaustible wealth,” the Ambassador noted.
At the end of the meeting the Catholicos of All Armenians thanked for
the Ambassador’s service and wished success in his further activity.

ARMENIA RANKS 4TH IN FIDE RATING LIST
Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 17 2006
President Robert Kocharyan received today Chairman of the World Chess
Federation, the President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who arrived
in Armenia to participate in the under 20 World Chess Championship.
FIDE President welcomed the efforts of Armenian authorities directed
at the development of chess in Armenia, saying that “when there is
serious attention, there is result and the success of Armenian chess
players is a good evidence of this.” IN his words, Armenia ranks 4th
among 165 countries in FIDE rating list.
President Kocharyan said that the recent numerous victories of Armenian
chess players have become inspiring examples for many and the interest
in chess has grown.
The interlocutors exchanged views on the prospects of further
development of chess in our country, and teaching chess in schools.
They turned to the possible collaboration between Armenia and
Kalmykia. Noting that our country has a good experience of cooperation
with Southern regions of Russia, Robert Kocharyan said it is necessary
to combine the economic potential of the countries and clarify the
directions of cooperation.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 17 2006
On October 12 NKR President Arkady Ghukassian met with Envoy Andrzej
Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE CiO. They discussed
the findings of the recent monitoring of the special OSCE mission in
the territories on both sides of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani front line
and the regions which suffered from fires. They also discussed the
plan monitoring near the village of Gyulistan, the region of Shahumian,
NKR on October13.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT CANADA AND FRANCE
Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 17 2006
October 17 RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian is leaving for Canada
on a working visit.
October 18 in Ottawa RA Foreign Minister is due to meet with the
Foreign Minister of Canada Peter MacKay.
The same day Minister Oskanian will meet with representatives
of Canada-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship group, as well as the
Armenian community.
October 19 the Minister will leave for Toronto, where he will deliver
a speech in the international forum titled “The role of the Diaspora
in building opportunities for peace and development organized by
UN University for Peace. And opening speech will be delivered by
President of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly Sheikha Haya
Rashed Al Khalifa.
October 21 the Minister will leave for Washington, where he will be
present at the festive events dedicated to the 15th anniversary of
Armenia’s independence.
The next day Minister Oskanian will leave for Paris, where he is
scheduled to meet with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on October 24.

NKR PRESIDENT MET WITH DIRECTOR OF HALO TRUST PROJECT ON KARABAKH
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 17 2006
On October 5 NKR President Arkady Ghukassian met with Valon Kumnova,
director of the Karabakh project of the HALO Trust, which deals with
humanitarian mine clearance, and Mathew Howell responsible for the
Balkan and Caucasian countries. The guests told the president about
the activities of the HALO Trust and the achievements. In particular,
they mentioned that about 100 sq km of area was cleared of mines and
over 43 thousand mines and unexploded ordnance were rendered to pose
no threat. For his part, Arkady Ghukassian mentioned that thanks to
the high quality of work the people of Artsakh respect and trust the
HALO Trust. The president thanked the organization and reasserted
the readiness of the Karabakh government to assist the project of the
HALO Trust in Artsakh. On October 5 NKR President Arkady Ghukassian
conducted a working consultation on several current issues on the home
and foreign policies. During the consultation the president instructed
the government to sum up the results of the survey on the social and
economic state in the region of Kashatagh and prepare the question for
discussing it in the upcoming meeting of the NKR Council of Security.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HARVEST FESTIVAL
Norair Hovsepian
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 17 2006
On October 8 the second harvest festival took place in Stepanakert,
in Sasuntsi Davit Street. Tigran Arstamyan, a senior official of the
Ministry of Agriculture, who was the head of the organizing committee,
said this year harvest was poor and they feared that the communities
would not take part in the festival. Nevertheless, the participants
were many. Tigran Arstamyan said if the harvest were good, more
farmers would arrive for the fair. “Our greatest achievement is that
the participants of the previous festival inquired all the time when
the next festival would be. Besides, there are very many farmers who
participate for the first time,” he said.
This year, besides the Artsakh-based processing factories, several
Armenian factories participated as well. Despite this enthusiasm, the
organizers failed to lay out stands for display and sale of products.
Last year this question was raised but there was very little or
almost no change this year. The farmers were supposed to take
care of stands. Some people brought small tables, others arranged
the produce on the ground, or sold from their car. This disorder
caused long queues. In fact, nobody minds queues, which are also
part of such fairs, but everyone would agree that it is necessary
to provide conditions for normal trade. “We wanted to hold the fair
this year in a special area and get stands, but this is costly,”
said Tigran Arstamyan. The communities have a lot of problems,
of course, but many farmers found time to come to the capital and
sell their products. Moreover, despite the poor harvest, the number
of participants from some regions grew, including participants from
Kashatagh. This year 11 cars arrived from this region. Suren Abunts,
the mayor of the village of Saratak, took part in both festivals. He
thinks such events are very important and encouraged the farmers
of his community to participate. 3 out of the 11 cars from Kshatagh
were from Saratak. “Buyers often like our produce and want to buy in
big amounts,” he says. As for the buyers, they came to the fair not
only out of interest but also because the prices of some products,
such as grapes, potatoes and pork, were lower than on the market,
although the prices of other products were not, and the reason is
poor harvest, the problem of transport, etc. Despite the different
opinions people have, the harvest festival is becoming part of their
lives. Tigran Arstamyan said the second Sunday in October will become
the official day of the Harvest Festival.

VITICULTURE REQUIRES SPECIAL ATTENTION
Norair Hovsepian
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 17 2006
Vladimir Zakiyan, the NKR minister of agriculture says restoring
viticulture in Karabakh is already a great achievement. However,
he says planting a vineyard is not the only thing to do. The problem
of problems has not been solved yet. “Wine growers cannot wait, they
have to sell their product as soon as it is ripe,” says the deputy
minister. Now, with regard to planting vineyards there is progress.
For instance, in 2000 there was 960 hectares of vineyards, 1322.2
hectares in 2003, and 1546 hectares in 2005. In 2005 7409 tons
of grapes was produced. These are just figures. Let us see what is
hiding behind these figures. The government conducts a loan policy to
develop this sphere. The policy was launched in 1999, and over these
years it has been modified and made more controllable. The government
also provides long-term loans to facilitate viticulture for rural
land owners. Although the outcome of this policy will become clear
later. The approximate comparison of government loans and the cost of
planting a vineyard shows that private capital is also invested. And
this tendency remains dominant. We asked Mr. Zakiyan if there is an
overall program of development of viticulture. He said, it is not
difficult to work out such a program, and there is already one, but
the implementation requires immense costs. There are a great number of
problems, for instance, mechanization. New machines for wine growing
have not been imported since 1990. Another problem is the sorts of
vines. In this connection, the nursery of Khramort is reassuring. At
present, about 20 sorts of vines are grown there, which enables to find
out which sort of grapes is the best to cultivate in Karabakh. Another
problem is chemicals. Fortunately, there is already a laboratory and in
2007 all the chemicals will be tested at the laboratory before going to
consumers. Irrigation and specialists are other core problems. Hence,
despite difficulties there is progress, vineyards grow, production
grows, but the underlying problem is becoming more tangible. Today it
will not sound exaggerated to say that the development of viticulture
depends on processing factories. “In developing viticulture it is
necessary to operate perfectly all the links in this chain, from wine
growing to processors and sale of the final product. If one fails, the
effectiveness of the others will be affected,” said Vladimir Zakiyan.