HAIK BABUKHANYAN INTERVIEWED ON RESIGNATION OF CRU CHAIRMAN
Panorama.am
15:25 22/09/06
After the resignation of Hrant Khachatryan, Constitutional Right
Union (CRU) chairman, everybody is interested in what’s going on in
the party. Today Panorama.am interviewed the acting chairman of CRU,
Haik Babukhanyan.
– Mr. Babukhanyan, what is the situation in CRU after Hrant
Khachatryan’s resignation? Everybody is working.
We have held sessions of chairmanship and executive board. All services
and committee are working in their normal realm. The regional and
community units are also working as normal.
– Some mass media outlets made an impression that with the resignation
of Hrant Khachatryan your dream has come true. Have you ever dreamt
that Hrant Khachatryan resigns? I have never dreamt of leading the
party. On the contrary, I had a wish that Hrant Khachatryan stays
as the head of the party. I have told the conference and will repeat
that he is the honorable chairman of the party. But every person has
the right to choose what to be busy with. Taking up the leadership
is an extra burden and responsibility for me.
– In fact do you take up the post of the party’s head?
According to the charter and our conference decision, yes, in case
the head of the party resigns, I take up his responsibilities.
– Mr. Babukhanyan, before his departure Hrant Khachatryan said he
has several demands. What is your reaction to them and will they be
called to life? I accept them as normal. His wishes are our wishes. We
have never had arguments in this regard. There will be no problems
in that sense.
-How did you depart with ex-chairman of CRU, as friends or…?
– Not only we are partners, we are political friends.
In my case, I consider Mr. Khachatryan as my friend.
– What are your reactions to Hrant Khachatryan’s supporters who blame
you in financial misappropriations?
– I myself am part of Mr. Khachatryan’s team.
– I mean after disagreements and disputes.
Both before the dispute and after it I am against that there will be
such a notion as “Mr. Khachatryan’s supporters” because I am personally
his supporter.
When our conference elected him as a chairman, it means all the
delegates supported him. We think people should be free and decline
from using words like “supporters, people of the same team.”
As far as some party members are concerned who have used libel
through statements and newspapers (Babukhanyan is speaking about
Karen Vardanyan who said Babukhanyan has misappropriated funds),
they have performed the order of the state in order to create
disagreements within the party. An application is forwarded to
the supervision committee to check what they say. So, it will be
checked how truthful these statement are. If they meet the reality,
corresponding conclusions will be drawn. If they don’t, the libelers
will give an answer according to our charter.
/Panorama.am/

MANUKYAN SAYS THIS WAS 4TH ARMENIA-DIASPORA MEETING
Panorama.am
16:07 22/09/06
NA deputy Vazgen Manukyan said everybody forget that in fact the first
Armenia-Diaspora meeting was held in 1991 when business community
from Diaspora was invited to Armenia while Manukyan served as a
prime minister.
Manukyan said they had plans to open an Armenian bank in Paris with
5% of starting capital from the Armenian government and 95% from the
Diaspora. This bank never opened, Manukyan said.
Manukyan has no high hopes with the poverty alleviation program in
rural communities because he says no clear-cut programs are proposed
and supervision mechanisms are not in place. “First of all the state
must not be corrupt so that people make financial assistance,” he said.
Deputy of National Assembly, Khachatur Sukiasyan, also agreed with
Vazgen Manukyan. He said Armenia should become attractive for the
Diaspora. /Panorama.am/

SECOND ARMAGROFORUM KICKS OFF IN YEREVAN
Panorama.am
16:09 22/09/06
“I am sure the forum will create opportunities for international
cooperation in the agricultural sector,” Davit Lokyan, minister of
agriculture, addressed the forum, which kicked off today in Yerevan
as part of III “Armenia-Diaspora” Conference. Lokyan said it aims to
step up mutually beneficial relations between the local and foreign
entrepreneurs.
Minister Lokyan read out the address of President Robert Kocharyan
which says, “Serious achievements have been made since the first
Armagroforum.”
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan also made a speech at
the opening ceremony. In his words, the government attaches great
significance to the rural sector of the republic. “Privatization of
land has created a number of problems in line with positive results,”
he said. He said government support is needed to address part of the
problems, including, development of irrigation system, food safety,
plant protection, credits to rural communities and sale of agricultural
products.
The Armenian government and Yerevan offices of USAID, AMCOR and
a number of other international organizations support the second
international Armagroforum. Representatives from 35 countries,
international organizations, educational establishments within Newly
Independent State, state sector of Armenia and the diplomatic corps
take part in the event. /Panorama.am/

TWO TOP OFFICIALS MISNAME PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN
Panorama.am
18:20 22/09/06
No one at the second international Armagroforum misheard Minister of
Agriculture Davit Lockyan who said at the opening ceremony, “President
of Armenia, Robert Sargsyan, has an address to the conference.”
Participants could not help their laughs at the hall.
Soon after Karen Tchshmaritsyan, minister of trade and economic
development, made another mistake in his speech at Panarmenian
EXPO-2006 saying, “The honor to open the exhibition is given to Robert
Kocharyan, Armenian prime minister.” The president took the mistake
with humor and smiled.
Of coarse, no one is guaranteed against such mistakes but psychologists
believe that mistakes made by chance have deep subconscious roots. We
can say that one of our ministers envisages someone with the surname
Sargsyan as a president (most probably Serzh Sargsyan) while the other
minister thinks that Robert Kocharyan may become a prime minister and
administer the government. Such developments are variously scenarioed
by the opposition. /Panorama.am/

ARMENIAN THEATERS STAGE ALFRED DE MUSSET’S PLAY
Armenpress
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: A play by a 19-th century French
playwright, Alfred de Musset, called Marianne’s Whims (Un Caprice
de Marianne) was translated into Armenian and will be staged by two
Armenian theaters on October 4, 5 and 7 within the frameworks of the
French Festival in Armenia and the Year of Armenia in France.
A French Armenian theater director, Serge Avedikian, invited to stage
the play, said at a news conference today that the Armenian culture
ministry and the French embassy in Yerevan financed the Armenian
translation of the play.
Avedikian said the idea was to do the play through a modern approach
first in Armenia and then to show it in France next year. Alfred de
Musset wrote the play in 1833.

HEADS OF HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS PASS TRAINING COURSES
Armenpress
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: As part of events directed towards
the development of the tourism sphere in Armenia 23 senior officials
of hotels and restaurants in Yerevan and Armenian provinces passed a
6-day training courses within the framework of a program on teaching
international standards to people working in the service sector.
The training program has been organized by the USAID’s Development
of Human and Institutional Potential program in close cooperation
with “Competitive Private Sector in Armenia” and with the financing
of USAID.
Anoush Yedigarian, the director of the Academy for Educational
Development (AED) Yerevan Office, which is carrying out the program,
said that for increasing the quality of services in hotels and
restaurants first of all it is necessary to establish an effective
control, that is to say, to create a body which will carry out the
control. According to her, it will be possible to make the work of
these bodies more effective by conducting discussions over “You
as a Leader,” “Team Work,” “Improvement of Work of an Official,”
“Improvement of Communication,” “Time Management” etc. as well as
by holding practical studies.
For the implementation of the program a competition was announced
the winner of which has become the Educational Institute of American
Hotels and Hospitality Association. The institute is carrying out
trainings and is conducting qualifying exams around the world giving
the participants who pass them successfully special certificate of
“Qualified Leader of Hospitality”.
Alexan Ter-Minasian, the director of “Berlin Guests’ House” hotel
in Gyumri and participant of the program, said during the 5 days
of training they managed to learn important elements of effective
management which are simple and at the same time very useful.
An expert from the Educational Institute of American Hotels and
Hospitality Association Jennifer Calhun said that after the training
the participants will be more prepared. “It is also important for the
participants to assess what they know and what they think they know,”
said she, adding that the level of their preparedness and the results
of the training will be clear after the exams.

Eurlings: Turkey Cannot Become EU Member without Armenian Genocide Recognition
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 13:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The report on Turkey prepared by Dutch rapporteur
Camiel Eurlings will be discussed and voted on in the European
Parliament (EP) General Assembly next week. The draft report on
Turkey’s progress towards accession to the EU and the reforms is to
be discussed in the European parliament on Tuesday.
The report includes a provision, according to which the recognition of
the Armenian, Pontus Greek and Syrian genocides becomes a precondition
for Turkey’s EU membership.
The report will be discussed on Tuesday afternoon and the European
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn will attend the meeting. The
voting of the report is to take place on Wednesday. Earlier this
month, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee approved
Camiel Eurlings’ report on Turkey. The report called on Turkey to
recognize the killings of Armenians during WWI as Genocide and to
open its ports to Greek Cypriot traffic.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the report, saying that it lacked
common sense and smacked of political bias. The draft report insists
that there are persistent shortcomings in areas such as freedom
of expression, religious, minority and women’s rights in Turkey,
said cinannews.

Armenia Joined Two UN Optional Protocols
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 13:43 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia joined two UN optional protocols – the
Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Deputy Minister of
Territorial Administration Gagik Yeganyan handed the documents in
deposit to the UN Secretary General.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often
described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of
a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination
against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such
discrimination. The Convention defines discrimination against women as
“…any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of
sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their
marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil or any other field.”
“Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative,
judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory
under its jurisdiction…No exceptional circumstances whatsoever,
whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political
instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a
justification of torture,” says the Convention against Torture.
The optional protocol to Convention against Tortures was approves in
late 2002 and came into force in June 2006. It allows the UN experts
attend the jails of the Convention member states and calls for
creation of national mechanisms targeted at prevention of tortures,
reports the UN communication unit.

UK Supports Kocharian-Aliyev Talks
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 13:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UK is interested in stability, democracy,
prosperity and rule of law in all of the South Caucasian states,
British Ambassador to Azerbaijan Laurie Bristow said. In his words,
each state depends on the other and all depend on peace and just
settlement of conflicts that tormented the region for a long time.
“We should focus our efforts on prevention of dangers. That is why
Britain supports international efforts for the resolution of Iran’s
nuclear program and support the Kocharian-Aliyev talks for the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” the Ambassador said,
reported Turan news agency.

Majority of Azeri MPs for Military Settlement of Karabakh Conflict
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 14:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ APA Azeri news agency has held a survey among
the Milli Mejlis members. “Should the Karabakh conflict be settled
peacefully or by force?” it asked. It was found out that the
majority of the Azeri MPs support the military settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict explaining their position by “exhausted
possibilities of the negotiation process”. A number of deputies stand
for a peaceful resolution but do not rule out resumption of war. And
only a small number of Azeri parliamentarians think that the Karabakh
problem should be resolved peacefully via talks.