WHO SHOULD NAME PRIME MINISTER IN KARABAKH
Lragir.am
04 Sept 06
The draft constitution of NKR is under consideration in the NKR
National Assembly. There are a number of disputable questions,
including who names the prime minister. In accordance with the draft,
the head of state names and dismisses the prime minister. Not everyone
agrees to this provision. For instance, Gagik Poghosyan, member of the
Azat Hayrenik Party says the National Assembly should name a prime
minister. However, he thinks that unlike Armenia, the president
of Karabakh should be empowered to dismiss the prime minister,
considering the reality of NKR.
“I think the government staff should reflect the political pattern
of the parliament,” said Gagik Petrosyan.
Vahram Atanesyan, the leader of the faction of the Democratic
Party says the draft constitution provides for the division of the
legislative, executive and judicial bodies. “Although we would like
to reach more clarity on these mechanisms during the parliamentary
debates. Namely, on the constitutional mechanisms of forming government
and parliamentary control over the activities of the government,”
said Vahram Atanesyan.
“We think the balance of the executive, legislative and judicial
bodies is not sufficient. Namely, the executive is apparently given
more powers. In the Constitution of Armenia, this balance is kept
to a certain degree. In accordance with the Constitution of Armenia,
the parliament majority names the prime minister, whereas according to
our draft constitution, the president names prime minister. You may
ask what the problem is. In fact, if the political sphere in Armenia
is in the stage of establishment, in Karabakh it is just forming.
Hence, it may become another reason why the political sphere will
remain in its former state. And an established political sphere is
highly important for a state like Karabakh,” said Arthur Mosiyan,
the representative of ARF Dashnaktsutyun to Artsakh.
Apparently, the provision on naming prime minister will give rise to
heated debates. Certain political forces may wish that the parliament
majority name the prime minister. The problem will become complicated
in the sense that in the present parliament of NKR only one third
was elected under the proportional system. And the pattern of the
parliament is not set down in the draft constitution at all.

OSKANYAN DOES NOT GUARANTEE MEETING IN PARIS
Lragir.am
04 Sept 06
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan announced September 2 that he
cannot state for sure if he will meet with Elmar Mammedyarov, the
Azerbaijani foreign minister. Earlier Mammedyarov had announced that
the French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Fassier suggested that
the foreign ministers meet September 12-13 in Paris, or September
14-15 in London. Mammedyarov announced that he agreed to meet.
Later Vardan Oskanyan announced on the Public Channel of Armenia
that he could not state for sure whether the meeting of the ministers
would take place, since certain processes are now underway in the UN.
Vardan Oskanyan hinted that this process may lead the Armenia to
refuse to take part in the meeting of ministers.
The Armenian foreign minister apparently meant the letter of GUAN to
the UN General Assembly proposing that the conflicts in the space of
GUAM, including the Nagorno-Karabakh issue be discussed at the 61st
session of the General Assembly. This is not desirable for Armenia,
and Vardan Oskanyan indirectly threatened that Armenia will boycott
the meeting of ministers over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in case the proposal is accepted.

SERIES OF CONCERTS TO BE HELD AT “CASCADE” ARCHITECTURAL COMPLEX
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 14:54
September 12-26 series of concerts will be held at the “Cascade”
architectural complex. The event is organized by the Gafeschian
Museum Fund.
Press Service of the Museum told ArmInfo that the first concert
scheduled September 12 will be dedicated to Mozart’s 250th anniversary.
September 26 the Armenian Navy Band is expected to perform at a
concert organized by the British Oxfam Company and dedicated to the
development of the century’ s objectives.

ALIEV WAS FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH KARABAKH
Naira Bulghadaryan
A1+
[01:53 pm] 04 September, 2006
President of NKR Arkadi Ghoukasyan presented Azeri advocate Arzu
Abdulaeva who visited Karabakh with the whole pack of the negotiations
with Azerbaijan. The pack contains the agreements signed by Azerbaijan
and Karabakh mainly without the participation of Armenia.
According to Arkadi Ghoukasyan, by one of them Heidar Aliev authorizes
his representative “to carry on negotiations with the representative
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic”.
“When Azerbaijan needed to cease the military operations, they
actively communicated with Karabakh”, Arkadi Ghoukasyan announced
during the meeting with Armenian and Azeri advocates. He claimed that
now Azerbaijan does not even want to listen to Karabakh.
During the meeting with the representatives of the Armenian and Azeri
Committees of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, the Vanadzor Office, and
the Karabakh NGO “Helsinki Initiative” Arkadi Ghoukasyan spoke about
the possible ways of the settlement of the conflict, about Karabakh’s
participation of Karabakh in the negotiations, about the problem of the
of fates of missing persons, the results of the hostilities between the
countries and the necessity of creating an atmosphere of mutual trust.
According to the NKR President, the main precondition of the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict is the creation of an atmosphere of mutual
trust and making the voice of the residents of Karabakh audible for
the international community.
“The residents of Karabakh do not want to return to Azerbaijan. The
Republic of Azerbaijan is not considered the assignee of the Soviet
Union. Nagorno Karabakh ceased to be part of Azerbaijan according to
the same law according to which Azerbaijan ceased to be part of the
Soviet Union. So, what does Azerbaijan have to do with Karabakh? “,
Arkadi Ghoukasyan said.
According to Mr. Ghoukasyan, this approach does not mean a wish to
re-launch war. The President offers to listen to the facts brought
about by Azerbaijan, including the issues about referendum and
transitional status. But what is most important is that Nagorno
Karabakh must be included in the negotiation process.
“After all, Karabakh suffered more losses than Azerbaijan and Armenia”,
the President said and added that the bombs were thrown at Stepanakert
and not at Yerevan or Baku.
He thinks that even if a document is signed, the nations must be
ready for historical reconciliation.
Otherwise, “if you do not exclude the possibility of launching was
in about 10-15 years, you will never compromise”.
He recalled the years of war when the situation was milder and the
communication with the Azeris was closer. And now the sides speak
a language which “does not contribute to the peaceful settlement of
the conflict”.

ANDRE AGASSI WALKED OFF THE COURT THE WAY HE WANTED, TO A CHAMPION’S OVATION
Panorama.am
13:30 04/09/06
In the end, despite all the tears, it hardly made a difference to
him or his fans that he didn”t win.
A career for the ages came to a close Sunday with Agassi worn down
and wincing, losing to 112th-ranked Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-7 (4),
6-4, 7-5 in the third round at the U.S. Open.
Betrayed by a creaky body that needed four injections this week,
his spirit never waned. And that is something Agassi and his fans
will always remember.
“For me, it was never about winning and stopping,” he said. “It was
about getting the most out of myself for as long as possible,” he said.
Agassi announced this summer that the Open would be his final event. It
seemed unimaginable that he could win seven matches to take the title,
but after two inspiring victories, fans began to hope and wonder.
Instead, the end came with Agassi looking like what he”d become —
a 36-year-old man with a bad back, ready for retirement.
“I just credit the doctors that I was able to play out there today,”
he said. “I didn”t expect a whole lot physically. And sure enough,
it was real early when I wasn”t feeling so good.”
The 25-year-old Becker started strong, showing few nerves, and closed
out the match with a 133 mph ace.
Moments later, Agassi teared up on the blue court as he addressed a
crowd that showed up early at Arthur Ashe Stadium and tried to spur
him all afternoon.
“The scoreboard said I lost today,” he said. “But what the scoreboard
doesn”t say is what it is I”ve found.”
Becker, who had to win three qualifying matches merely to make it
into the Open, applauded as Agassi spoke.
Agassi”s wife, Steffi Graf, and their two young children looked on.
“He was my idol growing up,” Becker said.
He joined the crowd for a four-minute, loud standing ovation saluting
Agassi, who stared out at the crowd from his chair, wiping tears from
his eyes.

BEST SOVIET TRADITIONS CONTINUE
Lragir.am
04 Sept 06
This is the impression of the speech of the counsel for prosecution
Janna Kotikyan in the trial of Arman Babajanyan, the Editor-in-Chief
of the Times Yerevan.
In the first instance court of Armenia, there is one justice on the
bench, whereas Ms. Kotikyan addressed “justices”, as it was accepted
in good old times, about 20 years ago. In the Republic of Armenia the
counsel for prosecution cannot prompt or propose the justice on the
sentence, whereas Ms. Kotikyan proposed sentencing Arman Babajanyan
to one year of imprisonment for avoiding military service and 4
years for forging documents, all in all, sentence him to 4.5 years
of imprisonment.
Another “Soviet manifestation”. Janna Kotikyan started her speech with
the words, “the trial was compliant with all the rules of trial.” But
is it one of the rules of the trial to be 30 minutes late for the
trial, like Janna Kotikyan did? Of course, in the Soviet years we had
seen a district attorney be more powerful than the judge. The counsel
for prosecution thinks the accusations for avoiding military service
and forging documents are grounded.
Whereas, Arman Babajanyan’s attorney thinks that the accusations for
stealing and forging documents are groundless. Vahe Abovyan and Armine
Arakelyan broke relations with Arman in 2002. Hence, the documents,
namely the certificate of marriage and the birth certificates should
have been stolen before 2002, whereas in 2005 the birth certificate
was used to take the child to school. Moreover, since 2002 they
had not announced that their documents could have been stolen from
their house or forged. Armine Arakelyan stated this only during the
interrogation. “The accusations against Arman Babajanyan are based
on suppositions, and the doubts are interpreted in favor of the
defendant,” stated Robert Grigoryan.
The counsel for prosecution announced that it is legal to sue a person
on the grounds of an anonymous letter, and the counsel for defense
listed a number of cases provided by the NKR laws when the anonymous
letter cannot be grounds for suing.
Arman Babajanyan confessed avoiding military service. His attorney
said, “I felt protected when Arman Babajanyan avoided military service,
and if he is imprisoned, I will not feel more protected. He repents
and he is his most rigid judge. He can be corrected without insulation
from the society.” Robert Grigoryan proposed dismissing the accusation
for forgery and sentence Arman Babajanyan to a punishment other than
imprisonment for avoiding military service. “Instead of sustaining
him at the expense of the government he could be helpful to the state.”
In the next sitting of the court Arman Babajanyan will make his final
speech and only the verdict of Justice Mnatsakan Martirosyan will
remain to hear.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BROADCASTS ON NAGORNO KARABAKH JEOPARDIZE RUSSIA’S RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 15:46
Screening of programs about Nagorno Karabakh on the occasion of
the 15th anniversary of NKR independence “jeopardizes Azerbaijan’s
relations with Russia, official Baku considers.
According to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov,
“such programs contradict the statements Russia makes on the state
level, “Interfax” reports. “This kind of phenomena jeopardize both
Russia’s interests in the South Caucasus and Russia’s bilateral
relations with Azerbaijan,” Azimov underlines.

CHECHEN GIRL WINS MISS CAUCASUS-2006 TITLE IN YEREVAN
Armenpress
Sept 04 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Fatima Khazueva from Russian Chechen
Republic has won the title of Miss Caucasus-2006 in a beauty pageant
held in Yerevan on September 3.
Arman Antonian, head of the beauty contest steering committee, said
the Chechen girl has also won trips to Paris, Milan and Monaco. The
beauty contest was held under the motto of Peace to Caucasus. Nine
beauties from the vast region who had qualified for the semi-final
of a beauty show in the southern Russian Nalchik earlier contested
the title in Yerevan.
Arman Antonian said the sole goal of the contest was to encourage the
people of the region to push away their disagreements and unite for
peace and prosperity. Azerbaijan refused to send its beauty to Armenia.

ARMENIA-DIASPORA ECONOMIC FORUM TO OPEN SEPTEMBER 20
Armenpress
Sept 04 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Deputy trade and economic development
minister Tigran Davtian said the ministry has received 250 applications
from Armenian businessmen around the world who want to participate
in the second Armenia-Diaspora Economic Forum, slated for September
20 in Yerevan.
Davtian said they, however, expect this number to double. He said
the Forum is part of an extensive array of events to mark Armenia’s
15-th independence anniversary. It will held on the sidelines of the
third Armenia-Diaspora Conference.
The deputy minister said apart from ethnic Armenians also chief
officials of some leading international organizations and companies
are expected to attend the Forum, particularly, a large delegation
of IT specialists is expected.
As part of the Forum Yerevan will host also Armenian Economy in 15
Years exhibition on September 22.

LPUTYAN WAS DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL
A1+
[04:06 pm] 04 September, 2006
Armenian renowned chess grand master Smbat Lputyan was discharged
from hospital and will continue the treatment at home. About a week
ago Lputyan was caught in a car accident and was taken to hospital.
According to the official version, on August 26 at about 05:00
p.m. S. Hayrapetyan’s “Moskvich” crashed into the “Honda” driven by
Smbat Lputyan. As a result of the accident Smbat and Susanna Lputyans,
Gayane Zh. Lputyan and Hripsime S. Lputyan were taken to hospital.
A criminal case was initiated in connection with the accident.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress