CENTRAL BANK HOLDS EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN NATIONAL CURRENCY IN IJEVAN
Panorama.am
13:53 04/09/06
The Central Bank (CB) of Armenia opened an exhibition of the national
currency of Armenia, dram, September 2 in Ijevan. The event aims
to introduce the public of Tavush to the history of the Armenian
dram and the activities of CB. CB press services told Panorama.am
that the exhibition will run for 10 days. Regional authorities
will help to organize visits of schoolchildren to the fair. CB
officials will also deliver lectures at Ijevan branch of Yerevan
State University. Such events were also organized in Lory region and
Nagorno Karabakh Republic. It is expected to include Gegharkunik in
the program.

MUNICIPALITY REMOVES TRADE HALLS NOT COMPLYING WITH NORMS
Panorama.am
13:58 04/09/06
Karen Gevorgyan, trade and service department head at Yerevan
municipality, told reporters today that 48 shops were removed from
the main avenues of Tigran Mets and Komitas in Yerevan and another
12 were dismantled on Acharyan street. The municipal authorities
required from 73 other shops to modernize.
Gevorgyan also said Yerevan is going to have cattle markets. “Cattle
may be sold in Yerevan but in proper places,” the department head
said. In his words, the municipal authorities have discussed the
issue with the ministry of agriculture. It is expected that four such
markets will be opened.

CONFERENCE ON BIO-ETHICS KICKS OFF IN YEREVAN
Panorama.am
14:05 04/09/06
An international conference on bio-ethical aspects of human rights
in the educational system has kicked off in Yerevan today, organized
by Armenian ombudsman office and National Institute of Bio-ethics
supported by Moscow office of UNESCO.
Armen Harutunyan, human right ombudsman, indicated that bio-ethical
issues have become significant in the light of developments in medical
and biological sciences. “The profession of a doctor is closely related
to ethical norms. All people should have medical treatment, in case
they need it, despite of the size of their purse,” Tatul Hakobyan,
deputy minister of health, stated. The participants said higher
educational establishments should have a course on medical ethics.
Gayane Makaryan, one of the organizers of the conference,
said Azeri experts in bio-ethics did not respond to their
invitation.

ROMANIAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE TO PAY AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 17:10
September 6 the Minister of National Defense of Romania Teodor Atanasiu
will arrive in Armenia on a tree-day official visit.
September 7 the Minister is scheduled to meet with RA president Robert
Kocharyan, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
The same day the Romanian delegation will visit the Genocide museum
and will lay a wreath of flowers at the memorial to the victims of
the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
September 8 visits to the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin and Matenadaran
are expected. Later the Romanian delegation will meet with mass
media representatives.

ILLEGAL BUSINESS HARMS NATURE
A1+
[03:56 pm] 04 September, 2006
Armenia which has been importing wood for the last 70 years has
started to export it.
According to the data from the Customs service, Armenian wood is
exported to Iran, Turkey, Spain, France, Germany and even Tanzania. By
the way, in Soviet times Armenia never engaged in wood export.
The total area of forests in Armenia was last calculated in 1991.There
is no exact information about the forests at present. If 25% of the
territory of Armenia used to be covered with forests, now the index
is about 6-8%. In the CIS countries the average amount of forest
per person is 2.7 hectares, whereas in Armenia it makes 0.1 hectares
per person.
According to the order given to the Armenian forestries, the annual
volume of chopping does not exceed 71-75 thousand cubic meters. In
reality the volumes are much higher. According to the investigations
of independent experts, the annual volume of chopping in Armenia is
1 million 250 thousand cubic meters. And the total number of forest
resources in Armenia is about 42 million cubic meters.
By the way, this data was generated years ago. The main species of
trees chopped are oak and walnut.
Annual circulation of building wood is about 8 million USD, and that
of firewood is 10 million USD. “This sum does not even go to the state
budget as the majority comes from illegal chopping. At present only
chopping for sanitary aims are legally allowed. No businessman will
export that wood as it costs nothing. Only the most valuable wood
is exported, like oak, the stores of which are very little in the
whole world.
Factually, we export is almost for nothing, at the expense of the
environment,” says Nazeli Vardanyan, the head of the NGO “Armenian
Forests”.
It is noteworthy that the decision about amnesty in connection with the
15th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia says
that there are several crimes for which amnesty is not granted. Wood
chopping is one of them.

US CONGRESSMEN CONGRATULATE NKR ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 17:45
The flow of congratulations on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of
declaration of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic continues. The message of
US Congressmen Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg says, in particular,
“On September 2, 1991 the people of Nagorno Karabakh expressed its will
to have own independent state. With this declaration the heroic people
of Artsakh expressed its decision to live free. You defended your right
of living free though successfully resisting the military aggression
of Azerbaijan. Many courageous sons and daughters of your nation
sacrificed their lives for the victory of liberty on Artsakhi land.
During the past 15 years the Nagorno Karabakh Republic proved its
commitment to the values of freedom, peace, democracy and human
rights defense.
We have always been with you in your struggle for independence and we
continue to support you in your fair aspiration to reach international
recognition.
We believe that in the future we’ll continue supporting the
reinforcement of NKR security and development and we are looking
forward to the day when the flag of Artsakh will proudly flutter in
the world as a sign of fulfillment of dreams.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FAREWELL TO AGASSI!!!
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 16:30
World known tennis player, Armenian in Origin Andre Agassi left the
ended his career. He was one of the five sportsmen to win the four
big tournaments.
Andre Agassi’s 20-year career ended in a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 5-7 defeat
to German qualifier Benjamin Becker at the US Open on Sunday.
The 36-year-old was clearly affected by the chronic back injury,
which hastened his decision to retire.
Backed by a fiercely patriotic crowd, Agassi battled courageously
but Becker’s power proved too much.
The American legend fought back tears as the Arthur Ashe crowd,
along with Becker, rose to applaud him.

THE ONLY HOPE IS THE VICTORY OF NORWAY
A1+
[01:59 pm] 04 September, 2006
The Armenian Youth football team beat the Youth team of Norway 1:0
in the “Hanrapetakan” stadium of Yerevan within the framework of the
European Football Championship 2008.
Before that the Armenians had lost the first match to Bosnia. The
latter are to play with Norway on September 6.
If Norway beat Bosnia 1:0, Armenia will pass on to the next phase. In
case of any other result Armenia will disqualify from the tournament.

THEY KILL PEOPLE IN MOVIES TOO
A1+
[03:08 pm] 04 September, 2006
“Public order is preserved better in Armenia than in a number of
countries which are a lighthouse for Armenia in this respect”, said
Vladimir Pryakhin, the head of the OSCE Yerevan office in an interview
with “A1+”.
How can we say that human rights are protected in Armenia if innocent
people become victims of criminal activities? Asked this question,
Vladimir Pryakhin notes that he is sorry for that, “but not a single
country is insured against such criminal activities, even the most
developed ones”.
RA Ombudsman Armen Haroutyunyan is of the same opinion. Of course
he does not think that the protection of human rights is at the same
level in Armenia as in developed countries. Nevertheless, according
to him, even the citizens of Western countries become victims of
criminal activities.
“Don’t you see what they show in movies?” Armen Haroutyunyan stated.
And still, there is one thing Armen Haroutyunyan is convinced in:
there is still much to be done in the sphere of the protection of
human rights in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GUL HAS POSTPONED HIS VISIT TO ATHENS. HE IS GOING TO WASHINGTON INSTEAD.
Sabah, Turkey
Sept 4 2006
Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gul is entering into intensive
diplomacy traffic. On September 13th, Gul will visit France. Gul’s
goal for this trip is to promote relations with France, which has
prepared a draft bill that supports so-called Armenian genocide. On
September 14th, Gul will be on his way to New York to attend the UN
General Assembly. Gul will spend a week in the States then he will
return back to Ankara. In his previous agenda, Gul was planning to
visit Athens on October 2nd. Gul has postponed his trip to Athens and
has decided to go to Washington instead in order to solve the Middle
East and PKK terrorist organization problems.