CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II WORK PROJECT- ARMENIAN BUILD ON FAITH
HFH Armenia
Lragir.am
23 Aug 06
On April 20, 2006 a Memoraundum of Understanding was signed between
Habitat for Humanity and Armenian Holy Apostolic church.
The first “His Holiness Karekin II work Project: Armenian Building
on faith” starting upon the agreement to house 37 needy Armenian
families in their safe and decent homes. The 37 homes symbolize 36
Armenian Dioceses and the Holy Chair.
>From September 4 to 9 volunteers from different countries (USA,
Europe and Canada), different backgrounds (church dignitaries and
high ranking officials) churches (Armenian Apostolic and NCCCA)
ages and occupations will come together to finish construction of a
24-unit condominium building in Gavar, region of Gegharkunik in the
frame of the Armenian Building on Faith 2006.
In the number of International volunteers will be coming to Armenia
a team of National Council of Churches led by the General Secretary Dr.
Bob Edgar, Chair of the International Board of Director Dr. Nic
Retsinas and the Chair of the Board of Directors for Europe and
Central Asia Area Paul Eckelshot and of course the Catholicos and
Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians His Holiness Karekin II.
The beginning of the volunteer works will be announced by His Holiness
Karekin II on September 4th in Armenia Marriott Hotel at the official
ceremony of blessing and opening of the event.
The construction works will begin on the next day September the 5th
in Gavar where the army of international and local volunteers will
join HFH Armenia homeowners to help them accomplish construction of
their homes.
On September the 6th His Holiness Karekin II will be joining the
volunteers in the volunteers at the Building Site in Gavar.
On September 9th the official ceremony of house blessing and dedication
will take a place with participation of all the volunteers and high
ranking officials.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW RADIO TO OPEN IN JAVAKHETI
Lragir.am
23 Aug 06
A-Info, Akhalkalaki, 23 August. Since October 1 a new radio station
will start operating in the region of Ninotsminda, Javakheti. The
radio station was set up by the Tbilisi office of the BBC.
The radio station of Ninotsminda will broadcast news, music,
sport programs, programs for women. The staff including 13 people
participated in trainings by a number of experienced journalists.
Laura Varjapetyan is the coordinator of the radio, Ararat Ptetyan is
the editor.

MINISTER GAVE A SURPRISE TO U.S.
Lragir.am
23 Aug 06
The sources standing close to the U.S. government say the Bush
administration was surprised by the aspirations of the defense minister
of Armenia to presidency. The United States were especially amazed
by the willingness of Serge Sargsyan to make any concession to reach
his goal. This information worried the Command of the Armed Forces
of Armenia considerably, and some representatives of the Command
are said to have announced in a narrow circle that long before
the standpoint of the United States they had been worried by the
measureless willingness of the defense minister to make concessions
for the sake of his political ambitions.

AMBASSADOR OF USA TO ARMENIA ENDS HIS MISSION AND LEAVES FOR MOTHERLAND IN BEGINNING, SEPTEMBER
Yerevan, August 22. ArmInfo. The Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of USA to RA, John Evans, ends his mission in Armenia
and leaves for the motherland in the beginning of September, John
Evans told ArmInfo correspondent when asked about the specific terms
of hid mission completion.
At the same time, he refused to comment on the prolonged discussion of
the candidacy of the new Ambassador to RA by the USA Congress. To be
reminded, the hearings in the Congress regarding this issue are put
off till September 7. “I will not discuss the Congress activities”,
J. Evans said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THERE ARE INSURMOUNTABLE CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN THE ‘ORINATS YERKIR’ PARTY AND THE PRESENT AUTHORITIES OF ARMENIA
Yerevan, August 22. ArmInfo. There are insurmountable contradictions
between the ‘Orinats Yerkir’ party and the present authorities of
Armenia, said to ‘Haykakan Jhamanak’ (Armenian Times) opposition
newspaper Arthur Bagdasarian, leader of the ‘Orinats Yerkir’ (Country
of Law) party and former Speaker of the National Assembly. He
said that the contradictions mainly concern the ways of Armenia’s
development. The party is also against the fear and oppression
atmosphere, created by the authorities of Armenia. Mr. Bagdasarian
said that he and his party are intended o strive for democracy and
progress. He denied all the accusations to his address for crimes
committed in his office’s term.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TRADITIONAL FESTIVAL WITH PARTICIPATION OF SOUTH CAUCASIAN REPRESENTATIVES TO TAKE PLACE IN KARS ON 13-15 SEPTEMBER
Kars, August 22. ArmInfo. A traditional festival with participation
of South Caucasian representatives will take place in Kars on 13-15
September, said Azerbaijani Consul General in Kars, Hasan Zeynalov,
Azerbaijani media report.
H. Zeynalov said the event is initiated by the pro-Armenian forces of
Turkey and is aimed at opening of the Turkish-Armenian border. “Every
year this event is held on the initiative of the Kars Municipality,
Norwegian Embassy in Turkey and the Organization of Armenian-Turkish
Cooperation. Representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and
Turkey are invited to the festival. The festival participants say that
the peoples of 4 countries are reported to want the opening of the
border. Then they apply to relevant organizations for this purpose.”
H.Zeynalov said the flags fluttering at the event are mainly
Armenian. Azerbaijanis participated in the event two years ago.
However, as soon as they understood the goal of the event, they
stopped attending it, H. Zynalov said.
To note, Head of the Government of Gyandja, the twin-town of Kars,
Eldar Azizov, is invited to the upcoming festival. Acting Press
Secretary of the Armenian Foreign Minister Vladimir Karapetyan
confirmed the existence of such festival and added that the Armenian
party has not been invited to the event so far this year.

EURASEC MEMBERSHIP WILL HAMPER ARMENIA’S INTEGRATION WITH EUROPE
Yerevan, August 22. ArmInfo. EURASEC membership will hamper Armenia’s
integration with Europe, said to ArmInfo correspondent political
scientist Sergey Sarkisian, member of the SPECTRUM center.
To the opinion of the analyzer, delaying the talks with the WTO Russia
enhanced its activity in EURASEC. The latter, being founded in 2000,
provides establishment free trade regime and single tax tariff between
its member states. It also requires its members to make agree their
programs with the WTO. S. Sarkisian said that in spite of all critics,
EURASEC in the most progressive of all organization of the post-Soviet
area. The last EURASEC summit made a decision to establish a Customs
Treaty of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan, which later can be joined
by the rest of EURASEC members. Mr. Sarkisian said that membership in
both WTO and EURASEC is possible due to applying the loss compensation
mechanism. The political scientist emphasized the decision of the
last summit about creating a unified energy market. Unification of
transport and energy carriers tariffs and including in its structure
Ukraine and Uzbekistan will provide EURASEC the opportunity of becoming
the heir of CIS. He did not exclude the opportunity of merging EURASEC
and CIS into one.
To the opinion of Sergey Sarkisian the EURASEC will permit
to establish much higher preferences for energy than bilateral
partner agreements. He considers that this organization provides
Russia a brilliant opportunity of starting the integration of the
post-Soviet states into a single organization with political and
military implication and an essential economic background. Taking into
consideration all the abovementioned facts Armenia, Armenia cannot
remain just a spectator in EURASEC, being an active member of the
CSTO. On the other hand the EURASEC membership may hamper Armenia’s
integration in EU, that is why the Armenian diplomacy must use all
its skill to find the balance between the West and the EURASEC.

PPA PLANS ITS ACTIONS IRRESPECTIVE OF PROCESSES INSIDE PRO-GOVERNMENTAL CAMP: PPA LEADER
Yerevan, August 22. ArmInfo. The People’s Party of Armenia plans
its further actions irrespective of the processes inside the
pro-governmental camp, the leader of PPA and Justice bloc Stepan
Demirchyan says in an interview to Iravunk daily.
He says that his programs do not depend, say, on the possibility of
a conflict between Robert Kocharyan (President) and Serzh Sargsyan
(Defense Minister). Both are responsible for the present situation
in the country and transfer of power from Kocharyan to Sargsyan is
not real.
Demirchyan refutes the reports that he has had a secret meeting with
Serzh Sargsyan. This is a lie, he says.

MFA OF AZERBAIJAN THREATENS NOT TO ADMIT FOREIGN CITIZENS, WHO VISIT NKR, TO AR TERRITORY
Yerevan, August 22. ArmInfo. MFA of Azerbaijan threatens not to admit
foreign citizens, who visit NKR, to AR territory.
As the “Echo” Baku newspaper informs, Tair Tagizade, the Head of
the Department of Information Policy and Press of AR MFA, came
out with such a threat. “It must clear to anyone, who visit Nagorno
Karabakh, that a trip to the territory of Azerbaijan, not controlled by
Azerbaijan Government, without a corresponding permission by Azerbaijan
can and, most likely, will entail the most serious consequences, up
to the denial of entry to Azerbaijan in future”, Tagizade said. The
anxiety of Azerbaijan is connected with the coming celebrations of
15th anniversary of NKR independence. Different events, concerts
with participation of singers from Armenia and abroad are scheduled
in Stepanakert September 2.

PRESENCE OF TURKISH TROOPS IN LEBANON WOULD PERPETUATE INSTABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
ArmRadio.am
23.08.2006 13:22
The European-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy welcomes
with relief the cease-fire that has put an end to the Israeli bombings
of Lebanon and to the suffering of the people. The Federation also
supports the international community’s current efforts aimed at
the normalization of the region under the aegis of the United
Nations. However, the European-Armenian Federation is gravely
concerned about the possibility of Turkish troops participating in
the peacekeeping force in this sensitive region.
“Let’s remember that Turkey is the old colonial power of the Near East
with clear territorial ambitions vis-a-vis Arab countries. Turkey’s
record of genocide, torture and suffering is permanently inscribed
in the collective memory of the Lebanese. Furthermore, Turkey’s
current abuse of its own ethnic minorities, including those of Arab
nationality, is a well-known reality in the region,” declared Hilda
Tchoboian, chairwoman of the European-Armenian Federation.
“The presence of Turkish troops in an international force would
be a serious mistake with dire consequences for the peacekeeping
operations. Turkey is not a peacemaker. Turkish forces will only
aggravate the current delicate situation in South Lebanon by adding
Turkey’s own regional liabilities to the present complexities in
Lebanon. After so much suffering, the Lebanese people deserve better,”
added Hilda Tchoboian.
The European-Armenian Federation also emphasizes that Turkish
troops would be particularly ineffective and inappropriate due to
the fundamental conflict of interest between their responsibility
as credible and responsible peacekeepers and the higher national
interests of Turkey anchored in the extensive requirements of its
military and strategic alliance with Israel.
The Federation therefore urges the international community to make
a more suitable choice for the makeup of the UN peacekeeping force.