YOUNG POLITICIANS FIGHTING AGAINST CORRUPTION

ArmRadio.am
06.06.2006 15:43

How to fight corruption? The question was addressed today by
representatives of Youth Wings of former coalition parties –
ARF, Republican and “Orinats Yerkir.” After mutual accusations
and reproaches, the latter presented own suggestions for fighting
corruption and decided to start a struggle against corruption in
higher educational establishments. They arranged to meet again in
two months to present the results achieved.

According to the President of the Club of Young Politicians Aram
Vardanyan, corruption in Armenia existed, exists and will continue
to exist if the things remain this way.

In his words, any control structures established in Armenia or other
similar countries were more corrupt than the one it was meant to
control. It means that the society itself should fight corruption.

Head of “Nikol Aghbalyan” Youth Union of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Ishkhan Saghatelyan is confident that one person cannot
fight corruption, cannot condemn and prove.

President of the Youth Union of Orinats Yerkir Party Samvel Farmanyan
suggested to start the fight against corruption from taking back
different privatized constructions.

“These should be taken back and sold at market prices. The revenues
should be given to young families,” Samvel Farmanyan said.

PRESIDENT OF RA COURT OF APPEAL RECEIVED COE REPRESENTATIVES

ArmRadio.am
06.06.2006 15:11

President of RA Court of Appeal Hovhannes Manukyan received
representatives of the Council of Europe Directorate on Legal Issues
Alesandro Manchinie and Jose Maria, as well as Special Representative
of the CoE Secretary General Boyana Urumova.

The meeting aimed at discussing cooperation in separate directions
between court systems of Armenia and the Council of Europe.

Hovhannes Manukyan presented the process of judicial-legal reforms
in Armenia, which is conditioned both with Constitutional amendments
and the results of activity of the judicial system.

The CoE representatives welcomed the activities directed at creating
an effective court system. On his part, Hovhannes Manukyan expressed
the willingness to cooperate in all those spheres, which will be
considered priority by the Council of Europe.

CEREMONIAL HELD IN REPUBLIC SQUARE

A1+
[12:14 pm] 06 June, 2006

The Armenian chess team arrived at the airport “Zvartnots” on June 6
where the team was met by many journalists, high rank officials and
chess fans. They were very confused and couldn’t speak about their
participation in the Olympiad properly. Anyway they answered the
questions of the journalists.

Arshak Petrosyan, chief coach of the team noted that it was a
historical moment for all Armenians. “Our team was really strong and
deserved the victory,” claimed Petrosyan.

The leader of the team Levon Aronyan left for Germany from Turin where
he is to participate in club meetings. His close friend and Grand
Master Gabriel Sargsyan informed that Levon will likely visit Armenia
in close future. Asked the question how he managed to participate
in 13 meetings and gain 10 points Sargsyan answered, “I was lucky,
and the coaches trusted me.”

Armenian Grand Masters headed for Republic Square from the airport
“Zvartnots” where a ceremonial was held with the participation of
the Armenian song stars.

The chess players again made speeches in the square and couldn’t
conceal their excitement. Serge Sargsyan, chairman of the Armenian
Chess Federation noted that but for the Armenians’ assistance the
chess players wouldn’t win.

“I want to assure you that your assistance was vital during the
Olympiad,” said Serge Sargsyan addressing the crowds of people gathered
in Republic Square.

Then he danced with the chess players whole-heartedly.

The ceremonial ended with firework.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, NA Speaker
Tigran Torosyan, the leaders of law enforcing bodies and many high
rank officials also went to meet the champions at the airport and
participated in the ceremonial.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LEVON CHAKHMAKHCHYAN WAS ARRESTED

A1+
[04:31 pm] 05 June, 2006

Levon Chakhmakhchyan representing the Parliament of the Republic of
Kalmikia in the RF Council was arrested while getting a bribe of 300
thousand USD, Russian Mass Media report. The workers of the Security
Federal Service arrested him on June 2 and found the mentioned sum
in his bag.

By the way, this sum was only a part of the bribe, the rest was to be
transferred to his bank account. The whole sum was to be 1.5 million
USD. Levon Chakhmakhchyan himself claims that the sum is not his and he
has never seen the money. Besides, he announced that “it is all slander
organized by the head of one of the Russian aviation companies.”

The Prosecutor’s Office in Russia confirmed that they confiscated
the money not from Chakhmakhchyan himself but from one of the two
other people who were with him. By the way, besides Chakhmakhchyan
his son-in-law was also arrested in connection with machinations in
the Calculation Chamber.

RALLY IN ARMENIA OPPOSITE THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY

A1+
[05:38 pm] 05 June, 2006

10 NGOs together with about 50 citizens organized a rally of protest
opposite the Russian Embassy with posters saying “STOP”. They condemned
the activities of the racist groupings in Russia, in particular the
skinheads and demanded the RF authorities to resort to strict measures
to arrest and punish the murderers.

“What is taking place in Russia against Armenian is intolerable. The
Russian authorities do not carry out the necessary investigations
in order to punish the organizers of the murders. We think that the
idleness of the Russian authorities is a way of encouraging,” Arsen
Kharatyan, member of the initiative group “For the Development of
Science” complains.

Head of the Armenian Helsinki Committee Avetiq Ishkhanyan who joint
the rally said, “I am sure that if the Armenian authorities had
a stricter attitude towards the events, there wouldn’t be such a
continuation. If they sent a serious note to the Russian authorities
after the desecration of the Armenian cemetery in Krasnodar, I think
something would be done in that direction”.

The participants of the rally handed their statement to the Russian
Ambassador after which headed for the RA Foreign Ministry saying that
their complaint is not only against the Russian authorities.

“One of the aims of the action is to invite the attention of the
Armenian authorities to the matter.

We must send lawyers from Armenia to Russia to follow the trial,
as it was done in Hungary”, Avetiq Ishkhanyan thinks.

POISONOUS RIVER IN KAPAN KILLS FISH

Armenpress
Jun 06 2006

KAPAN, JUNE 6, ARMENPRESS: On June 5 when some organizations in
Yerevan were marking the World Environment Day residents of the town of
Kapan, the administrative center of the southern province of Syunik,
noticed piles of dead fish in the river of Vachagan that runs through
their town.

Experts from the regional ecological inspection took samples of the
water from the river and bodies of dead fish to examine and find out
what may have caused their death. The results of their examination are
expected today. According to a preliminary theory, the fish might have
died of high concentration of chlorine in the water. Local prosecutors
have opened an investigation into the case.

A similar case was registered back in 1991 when workers of the local
Spin plant poured out poisonous substances into the river.

ROMANIA: CROUCH SAYS US BACKS DEVELOPMENT OF BLACK SEA FORUM

Rompres news agency
5 Jun 06

Bucharest, 5 June: The United States backs the development of
the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership, Jack D. Crouch,
deputy national security adviser to US President George W. Bush,
told the summit meeting of the Forum held at Parliament Palace,
in the Romanian capital, on Monday 5 June.

The United States backs the efforts for the creation of a more
prosperous, freer and safer Black Sea region, said Crouch, a former
US ambassador to Romania.

He underscored the importance of the dialogue among the region’s
leaders with a view to finding solutions to the threats to the region’s
security and stability such as “frozen” conflicts, the trafficking
in weapons, drugs and people.

The US supports the Black Sea Forum since it deems it a foundation
for the creation of viable economic development and investment
opportunities in the region, as well as for providing the transport
routes for the energy resources of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia,
for building a regional mechanism of mutual support in the crises
provoked by natural disasters, Crouch stressed.

The US official highlighted the role played by the respect for the
democratic values and human rights and hailed the progress made in
this respect by Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

The US deputy national security adviser announced the US government
will donate “a significant financial contribution” to the Black Sea
Fund that is to be set up with a view to financing the projects that
have common goals with those of the regional initiative.

The initiative to establish a Black Sea Forum was also welcomed
by the representatives of France – Frederic Baleine du Laurens,
director general at the French Foreign Ministry; Germany –
special representative Norber Baas; Italy – State Secretary Famiano
Crucianelli; Spain – special representative Pablo Zaldivar; Belgium
– Foreign Minister Karel de Guht; Poland – Undersecretary of State
Stanislaw Komorowski.

Messages of appreciation for the launching of the Black Sea Forum
were communicated by Sergey Ordzhonikidze, Director General of
the Geneva-based UN Office; Terry Davis, the Council of Europe’s
secretary-general; Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE secretary-general;
Brunson McKinley, director general of the International Migration
Organization; Erhard Busek, special coordinator of the Southeastern
Europe Stability Pact; Marek Belka, executive secretary of the
UN Economic Commission for Europe; Robert Simmons, NATO special
representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia; Peter Semneby,
the EU special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

BULGARIA’S KALFIN: NATO, EU “NATURAL PARTNERS” IN BLACK SEA REGION

BTA website, Sofia
5 Jun 06

Bucharest, 5 June: NATO and the EU are natural partners in the Black
Sea region. The Black Sea is already part of the alliance’s zone of
responsibility, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Ivaylo Kalfin said, addressing a Black Sea Dialogue and Partnership
Forum, the Information, PR, and European Communication Directorate
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release Monday
[5 June].

“We hail the EU’s enhanced interest and are ready to assist in the
further formulation of a comprehensive approach to the region,”
Kalfin also said.

According to Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister, Bulgaria is paying
special attention to the development of economic cooperation, transport
and energy infrastructure projects and the deepening of interculture
dialogue between the Black Sea countries.

The meeting, which was opened in Bucharest Monday, is attended by
the presidents of Armenia, Russia, Moldova and Ukraine. Greece and
Turkey are represented by their ministers. The Forum is also attended
by representatives of the OSCE, the EU, NATO, the Council of Europe,
the UN, the Stability Pact and regional and European banks.

The purpose of the meeting is to set up a framework for discussing the
problems of the Black Sea region as part of the process of formulating
common priorities and deepening cooperation between the countries of
the region, the press release says.

ROMANIA: US’ MARSHALL FUND EARMARKS 20M DOLLARS FOR BLACK SEA DEMOCRACY

Rompres news agency
5 Jun 06

Bucharest, 5 June: The Marshall Fund of the United States announced
on Monday 5 June, at a summit meeting of the Black Sea Forum for
Dialogue and Partnership, having set up a Black Sea Fund for funding
democracy consolidation, good governance, regional cooperation and
civil society development projects in the Black Sea area.

The Marshall Fund has earmarked 20m dollars for the establishment of
the Black Sea Fund and started negotiations with the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation,
the Romanian government as well as with other US and European public
and private donors over support for this initiative.

Marshall Fund Chairman Craig Kennedy says the Black Sea area is vital
to long-lasting stability and peace in Europe, the United Sates and
NATO. According to him, the Black Sea Fund will help secure progress
in the region, as well as at national and international levels.

An annual fund of 42m [dollars] will be available for the earmarking
of two fellowships of between 1,000 dollars and 75,000 dollars for
which NGOs, local and regional authorities, learned bodies and the
media of the Black Sea Forum countries -Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine – will qualify.

According to a press release of the Marshall Fund, the fellowships
will be distributed for two main components – the Civic Programme,
under which the consolidation of democracy, the state of law, good
governance, citizen education in participatory democracy are supported,
and the Cross-Border Programme for cross-border cooperation projects.

The Marshall Fund highlights the important contribution of Romanian
President Traian Basescu and the Romanian Foreign Ministry to the
establishment of the Black Sea Fund, mentioning that it is conducting
negotiations with the Romanian government over setting up the Fund’s
secretariat in Bucharest.

According to the release, the Black Sea Fund will become operational
this year.

ETHNIC AZERIS VOW “MAJOR” RALLY OVER TEHRAN’S REJECTION OF DEMANDS – BAKU PAPER

Yeni Musavat, Baku
5 Jun 06

The Baku-based Yeni Musavat paper has reported that ethnic Azerbaijanis
in Iran have vowed to continue their protests because of Tehran’s
refusal to fulfill over 30 demands put forward in a statement issued
by a rally in Tehran on 4 June.

Quoting the statement, the paper said that ethnic Azerbaijani
protesters in Iran will stage “a major protest” in Qum on 6 June
and the Iranian government will be held responsible for any future
incidents.

The statement said: “The Turkish language should be recognized as
an official language, the use of the phrase ‘Azeri language’ should
be stopped in official documents, the Turkish language should be
taught at secondary and high schools throughout the country, given
that Turks live throughout the entire territory of Iran, radio and TV
channels should be established and broadcast in Southern Azerbaijan,
a separate Turkish-language 24-hour channel should be opened for
[ethnic] Azerbaijanis in Tehran, a state newspaper or agency which
could be distributed to all Iranian regions should be set up.”

It also called for the allocation of 5bn dollars for the implementation
of economic projects and “for the coverage of damage inflicted by
the recent developments”.

The statement said that 22 May, a day of riots in Tabriz, “should
officially be marked as Azerbaijani Martyr Day, … and a separate
Azerbaijani province should be set up”.

“Those arrested should be freed, those who fired at people should
be brought to book and the publication of all [ethnic] Azerbaijani
papers which were recently closed down should be resumed… and Iran
newspaper should be closed down for good, the policy of changing the
ethnic composition of Azerbaijani-populated towns should be ended,
Iran should cease all political, cultural and trade relations with
Armenia,” it said.

Yeni Musavat quoted a source in Ardabil in Iran as saying that forty
of 1,075 people who had been recently arrested were women and only
102 of the detained protesters were set free.