PRESS RELEASE
Shushi Music School Society
6000 Topeka Dr.
Tarzana, CA 91356
Contact: Hrayr Khanjian
Tel: (818) 577-8480
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
September 19, 2006
Shushi Music School Society’s Third Annual Summer Camp a Success
The Shushi Music School Society was established in 1994. Its Mission
is to support the Daniel Ghazaryan School located in Shushi, in
the heart of Nagorno-Karabagh. This institution, with a current
student enrollment of 100, provides superior academic and music
instruction. The Society’s goal is to prepare the future intellectuals
and leaders of Shushi, once a vibrant cultural center of Artsakh.
With years of arduous work, and after surmounting many obstacles,
the Society was able to completely renovate the main building of the
school, where all the academic and music instruction takes place,
and construct a basketball court, a soccer field, a playground, a
concert hall, a library, a computer laboratory and cafeteria. This
was accomplished thanks to the support of various individuals and
organizations in the Diaspora who believe in the importance of the
existence of such an institution in this war devastated area.
The first summer camp was held in 2004. It generated so much enthusiasm
among the children of Shushi and the volunteers from Los Angeles
who helped to organize it, that the Board of Directors of the Shushi
Music School Society decided to make it a yearly event.
Summer Camp 2006 was held from July 10 to 18. A total of 14 volunteers
from Los Angeles, some high school students and some college students,
led the various daily activities for the 80 camp participants.
For some, this marked their second trip to Shushi.
Once again, the travel expenses of many of the student volunteers
were subsidized by various individuals and businesses in Los Angeles.
Daily activities at the camp included the traditional clinics and games
in basketball, volleyball and soccer, classes in English language,
computers, arts and crafts, and dance.
This year, a nurse and a dentist from Los Angeles accompanied the group
of volunteers to provide health services to the children of Shushi.
Most camp attendees received eye vision screening tests. Some of the
children were taken to Stepanakert to have prescription glasses made,
thanks to the generosity of our volunteer nurse. Lice checks were
performed and instructions on how to prevent lice were provided to
the parents.
The children also received free dental care by our volunteer dentist
who was given the opportunity to use the only dental clinic in Shushi,
which is fully sponsored by the Armenian Canadian Medical Association
of Ontario (ACMAO). She also gave a presentation on the importance
of maintaining proper oral hygiene.
Moreover, each camp attendee received toothbrushes and educational
pamphlets on dental care.
The summer camp is truly a source of joy and entertainment for the
children of Shushi who are given the opportunity to participate in
well organized activities and to further their knowledge in specific
areas. It provides them with the much needed change from the challenges
they face daily due to the economic constraints of the region. It is
also an invaluable life-altering experience for the young volunteers
from Los Angeles who undoubtedly are impacted by the chance they are
given to help and make a difference.
Tro DerSarkissian, a senior student attending Crescenta Valley High
School, who also participated to summer camp ’05, thus describes
the Daniel Ghazaryan School and its surroundings: “You’re driving
through war-torn streets with broken down homes and main streets that
require off-road vehicles to pass through. You see several wide-open
manholes that young children play alongside of. You ask yourself a
second time why you actually came here. Then, from the bottom of the
street, a mystical tune waves through your ears and reminds you of
what you’re actually here for. The walls of Daniel Ghazaryan School
of Music resonate to the harmonious sounds of Shushi’s youth. That’s
what I’m here for.”
Sophomore UCLA student, Paleny Topjian, who gave instruction in
English and dance, gives the following description of her students:
“As young Armenians, interacting with the children inevitably stirs
up emotions in us. We see in them a thirst for knowledge, which
is unfortunately limited to them in so many ways. There is so much
talent hidden between the broken buildings and roads, that it fills
me with great joy to be able to provide an outlet for their creative
and intellectual abilities.”
Maral DerSarkissian, a sophomore student attending U.C. Berkeley,
and who also volunteered her time to this project last year, reflects
on her last day in Shushi: “I will never forget the tears a child
cried the night before we left for Yerevan. His tears ushered forth
our own tears and staggering aches in our hearts. Knowing that you
can affect a child that deeply is worth more than words can tell.
We found new brothers and sisters in Shushi, and left them with
promises of our return. More than that, though, I think we all left
a piece of our hearts in Shushi.”
For Terenig Topjian, a senior student enrolled at Cal State Northridge,
the summer camp experience was different from his many previous trips
to the Homeland. “My experience with this group was far different
in nature from my previous visits, which consisted of leisurely bus
rides to the routine tourist destinations. For about a week and a half
we interacted with the children of Shushi. We lived in the same war
torn city that these children grew up in.
We worked with them, played alongside them, and at the last day of the
camp we danced with them during the “khurakhjank.” Such an experience
brought us much closer to understanding what life is truly like for
most of our fellow Armenians, something that no tour organized by a
travel agency and that no amount of sightseeing or brief encounters
with locals could give. Every Armenian should give himself or herself
the opportunity to leave the more visitor friendly streets of Yerevan’s
“Gendron” and get involved in one of the many voluntary, hands on
programs dedicated to serving the vast array of needs of the people
of Armenia.”
On the final day of camp, the children and volunteers gathered in
the school’s Concert Hall. In her opening remarks, the school’s
principal, Mrs.
Gohar Mkrtchian, welcomed the guests and thanked the volunteers for
their time and effort. The spectators were then able to enjoy vocal
and dance performances, taught to the children during the week long
camp. In the second part of the program, the gifted students of the
Daniel Ghazaryan School demonstrated their outstanding skills in
music, by performing various traditional Armenian selections.
The Shushi Music School Society’s Board of Trustees would like to
thank all those individuals who have supported the organization’s
endeavors to date. For more information regarding the Society’s various
undertakings, including additional pictures about the summer camp,
or to make a tax-deductible donation for a specific project, you may
contact the Society by visiting its website at
or by writing to
Shushi Music School Society
6000 Topeka Dr.,
Tarzana, CA 91356.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LAST IN 2006 TRAIN FROM RUSSIAN BASE LEAVES GEORGIA FOR RF
ITAR-TASS
19.09.2006, 11.22
TBILISI, September 19 (Itar-Tass) — The last in 2006 train loaded
with military hardware and weapons from the Russian military base
deployed in Akhalkalaki left the Georgian district center of Tsalka
for Russia on Tuesday, a representative of the command of the Russian
military base in Akhalkalaki told Itar-Tass.
The train will bring to Russia three tanks, one field laboratory,
380 tonnes of ammunition and 11 anti-aircraft mounts ZU-23.
Under the agreements the local law enforcement agencies ensure security
of the trip in Georgia, and the local authorities – in Azerbaijan.
Representatives of the command of the Russian troops in the
Transcaucasia, law enforcement agencies in Georgia and Azerbaijan
took part in the farewell ceremony of the last train in 2006 from
the railway station of Tsalka.
The first train with military hardware and weapons from the Russian
military base in Akhalkalaki was dispatched to Russia on May 15. Army
convoys gradually delivered some military hardware and weapons from
the Russian base in Akhalkalaki to another Russian military base in
Gyumri, Armenia, from May 18 till August 17, 2006. “Military hardware
and weapons from the base in Akhalkalaki were withdrawn as scheduled
this year, the greater part of military hardware and weapons were
withdrawn,” a source in the Russian troops in the Transcaucasia said.
Wheeled vehicles and the remaining property should be withdrawn from
Akhalkalaki next year. The base will be closed by October 1, 2007. The
withdrawal of military hardware and weapons from the Russian military
base in Batumi will continue in 2007.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GOLD PRICE SLIDES ON WORLD MARKETS, REMAINS HIGH IN GEORGIA
Nino Saginadze
The Georgian Times
September 19.09.2006
Gold prices have been going down in the New York and London stock
exchanges. The price of gold slumped to record lows at $594 USD last
week. Prices are declining on silver as well. Silver costs $11 USD
on the world markets. The price plummet has been brought about by
changes in oil prices and also by low consumer spending due to the
strong dollar.
The drop in the price of gold on the world markets have not affected
prices in Georgia. The price of gold, silver and other metals remain
at the level registered in January 2006. Neither a strong GEL nor oil
prices are having an impact on the metal prices in Georgia. Georgian
stock exchange experts argue that if gold prices remain low on
the world markets it will affect the prices in Georgia in the long
run. However, they add that that may take months.
Given the fluctuating price of the USD and the unstable economic
environment in Georgia, people tend to invest in gold along with
real estate. This is why the demand for gold — and thus the price
of gold — remains high in Georgia. The price of gold in Tbilisi
gold markets are at the same level today as they were in February
when they hit record highs. Currently 1 gram 999 gold costs 40 GEL,
583 gram gold costs 28 GEL.
“We’ve learned that prices on London stock exchange went down, but
I cannot reduce the price,” says Venera Avtandilashvili, a dealer
at the gold market. “I paid a high price for it and cannot afford
to discount it now. Some rings take two or three months to sell and
some even more – 6 months to a year. Therefore, I have to set a high
mark-up now to make a profit. I am standing here all day and have
to add at least a $50 USD mark-up to pay the daily charge here and
to make a profit. Why on earth should I care about world markets? I
have my own business. Therefore, what counts is how much I paid for
the ring rather than how much the ring would cost in London.”
The price changes on the world markets have not benefited buyers but
did bring profits to gold traders. They are making use of the world
trend and are offering lower prices to gold sellers, saying that gold
has became cheaper in the world.
Tbilisi gold markets and exchanges sell mostly Italian, Turkish and
Russian jewelry. Whatever counter you go to, dealers will offer jewelry
pieces produced in these three countries. But in reality gold enters
Georgia from many different corners of the world where most Georgians
have never set foot: from African states, the US, Greece (jewelry
from these countries is mostly brought by Georgian immigrants) and
in great amount from neighboring Armenia. Jewelry produced by local
goldsmiths takes an important share of the market. Local jewelers use
the so called ‘junk’ (raw materials) imported from foreign countries
and produce pieces here.
Buyers are still favouring Russian gold. However, Italian and Turkish
gold is becoming increasingly popular. Their appeal lies in their
modern design and are mostly liked by youth people. After the demand
on the Italian and Turkish gold went up, its price also started going
up and today costs more than Russian gold. Transportation costs are
making the product even more expensive. 1 gram (585 sample) of Italian
and Turkish gold costs 32 GEL. Russian gold is a bit cheaper – 28
GEL. However, the sample indicated on the label of the ring does not
usually show the real concentration of gold in the piece of jewelry,
especially for jewelry produced in local goldsmith’s.
The copper concentration in the jewelry is often higher the norm and
therefore its selling price is much higher its real value.

EU DIPLOMAT (PRETENDS TO BE) DETAINED BY BORDER POLICE
By Keti Sikharulidze
Messenger.ge
Tuesday, September 19, 2006, #177 (1197)
Torben Holtze gets hands on experience of newly reformed border police
Since spring 2006 the Border Police have undergone something of a
transformation. The ongoing reforms, supported by the international
community, have turned the former military border guards into a
civilian border police service, in line with European practice.
In the latest of these reforms, the Georgian Border Police Department
opened a new faculty at the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs on September 18.
“Before the end of this year, the Border Police will be fully
transformed into a contract-based professional body,” said head the
faculty Giorgi Merabishvili.
“Our reform process is coming to its end, of course, training
professional staff is paramount in this reform,” head of the Georgian
Border Police Badri Bitsadze told The Messenger.
The academy also signed contracts with international experts, who
will train future instructors from Border Police, these trainings
are scheduled to start this autumn.
“These instructors are skilled officers from border police forces,
who will train our border police staff,” Kakha Khizanishvili,
director of the Police Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
told The Messenger.
The EU has contributed EUR 1 million to establish the faculty, out
of which EUR 150 000 was spent on computer equipment.
“The establishment of the border police faculty is a great step
forward…we are moving forward in our cooperation to establish the
Georgian Border Police, which will be up to EU standards…Georgian
borders will be guarded by professional police forces, which will
benefit everybody, except the criminals,” said Torben Holtze, head
of the European Commission delegation to Georgia and Armenia.
The project is also developed with the help of the Finish Border
Police, who are considered one of the best and most modern forces in
the world.
“We are very glad to share our experience with our Georgian colleagues,
but we are all in this together…
We need more international cooperation and a basis for that is an
efficient border management system,” Tehri Hakala, Ambassador of
Finland, told The Messenger.
At the end of the presentation the guests witnessed a truly
extraordinary event, which could have led to a major international
incident, had it not been a reconstruction: the head of the Delegation
of the European Commission was caught in action by border policemen
conducting an illegal border crossing, trafficking human beings and
illegal goods.
“I am not an expert and have never tried this before…
I think that training is going very well and when I look at American
movies it looks like that. But of course, in reality, it is probably
different, you have to start to show what it is about. They are getting
the idea of what to do in the field,” Holtze told the journalists
after the reconstruction.

GEORGIA HOSTS BLACK SEA CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Rustavi 2
Daily Georgian Times
2006.09.19
Georgia Education Minister hosts the Black Sea Conference on higher
education titled ‘University Entrance Exams-fairness, Equality,
Availability’.
The International Conference aims at improvement of examination
system. The conference has been organized by the National Assessment
and Examination Center and the Ministry of Education and Sciences
of Georgia.
Experts and the heads of state educational organizations, chairs of
world’s leading universities from Great Britain, U.S., France, Germany,
Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia, Sweden, Bulgaria,
Moldova, turkey, Ukraine, Armenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro,
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Azerbaijan, Albania, Kazakhstan
and Kyrgyzstan are participating in the conference.
Georgian Education Minister Aleksandre Lomaia will open the
Conference. Georgian officials, Diplomatic Corps accredited in Georgia,
rectors of Georgian universities and international organizations will
also participate in the forum.

TURKIC WORLD GOING TO SOLVE CYPRUS AND KARABAKH PROBLEMS
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.09.2006 16:03 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Turkic world will further make steps aimed at
solution of the Cyprus and Nagorno Karabakh issues,” Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan stated at the 10th Congress of Turkic-Speaking Countries
in Antalia. In his words, “up to today the Turkic world has done joint
steps in that issue and it will continue these.” “It is necessary to
make joint efforts in Cyprus and Nagorno Karabakh issues,” Erdogan
underscored, the Zaman writes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA PASSED 15 YEARS WITHOUT SHOCK
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.09.2006 16:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Within 15 years of independence Armenia was able
to pass a long way of development, a way without serious upheaval,
as different from Georgia, head of the operation on liberation of
Shushi, major general Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan stated.
“However, as different from neighboring states, we do not have
friends. Azerbaijan has allied Turkey, which provides much assistance
to it. We were and we remain solitary. Only our Diaspora helps
us. The Armenian people are creators, and it relies only on itself,”
he remarked.
In the general’s words, one of the major achievements of independent
Armenia is creation of strong, efficient army, which is the most
powerful in the region. “Azerbaijan constantly speaks of high rate of
development of economy, threatens us with increase of its military
budget, however the budget size does not decide everything and I do
not trust Baku official numbers. At that it should be understood
that Baku does not stay idle and prepares to a war. However, I am
convinced that in the coming few years hostilities are unlikely in
the conflict zone, as our army excels the Azeri one in alertness,”
Ter-Tadevosyan underscored, reports IA De-Facto.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA MAY BE USED AS TRANSIT TERRITORY FOR IRANIAN GAS
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.09.2006 17:08 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The US and Russia are united in the matter of using
Armenia as transit territory for Iranian gas to the west, Head of
Hay Dat Office Kiro Manoyan stated at a news conference September
19. In his words, the two superpowers realize that for Armenia,
which is in an economic blockade, having an alternative gas source
is necessary. “It is important that Russia – the only gas supplier
to Armenia – realizes that fact,” he said.
As for Armenian-Iranian relations, Manoyan believes there are no false
rumors seen. “The “Iranian dossier” may become the only factor for
worsening. If US desires are turned into reality and the international
community applies sanctions against Iran, problems may appear in
Armenian-Iranian relations,” Manoyan stressed, reports IA Regnum.

ARMENIANS CANNOT INFLUENCE APPOINTMENT OF US AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.09.2006 17:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The appointment of the US Ambassador to Armenia is
purely American problem and neither Armenians nor any other nation can
influence it, Head of Hay Dat Office Kiro Manoyan stated at a news
conference September 19. In his words, most senators, who voted for
Hoagland, motivated their actions that the White House will not propose
another candidate in case Hoagland is not confirmed. “All members
of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee are sure that the White
House should change its position over the Armenian Genocide,” he said.
In Manoyan’s words, White House confirming Hoagland during US Senate
vacation not ruled out. “In any case the Ambassador is a representative
of the President and he should express the position of the state
leader,” he said. In Manoyan’s opinion, the US-Armenia relations are
at a rather high level. “There are no serious problems between us,”
he remarked. As of the Millennium Challenge Program, Manoyan noted
the importance of holding “transparent and fair parliamentary and
presidential elections in 2007 and 2008,” reports IA Regnum.

IN CASE NKR ISSUE IS DISCUSSED IN UN INSTEAD OF OSCE, RA STRATEGY MAY CHANGE
By Aghavni Harutyunian
AZG Armenian Daily
20/09/2006
The Armenian side will reconsider its strategy, in case the OSCE
format of the NKR issue is changed into that of the UN. Armen
Martirosian, Permanent representative of Armenia at UN, said this
in the interview to Regnum agency. According to him, in this case,
NKR should be represented as a separate party in conflict, besides,
the strategy of Armenia may change.
On the other hand, unless there is no formula, there is no need to
talk about that. The issue is included in the UN agenda, but it is not
a resolution yet, though renamed into “The Situation in the Occupied
Territories of Azerbaijan.”
It’s worth mentioning that this resolution renamed wasn’t acceptable
for Armenia, though it contained good intentions to preserves the
ecological balance of the territories mentioned. Armen Martirosian
didn’t specify in which direction the strategy and the tactics
of Armenia may change in the settlement issue of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.
As Armenia talks of the formulae included in the UN agenda, Azerbaijan
stated about its political, economic and cultural unification with
the Turkish world. Azeri president stated that they will never let
a second Armenian state shape in the territories of Azerbaijan.
We wonder, perhaps, it’s high time to talk of the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh and not of the second Armenian state shaped in the territory
of Azerbaijan.