PanARMENIAN.Net
Russia Not Interested in Hostilities in South Caucasus
28.07.2006 18:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ For Europe and the U.S. the Near East is the
frontline while the South Caucasus is the rear that can be
strengthened, head of the International Relations Department at the
Institute of the Political and Military Analysis Sergey Markedonov
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, no one wants war in the
region and Russia is not an exception. `Russia is not interested in
military operations in the region, since they’re pregnant with a great
number of problems: refugees and their settlement as well as
additional participation in peacekeeping operations. Those who think
that conflicts in the region are beneficial for Russia are wrong,’ the
Russian political scientist said.
At the same time he remarked that no changes occurred in the
arrangement of forces on the world arena. `Everything remained as it
was,’ he said.

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006

Home Politics
“RAMKAVAR AZATAKAN” PARTY CALLS FOR CONDEMNING GREAT BRITAIN AS
ACCOMPLICE IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
“Denying the Armenian Genocide, the officials of the British Foreign
Ministry become equal with the current Turkish authorities that
carried out the third stage of the genocide, i.e. hiding and
liquidation of the proofs for the crime against humanity,” Haroutiun
Arakalian, Chairman of the Board of “Ramkavar Azatakan Party” of
Armenia, said this at today’s press conference. He said that the Great
Britain became an accomplice of the compaign launched by “The
Committee for Defence of Turkish People” to recall the demands of
Edinburg and Quenet cities to recognize the Armenian genocide in the
Ottoman Turkey. In response to the question of the “committee” and the
mass media sources, the English diplomats stated that “the events that
took place in 1915-1916 do not keep in line with the UN convention on
genocides,” adding that “at present, it is hard to shape a full idea
or evaluate the events that happened 90 years ago in the war times.”
The Board of “Ramkavar” party emphasized that the denial of the
Armenian Genocide became a tradition for the British
diplomats. Arakelian stated that one of the British diplomats tried to
doubt about the fact of Holocaust, but the was immediately shown away
from Israel by the official Tel Aviv. The party calls for RA Foreign
Ministry to send a note of protest to the British Foreign
Ministry. They blame the British diplomats for their ignorance and
require where disappeared 5 million of Armenians registered as
citizens of Ottoman Turkey in 1914. “The British diplomats may get a
detailed answer to this easy question, if they only look through “The
Blue Book” issued in 1916 by the order of the British Foreign Ministry
and written by Lord Price. Or they may get familiarized with the
historical documents accumulated by Agapi Nasibian in her “Great
Britain and the Armenian Cause in 1915-1923.” The party members state
that if the public protest and the diplomatic steps yield no results,
the Armenians have only one thing to do, i.e. to blame the Great
Britain as the accomplice of Turkey, as according to the UN
definition, hiding and liquidation of facts about Genocide are
included in the third stage of a Genocide.
As for any cooperation with Armenia political forces in the course of
the coming elections, he said that his party is ready to cooperate
with “Bargavatch Hayastan” and “Dashink” parties. He stated that
“Bargavatch Hayastan” and “Dashink” parties are not established for
falsifications. He added that his allies and party members are ready
to take all measures to announce illegal the elections in elections in
the polling stations where violations were revealed. Haroutiunian
stated that his colleagues have elaborated 20 variants of tactics that
will help avert violation cases.
As for Serge Sergsian membership to the Republican Party of Armenia,
he said that it is quite normal. But he added that the party’s
expectations to receive 22-23% of votes at the parliamentary elections
is an open hint at their intention to use the administrative
resources. He denied the information that his party is led by Ara
Abrahamian, chairman of Union of Armenians of Russia. He said that
cooperation with Ara Abrahamian yielded no political dividends for
them, stating it’s incorrect to link the activities of a party that
has rich political traditions to one person. He emphasized that there
are over 8 thousand party members “Ramkavar Azatakan” party of
Armenia.

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006

Home Politics
FORMATION OF ONE POWERFUL POLITICAL FORCE IS NOT VERY PROMISING FOR
ARMENIA
The formation of one super-strong political force – Republican Party –
that will hold all administrative and economic levers in its hands, is
unpromising for the country, the leader of the National Democratic
Party of Armenia, MP Shavarsh Kocharian said during a discussion in
the Mirror club today. If the society continues to be indifferent to
the processes taking place in the country and fails to realize the
necessity of drastic democratic changes, the country will go on
falling down to semi-authoritarian system. The outcome of the
forthcoming parliamentary elections will depend on the wish of one
person, President Robert Kocharian: if wants to take up the post of
Prime Minister after 2008 he will prefer mosaic majority, but if he
needs personal immunity guarantees he will form a super-centralized
pyramid with reliable person at the head. The second scenario is more
likely for the time being – that’s why Defense Minister Serge Sargsian
was elected the chairman of the board of the Republican Party. His
opponent from RPA Samvel Nikoian does not think that RPA will have
overwhelming advantage during the forthcoming elections. RPA has
strong rivals like ARFD, Prospering Armenia and some opposition
parties. Asked by a journalist about the reported cases of forcible
registration of teachers, office workers and other people as RPA
members, Nikoian said that they are really scandalous and he will
personally inquire into them.
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006

Foreign Relations
VAHID ERDEM SENDS SECOND COMPLAINT AGAINST TIGRAN
TOROSIAN TO PA NATO
Vahid Erdem, First Vice Speaker of RA NATO, chairman of the Turksih
delegation to PA NATO, sent a complaint against Tigran Torosian,
Speaker of RA National Assembly, to the PA NATO. “In June, I sent the
first complaint against Tigran Torosian who insulted me PA NATO. In
his turn, Torosian also sent a complaint to PA NATO against me. I
received a letter about that and sent my second letter of complaint,”
Erdem said. It’s worth mentioning that Erdem was in Yerevan in mid
June. After his visit to Armenia, he began complaining that they
treated him bad in Armenia, particularly, he had no personal guards
and driver. In response to his complaints, Torosian said that none of
the NATO PA delegates was given a personal driver and added that
Armenia is a democratic party and its guests can easily and safely
stay in Armenia without any guards.

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006

Governmental Programs
RA GOVERNMENT COMMISSION APPROVES 12 CHARITY PROGRAMS
The regular sitting of the Commission for Charity Programs at RA
Government took place today. The press service of RA Government
informed that 12 charity programs were approved in the sitting. In
particular, the commission approved the program on the assistance of
the scientific infrastructures carried out by the National Fund for
Science and Leading Technologies in 2006-2008, “Synopsis for Armenia”
charity program, “Medical Aid and Development” program of the French
International NGO, as well as the charity programs of “The Armenian
Evangelical Union” and “Arashavir and Paytsar Abrahamian” Benevolence
Fund. The commission also discussed the projects of the “Haystan” All
Armenian Fund. The Benevolance Organization of the Armenian Doctors of
America was allowed to built a gas pile line for the anti-tuberculosis
center in Dilijan.

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006

Civil Issues
IN 2005 OVER 400 FAMILIES OF RA CITIZENS INTEND TO MOVE TO ARMENIA
FROM RUSSIA
In 2005 over 400 families of Armenian citizens temporarily dwelling in
the South Federal Region of Russia returned to their homeland. Ararat
Gomtsian, RA Consul General in SFR, said in the interview to
“Yerkramas” newspaper. He said that these families used to live in the
South of Russia for 3 to 7 years.
He also emphasized that great number of RF citizens turn of RA General
Consulate for moving to Armenia for permanent residency.
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006
A-320 Air Crash
“ARMAVIA” STATES INVESTIGATION CONCLUSION MADE BY IAC IS INCORRECT
“ArmAvia” company considers incorrect and untimely the conclusion by
IAC (International Aviation Committee) on the crash of the A-320 liner
in Sochi, which found the pilots guilty of the catastrophe. Today, on
a briefing the head of “ArmAvia” Flight Department Mihran Khachatrian
informed that the statement by the IAC, signed in Toulouse by
Armenian, French and Russian experts, contained the following phrase:
‘the cause of altitude reduction, which resulted the catastrophe, has
not been found out’. Due to unknown reasons the in the statement
published by the Russian side, this phrase was replaced by another,
telling of ‘inadequate actions of the aircraft commander and the crew
members’. Such statements are untimely, as the investigation has not
been finished yet, said Mr. Khachatrian. Head of the Flight Security
Inspection at “ArmAvia” Arshak Nalbandian, who was present to the
briefing, in his turn said that he was not invited by the Russian side
to the signature of the document, although he was included in the IAC
subcommission. He admitted that in the emergency situation the crew
could make some mistakes, but whether the mistakes caused the
catastrophe or no, is not known yet. He said that the Russian said
nothing about that the Sochi airport dispatcher failed to inform the
A-320 crew about high cloudiness and strong wind.
By Marietta Khachatrian

AZG Armenian Daily #142, 29/07/2006

Culture
DAYS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN IN
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR
Digitec 2006 second International IT Exhibition will be held in
Armenia within the framework of IT Days in Armenia in
August-September, 2006. Karen Vardanian, Executive Director of IT
Companies’ Union of Armenia, told the journalists today.
He added that the forum is dedicated to the IT and telecommunication
technologies. Digitec – 2006 will have several sections, in
particular, the sections for computer equipment, telecommunication,
wireless networks, program software. Besides, the forum covers also
the financial-banking spheres, e-management, business and scientific
projects. It is expected that 50 local and 15 foreign IT companies
will participate in the forum. Vardanian stated that 28 companies have
already applied for participation, including Mitsubishi – Electric,
Synopsys, Xalt Scan Code ID, Firm Alpha, Web, Synergy and
other. Besides the American University of Armenia, the
Russian-Armenian University, and the Yerevan State Engineering
University will also participate in the forum.
Vardanian stated that this exhibition is the largest one in the South
Caucasus. He added that various competitions, forums and meetings will
be organized within the framework of the exhibition. In his turn
Bagrat Yengibarian, director of “Incubator Enterprises Fund” informed
that in the course of Armenia-Diaspora Forum it is planned to hold the
International IT Conference on September 20. He said that the
conference will be dedicated to the issue of development of the
wireless WiMAX and WiFi connection networks in Armenia.Yengibarian
added that the representatives of MICROSOFT, SUN Microsystem, INTEL
and ALCATEL companies will participate in the conference. Digitec 2006
is organized by “The Incubator Enterprises Fund” and the Union IT
Companies of Armenia.

Thursday, July 27, 2006
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WHAT I KNOW ABOUT FASCISTS
*********************************************
Under fascism to call a spade a spade and to suggest that two plus two make four may be construed as dissent, that is to say, a capital offense.
*
Under fascism the only way to play it safe is to say what they want to hear and to pretend they know better what’s good for you even if they know nothing about you and they care even less.
*
Fascists will identify you as an enemy not because you are wrong and they are right, but because you dared to disagree with them.
*
Under fascism if you refuse to be systematically moronized you will be called an enemy of the people by enemies of the nation.
*
Fascists preach patriotism, practice the destruction of the nation, after which they blame the rest of mankind.
*
And now a question: knowing what I know about fascists, if you had a choice between living in a fascist Armenia and a democratic Turkey, where would you live?
*
I am willing to concede that people like me improve nothing. But sometimes I am tempted to believe that they may make a tiny — even if tiny to the point of being invisible — contribution towards preventing things from getting worse.
#
Friday, July 28, 2006
***************************************
If I were to name the three most incomprehensible things in the world they would be (one) why things exist; (two) why propaganda works; and (three) why do we obstinately refuse to see any inconsistency in preaching Armenianism and practicing Ottomanism.
*
A systematically moronized generation will moronized the next generation with a clear conscience and total unawareness of what it is doing.
*
Russian proverb: “Right is on the side of those who have more rights.”
*
Extremism: a frequently used word these days and to me one of the most annoying, not only for what it stands, which is repulsive enough, but also for what it looks like – excrementalism.
*
“Consciousness cannot go through the same state twice,” Bergson tells us. It follows, whe I say “I haven’t changed my mind” I also admit that I am not in the habit of allowing my consciousness to make a contribution to my thinking, which is a contradiction because objective judgment and logic are operations of the conscious mind.
*
“Loving a human being amounts to killing all others,” Camus writes in his NOTEBOOKS. Patriotism may not amount to killing or hating all other nations, but it may make us less receptive to their humanity.
*
An Armenian who dares to think for himself will make many enemies and very few friends. The same could be said of Turks and in general of all people who view tolerance as a state of mind that may lead to treason.
#
Saturday, July 29, 2006
*****************************************
Saroyan once said that he felt sorry for the Turks. For a long time I couldn’t understand that. But I do now. Saroyan could have added that he felt sorrier for his fellow Armenians for their lack of awareness, for what they have become, and for the way they treat one another.
*
A Turk once said to me, “What about the innocent Turks massacred by the Armenians?” In my reply I said that I have always been on the side of victims and against victimizers regardless of race, color, and creed.
*
I feel sorry for the Palestinians today, but I feel sorrier for the Jews. If the Palestinian have known oppression for fifty years, the Jews have known it for five thousand years. When I speak of Palestinians I don’t have in mind their “freedom fighters” or “terrorists,” but the innocent civilians who are double victims – victims of Israelis as well as their incompetent and corrupt leadership; and I have every reason to believe that Palestinians will be better off in a democratic Israel than in their own theocracy.
*
In Chekhov’s NOTEBOOKS we read: “Love, friendship, respect do not unite people as much as common hatred for something.” That indeed is the true tragedy of all defeated and massacred people – the emphasis on hatred in their collective existence and the absence of friendship, respect, and ultimately common sense and decency.
*
Elsewhere, Chekhov writes: “It is better to be the victim than the executioner.” There you have another reason why Saroyan felt sorry for the Turks.
*
It has been said that only the very wise and the very stupid don’t change. No matter how hard I try I see very little wisdom in our past blunders and present conduct. You may now draw your own conclusions.
*
I am not a man of faith and I have every reason to suspect that organized religions have done more harm than good. And yet (the two saddest words in the English language, it has been said), and yet, sometimes I feel an irresistible urge to go down on my knees and pray: “Our Father, Who art in Heaven…”
#

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
HOUSE ADOPTS AMENDMENT BLOCKING
U.S. SUBSIDY FOR ARMENIA RAILROAD BYPASS
— Crowley-Sherman-Royce Amendment Adds Provisions of
Rep. Knollenberg’s South Caucasus Integration and
Open Railroads Act to the Ex-IM Bank Reauthorization Act
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
this week, welcomed the adoption by the House of Representatives of
an amendment to block U.S. taxpayer funding for an unnecessary and
costly proposed railroad between Turkey and Georgia that would, if
built, circumvent Armenia and, in the process, undermine the
economic viability of the existing Caucasus railroad route through
Armenia.
The amendment, spearheaded by Representatives Joe Crowley (D-NY),
Ed Royce (R-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA), and adopted as part of
the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006, prohibits the
Export-Import Bank from providing any assistance “to develop or
promote any rail connections or railway-related connections that
traverse or connect Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Kars,
Turkey, and that specifically exclude cities in Armenia.” The
measure was adopted unanimously by the House Financial Services
Committee in June of this year.
The Crowley Amendment is similar to the South Caucasus Integration
and Open Railroads Act of 2006. This measure was introduced in
both the House (H.R.3361), by Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-
MI), and in the Senate (S 2461) by Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA).
The House version has 85 cosponsors; the Senate version has been
cosponsored by Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Paul Sarbanes (D-
MD). Both measures stress that U.S. policy should oppose the “The
exclusion of Armenia from regional economic and commercial
undertakings in the South Caucasus,” noting that such actions
“undermine the United States policy goal of promoting a stable and
cooperative environment in the region.”
“We thank Congressman Crowley, his Financial Services Committee
colleagues Ed Royce and Brad Sherman, as well as the authors of the
South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act – Joe
Knollenberg, Frank Pallone and George Radanovich – for securing the
adoption by the House of this measure protecting American taxpayers
from subsidizing an ill-advised and over-priced railroad project
that – at the insistence of Turkey and Azerbaijan – has been
proposed solely for the purpose of excluding Armenia,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.
In debate leading up to the adoption of the bill, Representatives
Crowley, Knollenberg and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) each cited the
importance of barring U.S. funds from this ill-advised Caucasus
venture which would exclude Armenia. Rep. Crowley noted that, “for
over 10 years, Armenia has fought an illegal blockade imposed on
them by the countries of Turkey and Azerbaijan. These two
countries continually exclude Armenia from regional development. .
. . Exclusion of one country in regional projects only fosters
instability. Having Export-Import Bank support a railway project
which excludes Armenia is not the way to include all countries in
regional development.”
Rep. Knollenberg noted that “the design for the new rail line
defies logistical and geographical logic, and intends to prevent
future economic development from reaching Armenia. The proposed
rail link would cost between $400 million and $800 million and
would take years to construct, even though a perfectly workable
rail link that goes through the city of Gyumri, Armenia already
exists and would be fully operational with a few minor repairs.
Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleagues on the House Financial
Services Committee that included this provision into this bill and
I urge support for passage of H.R. 5068.”
Rep. Maloney joined her House colleagues in noting that, “as a
proud member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues and the
representative of a large and vibrant Armenian-American community,
I support the provisions which would prohibit the Export-Import
Bank from funding railroad projects in South Caucasus region that
deliberately exclude Armenia.”
A proposed new Caucasus rail line – at the urging of Turkey and
Azerbaijan – would circumvent Armenia. Promoters of the project
have sought, even at the planning stages, to secure U.S. financing
for this undertaking, prompting Congressional supporters of
regional peace and stability to preemptively block such attempts.
In October of last year, the European Commission voiced official
opposition to the proposed Caucasus railroad bypass of Armenia. A
formal statement by the Commission’s Directorate General for
Transport and Energy noted that its construction was both
unnecessary and inefficient in light of the existing railroad
connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the
official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank’s
mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and
services to international markets.
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