TURKEY NOT READY FOR EU
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.07.2006 17:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Following an attack on a French Catholic priest in
Samsun on Sunday, a top Vatican official said yesterday that Turkey
shouldn’t become a member of the European Union until freedom of
religion is guaranteed. Speaking to Italian daily Corriere de la
Sera, Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican’s department
for Christian Unity, said, “We believe that Turkey isn’t ready to
integrate with Europe. If it were a truly secular state, it would be
able to guarantee freedom of religion. Right now the atmosphere in the
country is very tense and hostile towards minorities.” Charging that
freedom of religion in Turkey is restricted by radical nationalism
and fundamentalism, Kasper added he doesn’t think attacks on members
of the clergy and missionaries are personal. Kasper also said that
as freedom of religion isn’t guaranteed, Turkey isn’t ready to join
the EU, reported Yerkir.

ARMENIA DOESN’T GET PREPARED FOR NEW STAGE OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH TURKEY
By Nana Petrosian
AZG Armenian Daily
06/07/2006
Armenia doesn’t get prepared for the new stage of negotiations with
Turkey. Vladimir Karapetian, Press Secretary of RA Foreign Ministry,
informed about this.
It’s worth mentioning that the press secretary of Turkish Foreign
Ministry spread quite an opposite statement, emphasizing the importance
of shaping a joint commission of the Armenian and Turkish historians
for studying the issue of the Armenian Genocide.
In response, Mr. Karapetian reminded that Ra president has already
responded the relevant letter of the Turkish Prime Minister. He added
that the expected three meetings with the Turkish side at diplomatic
level were not active and fruitful enough.

RA PRESIDENT PAYS TWO DAYS WORKING VISIT TO ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
By Nana Petrosian
AZG Armenian Daily
06/07/2006
RA President Robert Kocharian is currently paying a two days’
working visit to the Islamic republic of Iran. The delegation of
the Armenian statesmen includes RA Foreign and Energy Ministers,
Head of RA President’s Staff, RA Ambassador to Iran and other high
ranked officials. The sides will hold various meetings and sign
documents. After the meeting, RA President Robert Kocharian and Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a press conference. President
visited the memorial of Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, Supreme leader
of the Iranian people, and laid a wreath on his grave.
It’s worth mentioning that in the preparation stage of the meeting
Armen Movsisian, RA Energy Minister, met with Vazir Khamanei, Iranian
Oil Minister, and Parviz Fattahi, Iranian Energy Minister, to prepare
the July 5-6 meeting of RA President Robert Kocharian. At the meeting
the sides discussed a number of issues on energy cooperation included
in the agenda of the coming Presidential meeting. In particular, the
sides touched upon the construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline,
as well as other projects for energy cooperation. In his turn,
Arman Kirakosian, RA Deputy Foreign Minister, met with Manouchekhr
Mottaki, Iranian Foreign Minister. In the course of the meeting the
sides touched upon the organization issues for the coming visit of
RA President. They also dwelt on the regional political-economic
cooperation, as well as the implementation of the agreements
signed by the Armenian-Iranian inter-parliamentary commission for
cooperation. Iranian FM represented the current situation around
the nuclear program of Iran and inquired about the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement process.

IN BAKU THEY GET ANGRY AND SURPRISED AT SUGGESTIONS OF OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS
By Nana Petrosian
AZG Armenian Daily
06/07/2006
The Azeries get angry and surprised at the recent statements by the
OSCE MG Co-Chairs. The press Secretary of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
informed that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process is
based on the negotiations of RA and Azeri Foreign Ministers and not
on the statements by the OSCE MG Co-Chairs. “Day.Az” informed that the
co-chairs’ emphasis on the meeting of RA and Azeri Presidents aroused
the surprised of the press secretary. The latter stated that everyone
knows that the settlement process is based on the negotiations of RA
and Azeri Foreign Ministers who should discuss the whole package of
serious issues and prepare the probable meeting of the presidents of
two countries.
By the way, Araz Azimov, RA Foreign Minister, said that there is no
prepared draft for the framework agreement to sign.

“CILICIA” VESSEL SHIP WARMLY WELCOMED IN LITHUANIAN KLAIPEDA PORT
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
06/07/2006
“Cilicia” Armenian vessel ship arrived in the Lithuanian Klaipeda
port to leave for Stockholm from there. Zory Balayan, famous Armenian
writer and public figure informed about this.
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia had established very close relations
with the Baltic states. Lithuania was no exclusion. The Armenian
merchants and craftsmen settled down in Lithuania many centuries
ago. But “Cilicia” arrived in Klaipeda not only paying tribute to our
ancestors. The sailors decided to arrive in this port as three of the
crew members served in the army in the Baltic states and visited this
port for many times.
According to Mr. Balayan, the Klaipeda based newspapers covered the
arrival of the ship in the port very well. Besdies, the local Armenian
community members organized a warm welcoming meeting for the sailors of
“Cilicia.” Konstantin Motenov, head of “Lloyd’s Register” international
classification organization for registration of vessel ships, gave
a certificate to “Cilicia,” according to which the Armenian ship may
sail all the seas and the oceans of the world. Mr. Balayan informed
that “Cilicia” will leave for Stockholm from Klaipeda.

“BAZE DAYS IN ARTSAKH” PAN ARMENIAN YOUTH FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN NKR IN END JULY
AZG Armenian Daily
06/07/2006
“Baze Days in Artsakh” Pan Armenian youth festival will be held
in NKR on July 26- August 1. Over 200 people will participate in
the festival. Artur Soghomonian, head of the festival, said this at
today’s press conference. He said that they have discussed the idea
of holding the festival in NKR for many times during the meetings of
the Armenian youth.
Earlier, the festival has been held in Yerevan, Dilijan and
Tsaghkadzor. Nine teams will represent the summer festival,
five from NKR, two from Armenia, one from Javakhk and one from
Diaspora. Soghomonian stated that they have enlarged the program of the
festival including new creative competitions. It is planned that the
participants of the festival will meet with NKR President, NKR Prime
Minister and Speaker of NKR National Assembly. It’s worth mentioning
that RA Government allocated AMD 112 million for the festival, while
the Pan Armenian Youth Fund allocated additional AMD 5 million.

IGOR LEVITIN TO MEET WITH MANAGERS OF “AIRBUS” BEFORE FINAL REVEALING OF CAUSES FOR A-320 CRASH
AZG Armenian Daily
06/07/2006
Igor Levitin, RF Transport minister, will meet with the managers of
“Airbus” company in france. He will also meet with the French experts
and rescuers who worked at the place of the A-320 crash. It’s worth
mentioning that on July 3, the French experts carried out the modeling
of the last flight of A-320 airbus.
Gagik Galstian, an Armenian expert, was also present at the modeling
works. The decoded records of the plane’s black boxes helped to
restore the duration of the plane’s last flight.

NEW US AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN THINKS STAGE BY STAGE SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT NECESSARY
Yerevan, July 4. ArmInfo. New US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ann Darcy
thinks it necessary settling the conflict over Nagorny Karabakh stage
by stage. Trend reports the Ambassador as making this statement
when presenting her credentials to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov. The source reports, the given way of settlement
provides for “liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation
and return of refugees and forced migrants before determination of
Nagorny Karabakh’s status.”

ARMENIAN SPOKESMAN SAYS AZERI COUNTERPARTS “UNAWARE” OF PEACE TALKS CONTENT
Arminfo
4 Jul 06
Yerevan, 4 July: The reason of contradictory statements by the
Azerbaijan side is that they are uninformed about the content of
the talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Vladimir
Karapetyan, acting press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry,
told Arminfo. Karapetyan was asked to explain the contradictory
statements by Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister and Foreign
Ministry spokesman about the principles of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict settlement.
“Indeed, the Azerbaijani side has made contradictory statements
and commentaries in the past few days. In reality, everything is
simple: in their second statement, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen
presented conflict settlement principles being discussed and their
assessments. Probably the reason of such contradictory statements is
that the mentioned Azerbaijani diplomats are unaware of the content
of the talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,”
Karapetyan said.

KARABAKH MINISTER CONFIRMS TIES WITH OTHER CIS REBEL REGIONS
Arminfo
3 Jul 06
Stepanakert, July 3: “The Nagornyy Karabakh republic [NKR] does
not abandon its partners. We are building our policy taking into
consideration our own interests and the peculiarities around the
situation in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the Dniester Moldovan
republic,” Nagornyy Karabakh’s foreign minister Georgiy Petrosyan has
told journalists, commenting on the establishment of a community in
Sukhumi “For Democracy and Right of People” and Nagornyy Karabakh’s
intention to carry out an independent policy to achieve recognition
of its independence.
“Our colleagues from the Dniester Moldovan republic, Abkhazia and
South Ossetia understand the position of the NKR very well. The NKR
foreign ministry is following very attentively the processes and
also the developments and the settlement processes of the relevant
conflicts. We are regularly communicating at various levels, exchanging
information and carrying out multilateral and bilateral consultations,”
Petrosyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress