‘NKR: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE’ CONFERENCE HELD IN STEPANAKERT
Yerkir.am
June 23, 2006
“NKR: Past, Present, Future” international conference opened on June 21
at the Artsakh State University. The conference, dedicated to the 15th
anniversary of the Karabakh independence declaration, was attended by
about 200 representatives from over 10 countries, including Armenia,
France, United States, Russia, Germany and Great Britain.
The conference was held in three panels: history, culture,
political-legal and socio-economic.
NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan’s address to the conference
I have apprehended the news on the conduct of the international
conference dedicated to the 15th Anniversary of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic’s declaration with solid satisfaction. It again provides
ample evidence of our state’s existence.
Last fifteen years showed to the world that the Nagorno Karabakh people
are entitled to have the independent state of their own declared
pursuant to the former USSR’s legislation and the international
law’s basic rules. Although the NKR has not been recognized by the
international community yet, however, by the level of conformity to
the European society’s standards our Republic noticeably outstrips
Azerbaijan, which endeavored to dispose of the Nagorno Karabakh’s
Armenian population having enforced a war on us.
However, our nation has not only survived in an unequal sanguinary
armed confrontation, but it managed to mainly cure the war’s wounds,
stage an economic recovery, restore social sphere, inspire new life
to the region’s cultural and spiritual development.
An efficient army equipped with modern weaponry, which is the safest
guarantor of the security and prosperity of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic and our nation, has been formed in the NKR.
At present Azerbaijan exerts efforts to reverse history, deprive our
nation of freedom and independence gained at the cost of irreplaceable
losses. It is an unpromising way. I am convinced: the future is the
talks between the NKR and Azerbaijan on the search for the ways of the
problem’s advantageous solution and the establishment of cooperation
between the two states.
One is eager to believe that our conference will promote deeper
comprehension of the realities of the region, which is difficult to
imagine without the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s existence.
In this connection it is pleasant that you intend to discuss a wide
spectrum of issues referring both to the Nagorno Karabakh’s history and
culture, its spiritual heritage and to the legal aspects of the NKR’s
functioning, the outlooks of our country’s social-economic development.
Levon Mkrtchain: “Karabakh can claim its place in the family of
nations”
“Every nation lives and creates having the great goal of
independence. It should establish its own statehood on the territory of
its homeland and be able to defend it. This idea has been accompanying
our nation for centuries,” Armenian Science and Education Minister
Levon Mkrtchian said in his speech at the ‘Nagorno Karabakh Republic:
Past, Present and Future’ conference held in Stepanakert.
“Many gave their lives to realize this goal, we have had irreversible
losses that we have to restore,” he went on saying.
Mkrtchian also voiced the congratulations of the Armenian prime
minister.
“The international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
is important not only because of today’s political concepts, that
recognitions is the core of Armenia’s and Karabakh’s independence,”
Mkrtchian said.
“And we should realize that we should strengthen the first serious
success of our liberation movement. Such strengthening happens with
an every-day work and through strengthening and development of the
Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.”
He also said that holding an international conference in Karabakh
demonstrates that the state has been established and it can claim
its place in the family of nations.

VIABLE INSTITUTES AS GUARANTEE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Yerkir.am
June 23, 2006
Only 15 years after Armenia launched market reforms Europe is mulling
granting Armenia a status of a country with market economy. It is
said that the issue could be solved by the end of the year.
How serious are these discussions and what actually a ‘country with
market economy’ means?
The experience of leading countries
The fact is that only 10 percent or 20-25 countries out of 200 have
developed market economies. While other have some infrastructures
typical for market economies, market stagnates in those countries
without ensuring a glut for society’s prosperity.
International donors spend billions of dollars to reform the economies
of those countries but the expected results are not reached. The gap
between the rich and poor is gradually widening.
The experience of developed countries indicates that the first
precondition for a developed market economy is an efficient formulation
of property rights. Only then we can expect that the property rights
could become permanently available, standardized and subject to
exchanges that could be centrally registered, legally formulated and
guarantee that their owners would not be deprived form their rights,
or nationalized or uncertainty.
The situation in other countries
Apparently, in countries with underdeveloped market economies not only
are the property rights weak and unclear but also their registration
and protection mechanisms are inefficient.
This means that institutional weakness and underdeveloped
infrastructures are obstacles for implementing efficient market
economy. And fist of all this applies to underdeveloped government
institutions.
In theory, government can both contribute to establishment of
efficient and viable market institutions and block its development
through beneficent institutions.
Statements of politicians on political goals and necessity of reforms
often do not correspond to the institutional mechanisms capacities
for implementing such reforms since the price a society is to pay is
not clearly defined.
In this regard, a choice for an institutional structure of a country
is a result of proactive measures to better implement reforms. Western
countries posses more developed institutions that are in line with
dominating method of economic coordination.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VISITING ISTANBUL, ARMENIAN ORTHODOX LEADER SAYS TURKS COMMITTED GENOCIDE AGAINST ARMENIANS
AP Worldstream
Jun 25, 2006
Armenian Orthodox leader Karekin II said in Istanbul Sunday that Turks
committed genocide against Armenians, a statement that is likely to
increase tensions during the last two days of his weeklong visit here.
Karekin II, whose official title is Catholicos of All Armenians, has
been facing protests since his plane landed at the Istanbul airport
on Tuesday.
The protesters included prominent lawyers from the Turkish Lawyers’
Union, who previously pushed for the prosecution of novelist Orhan
Pamuk after he said that Turks had killed 1 million Armenians.
Turkey vehemently denies that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I was genocide, and several cases
have been brought against those who say otherwise. The cases have
been opened under a law making it a crime to “insult Turkishness.”
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killing in an organized genocidal campaign by Ottoman Turks, and have
pushed for recognition of the killings as genocide around the world.
Karekin II was unreceptive Sunday to Turkey’s requests that Turkey and
Armenia, which are neighbors but have no diplomatic relations, open
their historical archives to researchers from both countries to try
to ease tensions and reach an objective conclusion about the killings.
“For our people research is not an issue. This is something that
happened and it needs to be recognized,” the Dogan news agency quoted
Karekin II as saying. “The genocide issue has been researched for 90
years by academics.”
Karekin II said the protests hadn’t affected him.
“They didn’t break my spirit and they don’t reflect my visit,” he
said. “But if these kinds of protests continue, it shows that we have
a lot of work so that these two societies can live together.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE MEETING OF NKR PRESIDENT
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 June 2006
On June 22 NKR President Arkady Ghukassian met with the participants
of the international conference “Nagorno Karabakh Republic: Past,
Present and Future”, which had kicked off on the eve under the auspices
of the NKR president.
Greeting the scholars from about 10 countries, Arkady Ghukassian
mentioned that this authoritative conference in Karabakh is another
step towards an adequate presentation and international recognition of
NKR. The president said that the settlement of the Karabakh issue is
not close, and the opponents, avoiding a dialogue, have shifted the
conflict to the political, economic and even scientific sphere. We
accept the challenge, and your scientific potential and experience
must provide a firm ground for this struggle, he said. The participants
exchanged opinions on the development of education and science in NKR.
Arkady Ghukassian expressed willingness to study all the ideas and
proposals heard during the meeting. Answering the questions of the
participants, he proposed to hold such conferences every year. NKR
Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian, Deputy Prime Minister Ararat
Danielian and the minister of education, culture and sport Kamo Atayan
were also present at the meeting.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER PETROSSIAN’S STATEMENT
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 June 2006
Recently the foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammedyarov has
announced about their willingness to grant the highest degree of
sovereignty to Nagorno Karabakh, applying the model of Tatarstan
to Karabakh. With regard to this the foreign minister of NKR Georgy
Petrossian made a statement: “This statement, if it is not another
propaganda device, means, in fact, that the Azerbaijani government
is likely to transform into a federation. Hence, hopefully, the same
status will be granted to the Lezgis, the Talish and other peoples
living in Azerbaijan. For NKR, the Azerbaijani government avoids
contact with NKR, and it should be emphasized that official Baku
cannot grant a status to Nagorno Karabakh, because this is beyond its
jurisdiction. The people living here decided the status of Nagorno
Karabakh Republic in conformity with the law.
The essence of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict is that the
Azerbaijani party was unable to solve these problems in a civilized way
and resorted to an armed aggression. Official Baku ignores the reality
that the independence of NKR is the highest value of the people of the
republic, which was established by the universal referendum, held on
December 10, 1991. The people of NKR defended their right to decide
their fate. Moreover, for over 7 times in the past 15 years restated
their will through democratic presidential and parliamentary elections
in NKR, when the voters voted for the programs of separate candidates
and political parties, upholding the independence of the republic.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRIME MINISTER MET WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SHUSHI FOUNDATION
Press Service Of NKR Government
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 June 2006
The reconstruction and development of Shushi remains urgent, not
only for the NKR government but governmental and non-governmental
organizations, as well as all the Armenians, who are worried about
the fate of the ancient Armenian fortress. In order to bring into
being the ideas of reconstruction of the city and coordinate programs,
as well as deal with fundraising, two foundations were set up, which
is reassuring, but their activities are extremely slow.
During his recent visit to Armenia Prime Minister Danielian met
with the mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharian and gladly accepted
his willingness to assist in the reconstruction of Shushi. Soon it
became known that Mr. Zakharian has established the Shushi Revival
Foundation. The board of the fund will include representatives
of relevant organizations, as well as specialists from Armenia and
Artsakh. On June 22 the Prime Minister met with the executive director
of the foundation Grigor Hovanissian, and commending this initiative,
expressed hope that this new organization will manage to work out
realistic programs and fulfill their honorable mission. At the same
time, the prime minister expressed the commitment of the government
to assist in the activities of the foundation. Deputy Prime Minister
Anoushavan Danielian was also present at the meeting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HAND IN HAND FOR HEALTH IN ARTSAKH
Mary Hayrapetyan, Armine Avagyan
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 June 2006
Hand in Hand NGO started operating in Nagorno Karabakh in January 2005.
Vahagn Ghazaryan, Director, said the organization has dental clinics
in the regions of Hadrut, Martuni, Martakert, in Shushi and Berdzor,
and a mobile clinic for the villages. Besides, the organization has a
women’s clinic in Stepanakert. The main sponsors of Hand in Hand are
the International Association of Armenian Dentists and the Association
of Armenian Doctors of Canada, which started operating in Karabakh when
the dental clinic of Shushi was opened in Shushi. These associations
fund the programs of the NGO. The honorary director of the organization
is First Lady Inna Ghukassian. The founders of Hand in Hand are Zareh
Uzunian, the president of the board of Hand in Hand NGO, Perj Gilajian,
the president of the International Association of Armenian Dentists,
Avetis Pogossian the president of the Association of Armenian Doctors
of Canada), Aram Sirakian (Boston) and Arsen Petrossian. Besides the
main sponsors, several other associations of Armenian Diasporan doctors
fund the programs of the NGO. The NKR government funds the communal
services of the clinics. In 2005 13,000 patients visited Hand in Hand
clinics. The NGO also implements a program of preventive treatment of
mouth cavity. The first stage of the program was implemented among
children aged 3-9. In Stepanakert the children of the schools N 1
and N 2 were examined, the other schools and nursery schools of the
capital will be included as well.

E-CITY HALL
Lragir.am
26 June 06
On June 5 the system of Electronic Document Circulation began operating
at the City Hall of Yerevan. Thanks to this innovation, a councilor
will greet a citizen at the department of complaints of the City Hall
of Yerevan. The councilor will help the citizen to decide whom they
need to apply. Afterwards the applications will be forwarded by the
electronic network, and will be replied within a month.
“Personal contact is not needed,” says Grigor Melkumyan, the head of
the administration of the City Hall of Yerevan, who commends the new
system as a way of reducing corruption.
The e-system used for the first time at the City Hall allows
accumulating and processing the data of documents in circulation.
Registering of documents and attaching their electronic copies,
reporting, replying, and task implementation control is completely
automated. The purpose of this project is to create a common electronic
system of Yerevan and a common database for the City Hall and the
communities of Yerevan. The citizens can use the e-system from 9 am
till 6 pm.

INTERVIEW WITH KARO TOROSYAN FROM ORCUS
Cellular-News, UK
June 25 2006
Glendale, California’s progressive black metal band, Orcus has been
making its mark on the local Los Angeles music scene with their dark
and mysterious brand of heavy music. They are getting ready to release
their debut album ‘Birth’ on June 26th and have recently opened for
the likes of Obituary and My Ruin. I took some time recently to get
some questions answered by their bassist, Karo Torosyan.
Rocket: So are you originally fom Glendale?
Karo: No, I was actually born in Armenia. I was about four years old
when my family decided to move to California and I’ve been roaming
around Glendale and Los Angeles ever since.
Rocket: When did you start playing the bass guitar?
Karo: Well, it’s actually kind of funny because I started out with
playing Classical guitar at the age of 12, and that didnt go too
far and I started playing classic rock and then metal. When I played
metal it just seemed natural for me to switch to bass, and I think
it worked out pretty well. I definitely have a lot more fun playing
bass than any other instrument.
Rocket: What kind of basses are you playing? Give us the model
and specs.
Karo: Currently my most prized possession is my Fender Jazz bass. Its a
remake of the 60s model. I did most of the recording on our new record
Birth with a pretty decent Ibanez Soundgear bass, but I definitely
prefer the Fender Jazz over anything else Ive played.
Rocket: Nothing beats the Fender tone. Never will. What kind of
amp rig?
Karo: What I really want is a good Ampeg rig, but I’ve been using a
pretty decent Fender combo amp that pumps out 300Watts and is very
easy to get a few really good tones out so it’s working fine so far.
Rocket: What kind of strings do you use currently? Give us the Brand
name and is it light or heavy gauge?
Karo: I’m really infatuated with flatwounds lately. DAddario makes
a good set of flatwounds, and anything with regular tension is perfect.
They’re a lot smoother to play on and you get a deeper and more hollow
tone out of the bass that way. If you’re downtuning flatwounds will
typically just sound like shit, so you just stick to higher tensions
and you’re good.
Rocket: Right on. I can hear all the notes being taken by the students
of metal out there right now. Ha! Do you play with your fingers or
a pick?
Karo: Fingers! It just seems much more natural to me and I prefer the
sound you get from fingerpicking, plus it gives you room to slap the
strings when you need to.
Rocket: My sentiments exactly. To me, playing with a pick is really
like masturbating with gloves on. So who are a few bass players past
or present that have had the biggest influence on your playing?
Karo: Martin Mendez from Opeth, Cliff Burton of Metallica, and of
course Geezer Butler.
Rocket: That ole Geezer! Haha! Wicked bassist… just listen to early
Sabbath… I mean, really listen… and he’ll simply blow you away.
How does the songwriting process work with Orcus, where you are
involved? Do you have something to do with the song being created at
inception or are you the last guy in line to add yer two cents?
Karo: With Orcus, everyone pretty much gets to take part in the
songwriting. We’ll all come up with little things here and there and
put them together. Every now and then I’ll come up with a guitar riff
or two and I’ll put together all my basslines. I’m also involved in
writing some of the lyrics.
Rocket: What’s been your favorite metal album for 2006 so far?
Karo: That would have to be Stormblast by Dimmu Borgir. I dont know
if that would be considered cheating since its a re-issue with better
recordings and production, but that’ll have to be it. Dimmu Borgir
has been nothing short of pure genius ever since Spiritual Black
Dimensions, so its by far the best album this year as far as my
opinion is concerned.
Rocket: So do you ever take time to answer fan mail on the Orcus
Myspace profile?
Karo: All the time, pretty much every day. If you send us something
on myspace, well definitely read it and reply.
Rocket: What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you on stage?
Karo: That would have to be when my A string randomly popped in
the middle of a set. Thankfully, I had a second bass that I was
originally just going to use for the songs where we downtune, so I
had to use that bass for all the songs and try to tune as quickly
with the keyboards as possible in between songs.
Rocket: What’s the next Orcus show we need to keep our eyes open for?
Karo: We’ll be playing on July 7th at the Key Club in Los Angeles.
Well be playing with our good friends, Neurobox.
Rocket: Give a shout out to your biggest supporters.
Karo: Of course my family, and the long list of amazing friends: Meher,
Arman, Vartan, Monica, Nayrie, Gev, Tuft, JB and her friends, Tak,
James, Jess, Anna, Marine, etc. Most importantly, I’d like to thank
everyone that takes the time to listen to our music and appreciated
as we intend it.
tails.cfm?newsid=19882

EXPLOSIONS DESTROY RUSSIAN CELLPHONE TOWERS
Cellular-News, UK
June 25 2006
Two cellphone base station towers have been destroyed in explosions
in Russia’s North Ossetia. The region which borders Georgia’s South
Ossetia, has been subject to some ethnic conflicts, and following the
Beslan School siege, attitudes to central Moscow have hardened. The
Interfax news agency reported that no injuries occurred at the
explosion near the villages of Kurtak and Dachnoye, citing local
police. A second base station was destroyed in the regional capital,
Vladikavkaz.
A third explosion occurred in capital of Russia’s Republic of
Daghestan, although it was aimed at the building of the Emergency
Situations Ministry. Both North Ossetia and Daghestan neighbour the
strive ridden regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia.
North Ossetia has a sizeable group of non-native Ingush and Armenian
population; however, a portion of the Ingush population left for
Ingushetia with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the outbreak
of interethnic conflict in the region. At the same time, refugees
from neighboring republics, mostly South Ossetia, resettled in North
Ossetia.