CULTURAL CENTER FOR NATIONAL MINORITIES IN YEREVAN
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
10/10/2006
Despite the fact that national minorities in Armenia constitute
only 3% of the population, Hranush Kharatian, head of the RA
Government-affiliated department for national minorities and religious
issues, does not agree that our society is mono-ethnic. “This 3%
non-Armenians are representatives of diverse nationalities” therefore
we are a multiethnic country, she finds. Representatives of other
nationalities feel good in Armenia. “We all live in equal conditions
in Armenia,” Gersh Burstein, chief rabbi of Armenian says. “Thank
God there is no ethnic discrimination here, and the government’s
efforts for a good life in multiethnic Armenia become apparent with
every year.”
Another initiative directed to minorities was creation of a cultural
center for national minorities by the RA government. Government
representatives, ambassadors and minority representatives were present
at the opening of the center on October 7. Gagik Gagian, deputy head
of RA government’s staff, said that the center could have been opened
earlier but “better late than never”.
The government has spent around $10.000 for reconstructing two floors
of the Central Post Office for the cultural center, which is designed
for concerts, celebrations, sessions, working meetings. It also has
libraries and rooms for studying national languages. Hranush Kharatian
said that the center still needs to be furnished.
Head of the Jewish community said that the opening of the center
was one of the key events in the life of Armenia’s minorities. “The
center not only unites the cultural field of separate communities
but also acts as a new cultural environment for all inhabitants of
Armenia. We are hopeful that our Armenian brothers will also take
part in the arrangements here,” Gersh Burstein told daily Azg.
Representatives of the most different communities were unanimously
saying that there is no discrimination in Armenia and that conditions
are equal for all. Mrs. Kharatian assured that national minorities
in Armenia have the same problems as the other citizens. Plus their
own cultural issues. “There are several state-backed Sunday schools,
classes of mother tongues, newspapers and radio programs. In general,
the state is obliged to grant rights and not to finance directly but
our state sometimes finances too,” Mrs. Kharatian said.
The most active communities in Armenia are the Russian, Ukrainian,
Yezidi, Kurdish, Assyrian and Greek. At the initiative of national
minorities, a memorial to the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust will
be erected at the crossroad of Terian-Moskovian streets.
Government representatives assured that what is essential is that the
minority representatives feel as full-fledged citizens in our country
and have the right for national cultures. The center will also help
the Armenian society to get to know the culture and national values
of the minorities.
From: Baghdasarian

IT’S MEANINGLESS TO ARGUE WITH TRAFFIC POLICE IN KENYA AND ARMENIA
By Gohar Gevorgian
AZG Armenian Daily
10/10/2006
Our compatriot Gnel Khachatrian who has lived in the United States
for 7 years was “fortunate” enough to encounter a traffic policeman
in Armenia. His collage friend Fred Opere had such an encounter in
Kenya too.
In a letter to the newspaper, Gnel Khachatrian compares the two
countries with regard to their traffic polices and concludes that it’s
meaningless to try to solve problems with the policemen at the court.
But the essential thing in this story is that the author feels sorry
that this phenomenon is common for such dissimilar countries as
Armenia and Kenya.
The author tells that having been invited to work for a respectable
organization in the capital, he took his friend’s car not to be late
for the job appointment.
Yet, a traffic policeman stopped his car for driving on the second
line. Asked by the policeman our compatriot said that he was on the
second line as there was no sign forbidding it. The impudent driver’s
answer made the policeman angry. “I had arrived in the capital only a
day before having lived in the US for 7 years and I forgot that instead
of arguing I should pay 1-2 dollars. Now I am sure that 1-2 dollars
would have spared my nerves especially on my first working day. But
my principles did not allow me to offer a bribe,” Gnel Khachatrian
tells. His quarrel with the policeman ended at the police station
where soon after he was bundled off.
A similar incident happened to his classmate Fred Opere in Kenya. The
organization that employed Fred manages to free him from the prison
by turning to the court. The court fined Fred $15. Khachatrian says
that in Armenia you do not have to get into this kind of legal scrape
but you can pay the money at the police station sparing you time
and petition money. “This can happen to anyone of us in any African
country. We are fortunate that in Armenia, which differs from Kenya
with its history, 1700 years of Christianity and an alphabet of 1500
years, we are not arrested for not paying the required sums unless
a policeman is physically injured or insulted,” Gnel Khachatrian says.

ARMENIAN LOADS WILL TRAVEL THROUGH GEORGIA
A1+
[08:30 pm] 09 October, 2006
Transitional transportation of Armenian loads from and to Russia
through Georgia will not be stopped, informed RA Defense Minister
Serge Sargsyan in Moscow.
The co-chair of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental Committee
participated in the meeting of Ministers within the framework of the
Committee. Russian Minister of Transportation Igor Levitin mentioned
that the transportation of loads from and to Armenia will be realized
by ferryboats from the ports Novorossiysk and Caucasus, “Itar-Tass”
informs.
The problem is that Armenia has already suffered losses because of
the conflict between Russia and Georgia. And if the roads are closed,
Armenia will face economic crisis. By the way, Serge Sargsyan has
announced in Moscow that Armenia is ready to be a conciliator between
Russia and Georgia.

EXPERTS OF “MITQ” ARE AGAINST THE POLICY OF SAHAKASHVILI
A1+
[04:51 pm] 09 October, 2006
Youth analytical center “Mitq” considers the policy of Georgian
President Sahakashvili unacceptable.
According to them, it can result in a conflict between the two
countries.
The experts of the center made an announcement in “Pastark” club
according to which they call on the political and non-governmental
organizations of Armenia, as well as the RA Government to be stricter
towards our neighbor and to protect the interests of our compatriots.
The center enumerated a number of procedures in Georgia which are
anti-Armenian. For example, the Armenian schools in villages are
closed down; Armenian officials are deprived of their posts because
of not knowing Georgian, etc. Expert Edward Abrahamyan noted that the
collisions between the Georgian police and Armenians have become usual.
“All this testifies to the fact that Tbilisi follows an anti-Armenian
policy. Another proof is that during the October 5 elections of local
governing bodies they allowed a number of fabrications against Armenian
candidates”, Mr. Abrahamyan said.
By the way, the experts of the center do not have anything in common
with Georgia; they have carried out the analysis according to media
coverages.

AZERBAIJAN SANG THE SAME OLD SONG
A1+
[05:11 pm] 09 October, 2006
Azerbaijan was the only country which opposed the draft treaty of
establishing peace in Southern Caucasus which was represented by
deputy Adrian Severin in the PACE fall session. The decision was due
to the fact that the treaty finds peace, cooperation and integration
in the region, as well as the atmosphere of mutual trust important.
NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan told a news conference today that the report
by Severin was acceptable both for Armenia and for Georgia. “Azerbaijan
sang the same old song that they see no chance of signing resolutions
until the Karabakh conflict is settled”.
By the way, according to Tigran Torosyan, the attitude of the Azeri
delegation was not accepted seriously by the head of the Committee
who is a Turk and by the author of the draft. He also reminded that
a similar report has been adopted about the Balkans, taking into
account the Kosovo conflict.
Tigran Torosyan also gave information about three more reports which
are of interest for Armenia but which are not ready yet. They were the
report on the condition of women in South Caucasus by Vera Oskina from
Russia, report on people missing in action in South Caucasus, and the
report about the commitments of Armenia by the Monitoring committee.
Tigran Torosyan mentioned that the Committee has discussed the
course of honoring commitments, the process of adopting new laws in
compliance with the Constitution, as well as the steps taken towards
the organization of free and fair elections in 2007.
Tigran Torosyan mentioned that after their recent visit to Armenia
the members of the Monitoring Committee were on the whole content
with the process of honoring commitments by Armenia. “At this rate
we will have a successful report in January”, he added.

GEORGIA AND RUSSIA MUST THINK ABOUT ARMENIA
A1+
[06:25 pm] 09 October, 2006
Answering the question of “A1+” if they use the intergovernmental
links well enough to reduce the possible losses of Armenia due to
the tension in the relations between Russia and Georgia, NA Speaker
Tigran Torosyan said that the relations of the two countries are so
complicated that only Russia and Georgia can solve their own problems.
Tigran Torosyan also thinks that the two countries must think about
their friend and prove the friendship they like to speak about. “But
one thing is obvious: both Russia and Georgia must do everything in
order for Armenia not to suffer because of their problems.
Otherwise, the announcements about friendship will remain empty words”,
he added.

GEORGIA THREATENS RUSSIA WITH EUROPEAN COURT
A1+
[06:43 pm] 09 October, 2006
Georgia can turn to the European Court of Human Rights about national
discrimination against Georgians in Russia. “We are indignant at
the facts of ethnic filtrations which are incompatible with the
21st century and remind us about the terrible incidents in the 20th
century. That’s why the Georgian Government discusses the possibility
of turning to the European Court of Human Rights”, announced Georgian
President Michael Sahakashvili.
As for the fact that the Georgians are taken to Georgia from Russia by
the planes of the Emergency Administration, Sahakashvili mentioned that
if Russia does not have normal planes, “Georgia will support them”.

8 AGENTS AMONG THE RA HIGH OFFICIALS
A1+
[07:09 pm] 09 October, 2006
“We are ready for any step: from a statement to another beating
in answer to their”, announced leader of “New Times” party Aram
Karapetyan in connection with the act of violence against former
Minister of Internal Affairs, former mayor of Yerevan, and member of
the Republican party political council Suren Abrahamyan.
Mr. Karapetyan found it difficult to say who organized the beating,
but he said, “The fact is that it took place after Mr. Abrahamyan’s
announcement that the Prime Minister himself is a criminal
element”. But still, he added that “I don’t think the Prime Minister
is silly enough to order to beat him after his announcement”.
He assessed the incident as encroachment against the anti-criminal
movement. As for why Suren Abrahamyan was chosen for that purpose,
Mr. Karapetyan said, “It could be any representative of the movement”.
As for the activity of leader of the Progressive party of Armenia
Tigran Urikhanyan against him, Mr. Karapetyan said, “Serge Sargsyan and
Seyran Shahsuvaryan have made orders to compromise Aram Karapetyan, and
the execution of the order is the task of the RA National Security
Service – Gorik Hakobyan-Yepiskoposyan. We have our own sources
of information”.
The leader of the “New Times” party is sure that Tigran Urikhanyan
cooperates with power structures.
“If it isn’t so, tell me how the leader of a party can know what
declarations the leader of another party signed in the airport”.
Without revealing his sources of information Aram Karapetyan announced
that they have learned that there are eight agents among RA high
officials, “We offer the RA National Security Service, the Office
of the Public Prosecutor and the Police to make public the names of
all the agents in the RA political field. I have a part of the list,
and if the list is not made public before the elections, I will name
the agents by TV”.

MONITORING OF THE BORDER LINE IN CONNECTION WITH THE FIRES
A1+
[08:04 pm] 09 October, 2006
The members of the OSCE Mission have arrived in Nagorno Karabakh
Republic in order to investigate the ecological situation near
the border line in connection with the alleged fires. The OSCE
representatives were received by deputy Foreign Minister of NKR Masis
Mayilyan who found the presence of the representatives of Azerbaijan
in the Mission important.
By the way, the Mission will be in Karabakh for three days. The group
includes experts from the USA, Germany, Macedonia, Switzerland, Italy,
France, Moldova and Estonia. It is noteworthy that on October 5-7 the
Mission has realized monitoring in the territory of Azerbaijan. The
NKR experts have also participated in the monitoring.
“Our aim is to come to a conclusion on the basis of mutual agreement”,
said Bernard Show, coordinator of the OSCE economy and environmental
issues. According to him, the experts will give their assessments
about the influence of fires on the environment. At the request of the
members of the Mission Masis Mayilyan briefed them on the situation
connected with the fires. He mentioned that they started early in
June due to unprecedented hot weather.
“We were concerned about the situation as the fires harmed the
economy of the country taking into account the fact that Karabakh is
an agricultural country. We created a committee which investigated the
reason of the fires and realized the works of extinguishing them. The
works were still more difficult as they were carried our under the
fire of Azeri snipers”, the deputy Foreign Minister informed.
Mr. Mayilyan also mentioned that Azerbaijan tried to give political
coloring to the issue claiming that the fires were organized on
purpose. “We sent a letter to the OSCE in June demanding to organize
monitoring and to refute the groundless statements of Baku. The
monitoring was held on June 28 after which three more monitorings were
carried out – July 3, 4 and 5. As a result of the monitoring personal
representative of the OSCE, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk made a report.
But Azerbaijan took the issue to the UN which caused our discontent”,
Masis Mayilyan said during the meeting.

AUTUMN RECRUITMENT TO START
A1+
[12:15 pm] 10 October, 2006
President Robert Kocharyan released a decree to start the 2006 autumn
recruitment and demobilization.
The autumn recruitment will involve the RA male citizens subject to
compulsory recruitment and alternative service, celebrating their 18
birthday by the day of recruitment.
In October-December, the servicemen who have finished their compulsory
military service will be demobilized.