One Nation, One Culture Festival Starts in Armenia
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.06.2006 13:35 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The second pan-Armenian festival “One Nation, One
Culture” is starting in Armenia today. Over 40 events will be held
in all the regions of Armenia, Javakhk and Nagorno Karabakh during
seven days. The festival will start with the parade of participants,
outdoor fetes and non-stop performances with elements of theater,
cinema, national music and dances. Days of theater, cinema, painting,
literature and poetry, music, dance and museums will be held.
Some 2000 people from Armenia, Russia, Italy, the U.S., Austria,
Australia, Turkey, UK, France, Iran and Syria are expected to
participate in the second pan-Armenian festival.
The festival was initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Youth and
One Nation, One Culture Fund and will be held under the RA President’s
patronage. In 2006 the state assigned 117 million drams (some $280
thousand) for the conduction of the festival, reported Novosti-Armenia.

ISLAMIC ARTS CRITIC JOINT THE ARMENIAN SUIT
A1+
[03:05 pm] 23 June, 2006
“In order to generate discord between the Christians and the Moslems
a video has been made which insults both of them”, announced Islamic
arts critic Jannat Sergey Markus. He meant the video advertising
Turkey which is broadcast by the 22nd channel of Saint Petersburg.
Let us remind you that in the advertisement Turkish dervishes are
dancing on the image of Jesus Christ. In this connection the Armenian
activists have brought a suit against the TV Channel. “As a Moslem
arts critic I join the suit and I hope that my Moslem brothers will
join us too”, Jannat Sergey Markus said, newspaper “Yerkramas” reports.
According to the Islamic arts critic, there are two cases of sacrilege
for the Moslems themselves in the video. “The first case is the image
of Prophet Isah (Jesus Christ) whose representation is prohibited
by the Moslem rules. The second is that even Christian images must
not be trodden as the Koran demands to respect the Christians as the
people of the ‘Holy Book'”, Jannat Sergey Markus said.

Armenian President Departed for Minsk to Participate in CSTO Meeting
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.06.2006 13:08 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian has
departed for Minsk to take part in the recurrent session of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), reported the RA
leader~Rs press office. Before the CSTO session, the sitting of the
CSTO Defense Ministers and the Committee of the Secretaries of National
Security Councils will be held in the Belarusian capital. The session
will be opened in a limited composition during which the leaders of
the CIS member states will exchange views on the military-political
situation within the CSTO zone.
Then the session will be continued with the participation of Foreign
Ministers, Defense Ministers and Secretaries of Security Councils. The
top officials are expected to sign the declaration on perfection of
CSTO efficiency and also a number of documents on legal interaction. In
Minsk the Armenian leader will take part in the EurAsEC Interstate
Council as an observer.

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THE FIRST REVELATIONS OF MATTHEW BRYZA
[01:35 pm] 23 June, 2006
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza who is already the US
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group represented the main
principles or the pack of offers which is to be
considered during the negotiations over the Karabakh
conflict.
“We have a frame agreement which calls on Armenia to
take out the armed forced from the Azeri areas”,
Matthew Bryza announced in an interview to Radio
Station “Azatutyun”. “On the other hand, the agreement
supposes the improvement of the economic and
diplomatic links between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There
are also other provisions like the allocation of
peace-makers, international economic support for the
Karabakh region, and economic development. That is to
say, we have a pack of offers to discuss”.
“And finally we also intend to organize voting in
order to decide the status of Nagorno Karabakh. This
is the main outline of the pack of offers”, the new US
co-chair said.
Factually, the Presidents of Armenia an Azerbaijan are
given a specific offer which they refuse to accept.
The US politician refused to say which provision is
the disputed one.
Matthew Bryza urged the President of Armenia and
Azerbaijan to accept the agreement. “We urge the
Presidents to accept the offer. That required
political courage,” the Minsk group US co-chair
mentioned.

Air Temperature in July Can Reach +40C
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.06.2006 14:36 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In July the air temperature in Yerevan will be
higher than middle-statistical with 1-2 degrees, the Armenian state
hydro-meteorological center told PanARMENIAN.Net. The precipitation
will be lower than the norm. It should be noted that the raising of
the middle-statistical air temperature means raising with some 10
degrees, that is to say the temperature will reach +36-40C.

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FIRES ARE ALREADY A USUAL THING
[12:48 pm] 23 June, 2006
A fire broke out today in the green area near the Abovyan street
today. Two fire-fighting vehicles were trying to extinguish the
fire. When we tried to learn the reasons of the fire from the Armenian
Rescuers Service of the Ministry of Regional Government, we were told
half in jest, “There are fires every day; you just haven’t seen them”.
According to the Rescuers Service, there were 13 suchlike fires
yesterday. Three of them were in the area near the Grigor Lousavorich
street.
The Rescuers Service claimed that the reason of the frequent fires
is the heat, the drought, as well as the carelessness of the people,
“Even a cigarette-end can cause a fire”, they added.
From: Baghdasarian

Resettlement Continues
Lragir.am
23 June 06
In 2006 116 houses will be built in different regions of the country
for people, who will decide to resettle in Karabakh. Building has
started in border villages, in other settlements building will be put
out to tender. Pavel Najaryan, the head of the Department on Migration,
Refugees and Resettlement said this in an interview with the Karabakh
Open. He also reminded that last year 8 houses were built for families
resettling in the village of Mesmna, Martuni, and over the past period
the number of children in the village grew by 15.
The head of the Department assures that people from different
countries wish to resettle in Karabakh. “Recently, people from Russia
and Central Asia have expressed likelihood to resettle in Karabakh,”
said Pavel Najaryan.
Building of houses and social infrastructure is funded by the
government, as well as benefactors. We learned from the Department
that the Armenian General Benevolent Union funds the construction
of 10 houses in the village of Berishen, Hadrut. “AGBU is likely to
build another 10 houses, a school and a medical station. The same
organization funded the construction of the school in the village of
Norashen in the same region,” said Mr. Najaryan.
The building of houses and a school in the village of Nor Ghazanchi,
Martakert, will be funded by another benefactor.

JAVAKHETI CANNOT BE TURNED INTO KARABAKH
Lragir.am
23 June 06
All Armenia should do about the issue of Javakheti is to establish
a dialogue between the Armenians of Javakheti and the Georgian
government, said Member of Parliament Shavarsh Kocharyan, the leader
of the National Democratic Party on June 23. He told news reporters
at the Pastark Club that it is unacceptable to manipulate the problem
of Javakheti in the electoral campaign in 2007 in Armenia. The leader
of the National Democratic Party says the tendency “to make Karabakh
out of Javakheti” is unacceptable. He believes that it can be very
dangerous. Shavarsh Kocharyan thinks that the only acceptable way
is the enable the relation between the population of Javakheti and
official Tbilisi to settle the problems of Armenians of Javakheti as
soon as possible. If the problems are not solved, they may give rise
to undesirable developments, says Shavarsh Kocharyan.

NEW SITUATION BEFORE 2007
Lragir.am
23 June 06
Surprisingly, the opposition does not criticize the changes to the
Electoral Code and even signed to it, said Member of Parliament
Shavarsh Kocharyan on June 23, who met with news reporters at the
Pastark Club. According to the member of parliament, this behavior of
the opposition is caused by its paralyzed state which is the cause of
their wrong approach towards the constitutional referendum. “I think it
is determined by a stage, which has not been overcome yet. It is the
paralyzed state that results from wrong behavior, wrong approaches,
the constitutional referendum,” says Shavarsh Kocharyan. According
to him, the opposition was surprisingly against the constitutional
reform, which was definitely in their interests, but agreed to the
draft Electoral Code, which is against its interests. “In other words,
they go to extremes,” says Shavarsh Kocharyan. But he is hopeful
that this state of the opposition will not last long, at least it
will not last untill 2007. “A quite new situation has occurred in
Armenia,” thinks Shavarsh Kocharyan, believing that all the forces
will sooner of later realize the new situation. Shavarsh Kocharyan
thinks that the government realized the new situation the first, hence
the political shake-up inside the government. And the opposition,
according to Shavarsh Kocharyan, both is there and is not there. He
evaluates the state of Ardarutiun Alliance similarly. By the way,
it is interesting that Shavarsh Kocharyan is in the same alliance. It
is true that inside the alliance Shavarsh Kocharyan is not considered
opposition any longer, but Kocharyan thinks, nevertheless, that he
and his party are opposition. The opposition is the political force
which gives a more real evaluation of the situation, has a more clear
vision of solutions, says Shavarsh Kocharyan, adding that he does not
think they become opposition by declaring the time of the revolution.
Nevertheless, the leader of the National Democratic Party is guided
by the principle “every cloud has a silver lining.” Shavarsh Kocharyan
thinks that the present state of the opposition will help realize and
fulfill the necessity of ideological alliances in the opposition. And
since there is not such a perception yet, Shavarsh Kocharyan is likely
to run in the election alone.

WILL NEXT PARLIAMENT CHANGE FOREIGN POLICY OF ARMENIA
Lragir.am
23 June 06
The issue of Karabakh will not be manipulated during the election
campaign in 2007, stated Shavarsh Kocharyan, the leader of the
National Democratic Party, on June 23 at the Pastark Club. He thinks
that Karabakh did not become a subject of manipulations even when the
home political situation was the tensest. However, Shavarsh Kocharyan
also thinks that the political forces must make the Karabakh issue a
matter of discussion in the campaign for the parliament but it should
not be confined to judgments about “giving up or not giving up,”
there should be a conceptual approach. Shavarsh Kocharyan thinks
it is important because he says there is necessity to change the
foreign political line of Armenia. According to the leader of the
National Democratic Party, it should be done by the next parliament.
According to Shavarsh Kocharyan, Azerbaijan makes efforts to present
Armenia to international organizations as an aggressor. The leader
of the National Assembly thinks that the reason is the policy of
Armenia on the settlement. “My opinion is that the new parliament
should make a political declaration, and it has the right to do it
under the new Constitution, which will enable protecting the efforts
of the executive power by the political will of the legislative on the
one hand, and on the other hand, will create a favorable atmosphere,”
says Shavarsh Kocharyan. According to him, the present government
of Armenia cannot change this political line because it is not
legitimate. Shavarsh Kocharyan considers the statement of the next
parliament and change of the political line possible only through a
legitimate election in compliance with European standards.