Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project underway
Tehran Times, Iran
Aug. 26, 2006
Tehran Times Economic Desk
TEHRAN – Armenian officials announced that preliminary operations
for the building of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline has been completed.
Preparatory operations for the building of a pipeline to transfer
Iran’s natural gas to Armenia were finished, the Persian service of
Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) said here on Friday.
Based on a contract concluded between the Iranian company, Arvandan and
Armenia’s Hayrussgasard Co., the Iranian side has managed to finish
the digging of a 22.5 km long trench for the project, the report
quoted Shushan Sardarian, an official with Hayrussgasard as saying.
The length of the Armenian part of the gas pipeline from the border
region Meghri to Kajaran is 42 kilometers.
Pipe laying operation, as the next phase of the project to carry Iran’s
gas to the Transcaucasian republic, is expected to be completed by
the Iranian side by the end of 2006, the report added.

Armenian high school proposed for property
Glendale News Press, CA
Aug. 26, 2006
Once the location of a speak-easy, most of the 40-acre plot would go
into Santa Monica conservancy.
By Tania Chatila
GLENDALE – Nearly 40 acres of land abutting Crescenta Valley Park
could soon be more than just open space. Granada Hills-based M.
Jorjezian Investments Inc.is proposing construction of an Armenian
high school and a condominium village on property it purchased from
Mountain Oaks, LLC, about two months ago.
“We’re trying to talk with all the neighbors to make sure everybody
is OK with the project,” said Yeznik Kazandjian, M. Jorjezian
Investments’ corporate attorney.
~U POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Bill would change school policies
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The vacant land is between Crescenta Valley Park and the Verdugo
Mountains in Glendale, near the Whiting Woods neighborhood.
Kazandjian did not divulge the purchase price of the property, but
did say that company officials plan on attending the Crescenta Valley
Town Council’s September meeting to flesh out some of the plans and
get community input.
They are proposing to build the condominium village on nine acres of
the land, and the high school – which would likely serve about 500
students – on six acres of the property, he said.
“The Armenian community in Glendale doesn’t have a high school,” he
said. “The Armenian church has a junior high, they have an elementary
school and they have a number of pre-schools and kindergartens, but
no high school.” advertisement
The remaining 25 acres will likely be handed over to the Santa Monica
Conservancy, Kazandjian said.
“We want to conserve the natural environment in that area because it
is a beautiful area,” Kazandjian said, adding that the proposed condo
village and school would be built on a flat area of the land, and the
remaining hilly acreage would be given up.
The developer offered the open space to the city of Glendale, but
city officials suggested it might be better to give it to the
conservancy, Kazandjian said.
“It’s still premature to make any kind of deduction or any kind of
opinion on it,” Crescenta Valley Town Council member Richard Toyon
said. “No one has seen what their plans are, so it’s really difficult
to offer an opinion.”
The property borders unincorporated La Crescenta, which the Town
Council represents.
Toyon, president of the local conservancy group, Volunteers
Organizing and Conserving the Environment, met with Kazandjian and
Glendale Councilman Rafi Manoukian about two months ago to discuss
the preliminary plans.
“Mr. Manoukian felt it would be a good thing to meet and to help
smooth the waters,” he said.
Toyon said the developer may have some trouble building on the site,
which has several mature oak trees on it. They may also have some
trouble with surrounding neighborhoods, and with their opinions of a
high school coming in, he said.
But without any real plans, it’s hard to say how the community will
react to the proposed project, Toyon said.
“It’s very preliminary,” Kazandjian said.
“We have no target date at this point, but we’re working on it
diligently. Hopefully, in the next few months, we’ll have something
more concrete.”
Rumors concerning the land’s fate have been circulating through the
community.
“I kind of heard it through the grapevine,” said Mike Lawler,
president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. “It’s
pretty rumor-esque. That land has been conspicuously vacant for a
long, long time.”
The land was originally the site for a speak-easy in the 1920s, but
was later turned into a vacation-home site, Lawler said.
The owners of the property sold off 10-foot-by-10-foot lots to
different owners, he said.
“It was kind of a goofy plan …. You could have owners in the
hundreds, and some of them were never recorded,” he said.
While he would have rather seen the land stay undeveloped, the idea
of a school is promising, Lawler said.
“It’s better than just straight condos, in my view,” he said.
QUESTION
What do you think of plans to develop an area of Glendale between
Crescenta Valley Park and the Verdugo Mountains? E-mail
[email protected] or write to News-Press and Leader Community Forum,
111 W. Wilson Ave. Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91203. Please include your
name and tell us your hometown and phone number for verification
purposes only.

The day St. Bart lost his head
by cindy day
The Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia)
August 23, 2006 Wednesday
Let me tell you about St Bart. Tomorrow is Aug. 24. We’ll be one
week away from the end of the month, and exactly four months away
from Christmas Eve. If you don’t like the sound of that, then let’s
focus on the fact that tomorrow is also St Bartholomew’s Day.
He certainly wasn’t one of the more popular saints, but one that
Grandma talked about every August; she never passed up an opportunity
to share his story. I used to wonder if Grandma made these things up,
but I’m constantly meeting people who confirm her lovely weather tales.
According to Grandma, St. Bartholomew was an ordinary saint, but an
extraordinary Apostle, who converted the King of Armenia. The king’s
brother had the Apostle flayed first, and then beheaded … on Aug.
24.
For days leading up to the 24th, Grandma prayed each night for good
weather on St. Bart’s Day. If anyone asked why, she was quick to
recite: “If the 24th of August be fair and clear, then hope for a
prosperous Autumn that year.”
Now that’s not the only bit of folklore surrounding the beheaded
saint. There are many people who believe that St Bart’s Day brings
in the cooler autumn weather: “At St Bartholomew, there comes a cold
dew.” According to the old pagan calendar, Autumn started August 24th
and ended November 22nd.
By the way, last year it was partly sunny and warm … and , as you
may recall, we did enjoy a lovely autumn. Tomorrow looks like a lovely
day, so we should count on another great fall in the Maritimes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Collaborator Quisling’s former Oslo home to house Holocaust museum
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
August 23, 2006 Wednesday 12:34 PM EST
DPA POLITICS Norway Wars Collaborator Quisling’s former Oslo home to
house Holocaust museum Oslo
The former Oslo home of Norwegian Nazi collaborator
Vikdun Quisling, whose name is synonymous with treachery, is set to
house a Holocaust museum, reports said Wednesday.
The Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in
Norway is to use Villa Grande, where Quisling moved with his wife
Maria in 1941, for displays and research activities focusing on the
Holocaust.
Quisling was executed in 1945 after setting up a puppet government
to collaborate with the Nazis who invaded Norway in 1940.
Quisling and his wife Maria remained in the grandiose villa on the
Oslo fjord until his arrest in 1945.
The 3,000 square-metre villa was restored by the Norwegian
government and handed over to the Jewish community five years ago.
At least 2,100 Norwegian Jews died in the Holocaust.
The museum to be opened by Norway’s Queen Sonja and Princess
Mette-Marit on Wednesday will also feature displays on the
persecution of other ethnic and religious minorities in German South-
West Africa – now Namibia – Armenia, Cambodia, the Balkans and
Rwanda.
The building served as a college for nurses after the war. Parts
of the building which were refurbished by Quisling would not be
accessible to museum’s visitors.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 25, 2006 Friday
FIRES AS A MOOT POINT
by Sohbet Mamedov, Anatoly Gordiyenko
BAKU WANTS THE KARABAKH ISSUE DISCUSSED BY THE UN. YEREVAN THREATENS
TO QUIT PEACE TALKS; Yerevan threatens to withdraw from Karabakh
talks if Baku has the issue discussed at the UN level.
Armenian Representative to the UN, Armen Martirosjan, told RL the
other day that Yerevan might quit the peace talks if Baku initiated
discussion of the issue at the UN. According to Martirosjan, Armenia
and Azerbaijan made a pact in 2005, that the problem would be handled
exceptionally by the OSCE Minsk Group chaired by Russia, France, and
the United States together, and that official Baku would refrain from
trying to transfer the issue to the UN level.
Martirosjan told RL that Azerbaijan had recently sent a letter to the
UN urging it to “facilitate restoration of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.” “Armenia may quit the negotiations altogether if
Azerbaijan… tries to bring the matter of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution to the UN,” Martirosjan was quoted as saying.
Armenian diplomat’s ultimatum raised eyebrows in official Baku. “The
Armenian Foreign Ministry has never responded. Why would the Armenian
Representative to the UN speak on behalf of the Armenian state?”
Metin Mirza of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Press Service said.
Mirza believes that it was the Armenian diplomat’s personal opinion.
As for the negotiations, “its suspension is not even discussed,”
Mirza said. Moreover, another meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers might take place in September. Chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group do insist on this meeting, Mirza added.
Official Baku in the meantime is trying to have the Karabakh issue
discussed at the UN and at the autumn session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. The matter concerns the fires
raging on the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. Baku
suspects that “the Armenian side caused these fires deliberately”
particularly since the prevailing winds drive them to the positions
of the Azerbaijani army. Baku wants the “fire issue” resolved by the
UN and the Parliamentary Assembly.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 22, 2006, p. 6
Translated by A. Ignatkin

Armenian leader saddened by loss of life in Russian plane crash
ITAR-TASS News Agency
August 23, 2006 Wednesday 01:11 PM EST
YEREVAN, August 23 — Armenian President Robert Kocharyan expressed
condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the loss of life
as a result of the Tupolev-154 passenger plane crash in Ukraine
on Tuesday.
“On behalf of the Armenian people and on my own behalf I express
deep condolences and sympathy to the near and dear of those killed,”
Kocharyan said in his message.

Food & Drink – Reviews – Garni – Authentic Armenian in Chiswick
By Sejal Sukhadwala
Time Out
August 23, 2006
A bowl of beans arrived, and we immediately knew this meal was going
to be special. The plump, shiny kidney beans shone like rubies amid a
light dressing of garlicky crushed walnut paste, and had clearly been
cooked rather than taken from a tin. We greedily decided to share a
platter of five starters. Stuffed vine leaves were served with
cinnamon-scented mazdoon (the lush own-made yoghurt that’s a staple
of Armenian cookery).
Marble-white balls of feta and cream cheese, speckled with parsley
and dill, came cradled inside baby peppers. The only disappointment
was the steamed dumplings with undercooked pastry and dry spiced-veal
stuffing.
Garni is arguably London’s only true Armenian restaurant. Bayswater’s
Erebuni offers a few Armenian dishes, and Jakob’s on Gloucester Road
has an Iranian-influenced Armenian menu – but Garni specialises in
ancient Armenian cooking. Previously the proprietress Larissa
Arakelyan was owner of Libation wine bar on the same site. Her cosy
venue certainly looks attractive. There are fresh orchids on the bar,
and pastel-hued retro lampshades that cast demure shadows over
proceedings. The glass front opens out onto the street, where a few
tables are laid for al fresco dining, while at the rear is a tiny
covered courtyard where a barbecue chef cooks over charcoal.
Armenian food is a cross between Turkish and Russian, with influences
from neighbouring Georgia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. You’ll find aromatic
spices, an abundance of fresh verdant herbs, and the aubergines of
Turkish cookery, combined with the dumplings, fruit, and walnut
pastes of Russia and Georgia. We liked the eponymous ‘garni’ – a
delicious ancient recipe of baked aubergines stuffed with herbed
minced veal and bulgur, topped with grated carrot and tomatoes. Also
enjoyable was the fluffy, buttery pilaf that came with
charcoal-grilled aubergines, peppers, tomatoes and green beans, whose
musky smokiness was enlivened by a sharp, refreshing lemon tang. The
accompanying bread basket contained warm, crisp lavash, and soft,
round pillows of sesame-studded churek.
In contrast, a platter of Armenian cakes and pastries – variously
filled with nuts, honey, cream and sugar – was somewhat dry and
brittle. For afters it’s better, perhaps, to stick to the delightful
strong Armenian coffee and fresh thyme tea.
The wine arrangements are idiosyncratic. Three red and three white
vins de Pays d’Oc are sold by the glass. If you want a bottle, you
have to buy it from the on-site ‘shop’ (in reality a large wine rack
in a wall niche), where it’s available at shop prices. The menu also
lists breakfast, brunch and specialities. Of particular interest is
khash – a festive soup made from cow’s feet, garlic, radish and
greens – but you have to give two days’ notice for it, so you might
just want to stick with a brilliant little bowl of beans.
Garni, 472 Chiswick High St, W4 5TT (020 8995 5129) Chiswick Park
tube. Open daily 7am-11pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around
£60.
– Time Out reviews anonymously and pays for meals
THE BILL
Platter of five starters – £15
Veal-stuffed aubergines – £8.50
Charcoal vegetables and pilaf – £7.50
Bread basket – £1.50
Armenian cakes – £8.50
Fruit and cheese platter – £5.50
Large bottle still water – £2.25
Bottle French rose – £14.50
Armenian coffee – £1.50
Thyme tea – £1.85
Subtotal – £66.60
Cash tip – £8.40
Total – £75.
–Boundary_(ID_ckODGVnCXTS8SBa/nWtPrw)- –

Russia suspends probe into Armenian’s murder
Agence France Presse — English
August 22, 2006 Tuesday 9:34 PM GMT
MOSCOW, Aug 22 2006 — Russian prosecutors have suspended an
investigation into the murder of an Armenian national earlier this
year, laying they will never find the culprits, the victim’s lawyer
said Tuesday.
“The investigation is suspended due to the impossibility of determining
those who committed the crime,” Simon Tsaturyan said, quoted by the
RIA-Novosti news agency.
Vagan Abramyants, 17, was stabbed to death in a Moscow metro station
on April 22. The assailants escaped from the scene.
There has been a rise in the number of such attacks on foreigners in
recent years and the pace has quickened in recent months.
They are often carried out by gangs of skinheads and usually target
Asians, Africans and people from the Caucasus — such as Armenians —
or Central Asia.

Blasts damage oil pipeline in Ingushetia
RIA Novosti, Russia
August 22, 2006
MOSCOW, August 22 (RIA Novosti) – Part of an oil pipeline in Russia’s
North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia was damaged early Tuesday in a
suspected terrorist attack. Two explosions went off simultaneously,
causing an oil spill and fire, local police said.
“[Suspected] criminals planted two powerful hollow-charge devices on
the pipeline, and both detonated almost simultaneously,” a police
spokesman said, adding that it took firefighters three hours to
extinguish a 20-meter-high pillar of fire near the village of
Voznesenskaya.
He said authorities have opened a criminal case in the matter, which
investigators consider a terrorist attack.
In late January, two blasts on pipelines running through southern
Russia cut gas supplies to Georgia and Armenia, and an explosion
hit a high-voltage electricity transmission tower near the city of
Karachayevsk in Russia’s North Caucasus, causing blackouts in much
of Georgia.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 21, 2006 Monday
ARMENIA IS GOING TO DEVELOP PRACTICAL AND POLITICAL COOPERATION WITH
NATO FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF CLOSER RELATIONS WITH THE BLOC
The program of actions of individual partnership with Russia says
that Armenia is going to develop practical and political cooperation
with NATO for establishment of closer relations with the bloc.
Training and re-training of senior officers and revision of the
training program for all branches of the armed forces will be done
in accordance with this document. A peacekeeping battalion will also
be organized in Armenia in accordance with NATO standards and this
battalion will become a peacekeeping brigade in the future. The program
of actions also points out that goals of Armenia include improvement of
border security, defense and budget systems and development of stable
and realistic defense plans. The document also makes provisions for
revision of the strategy for development of the military industrial
complex and working out proposals for its further maintenance. In
the framework of cooperation with NATO a public information center
of the bloc will be opened in Yerevan and stands with the relevant
literature will appear in district libraries. It is also planned to
organize a week of NATO and special seminars and conferences.
Source: Krasnaya Zvezda, August 18, 2006, p. 3