POLAND ADMIRES KADR ZERO BY ARMENIAN PHOTOGRAPHER
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.06.2006 18:33 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The 5th art festival titled “Neighbors for Neighbors”
is over in the Polish capital city. The festival included performances,
exhibitions of photos, sculptures and paintings.
Separate pavilions were given to the guests from Israel. As the only
representative of Armenia, photographer and film director Vahram
Mkhitaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Armenia was not granted
a separate pavilion, since Armenians were not included in the list
of those invited. When asked how he succeeded to take part in the
exhibition Mkhitaryan said, “I was in Poland at the moment and members
of the Eastern Workshop offered to exhibit my works along with theirs.”
Varham Mkhitaryan presented his series of photos titled Kadr
Zero. “These are the first shots in the camera. Many photographers
throw them away, since they have no value. To make a good shot one
should click several times to find exactly what is needed. But the zero
shots carry no negativism and affectation. I just wanted to show them,”
he said. It should be noted that the Kadr Zero was noticed by many art
workers. Some photos by the young artist have been already exhibited in
Galeria SD, one of the most famous galleries in Warsaw. Mkhitaryan said
exhibitions will be also organized in Gdansk and other Polish towns.

FIRST STEP NOT TO FINANCE KARS-AKHALKALAK RAILWAY IS TAKEN
By Aghavni Harutyunian
AZG Armenian Daily
16/06/2006
Sticking to its policy of regional cooperation and economic policy,
the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services has
taken a decision not to finance Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilis-Baku railway
bypassing Armenia, RFE/RL reports. The Armenian Assembly of America
thanked congressmen and informed that congressmen Joseph Crowley,
Edward Royce and Bred Sherman proposed an amendment to the banking
procedure 2006 on exports and imports that prohibits assignment of
state finances to projects aimed at isolating Armenia from regional
and trade cooperation.
The amendment passed unanimously, and in AAA’s words, this emphasizes
United States’ resolution to improve Armenian-Turkish relations and
to settle Nagorno Karabakh issues through peace talks. This decision
is also a response to newly appointed US ambassador to Azerbaijan,
Anne Derse, who said that the railway is not in the interests of
regional integration.
In congressman Crowley’s words, the amendment is a signal for Turkish
and Azerbaijani governments that exclusion of Armenia from regional
projects can result in instability. Californian congressman Sherman
reminded that the EU has already made it stance clear on this issue. In
his words, the financing of Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline in 2003 was
a huge mistake as the aim of US foreign aid should be cooperative
solution to the conflict but not financing of suchlike projects.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ZARQAWI’S DEMISE
AZG Armenian Daily
16/06/2006
There is a lesson for us all in the sudden, violent death of terrorist
leader Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq on Tuesday. It is this: Never call
a meeting.
Osama bin Laden probably hasn’t called a single meeting since 9/11,
so he’s still alive and kicking almost five years later. He sends out
inspirational video or audio tapes from time to time, but he’s not
actually running anything, because that would require him to be in
daily touch with lots of people — and if he were, he would be dead by
now. They’d spot him using a satellite phone and drop a missile on him,
like the Russians did to the Chechen rebel leader Dzhokhar Dudayev,
or somebody would just turn him in for the $25 million reward.
Zarqawi HAD to hold meetings, however. He had to organise atrocities,
coordinate logistics, talk on mobile phones, and thus expose himself
to attack on a daily basis, so eventually he ran out of luck. He will
not be missed, especially by the saner parts of the Iraqi resistance
movement — but he has probably already done the state of Iraq
fatal damage.
Zarawi was a foreigner, and most of his fighters were foreigners too,
religious fanatics from all over the Arab world who cared no more
about the lives of Iraqis than they did about their own lives. The
more doctrinally pure among them believed that there should not even
be an Iraqi state; like all Muslim countries, it should be absorbed
into a single world-spanning Muslim state run according to strict
Islamist principles.
It was the US invasion of Iraq that gave Zarqawi and his friends
the chance to move in, but they never dominated the resistance
movement. From the start, the great majority of the people fighting
the American occupation were native-born Sunni Arabs. Some of them,
mostly former Baathists, were nationalists who simply wanted the
Americans out. Others were religiously motivated radicals, long
repressed under Saddam, who also wanted to impose strict Islamic law
on the country. But none of them wanted to abolish the country. Most
of them did not even want a civil war.
That was where Zarqawi’s influence was greatest, and worst. His
gruesome enthusiasm for slowly beheading defenceless hostages and
circulating the videos was bad enough. Indeed, although bin Laden
and Zawahiri were eventually persuaded in 2004 to adopt “al-Qaeda in
Iraq,” as Zarqawi named his organisation, they never had any control
over him, and they worried that his obvious delight in cruelty would
alienate people from the cause. But Zarqawi’s strategy of trying to
trigger a civil war in Iraq by murdering Shia Arabs in large numbers
was as infectious as it was effective.
Logically, Iraq’s Sunni Arabs should not seek a civil war because,
as a mere 20 percent minority in the country, they are almost certain
to lose it. But there is no other strategy that is likely to restore
the Sunnis’ former dominance over Iraq either. When no good strategy is
available, people will often opt for bad strategies rather than accept
defeat — and Zarqawi offered the Sunnis the strategy of civil war.
Like many religious fanatics, he hated people of his own religion
whom he saw as heretics even more than he hated infidels, so he had
no compunction about blowing Shia Arabs up in large numbers simply
because they were Shia. He saw a Sunni-Shia civil war as the best way
of destabilising the government that the US occupation was trying to
install in Baghdad, but also as the best way to ensuring the emergence
of a permanent base for Islamist radicals in the Sunni Arab parts
of the country, which would probably end up beyond Shia control even
after a eventual American withdrawal.
It was Zarqawi’s people who carried out all the early atrocities
against Shia civilians — the bombing of the Najaf shrine in August
2003 (85 dead), the coordinated attack on Shia mosques during Ashoura
ceremony in March 2004 (181 dead), the car bombs in Najaf and Karbala
in December 2004 (60 dead) — and they had the desired effect. Death
squads from Shia militias began killing Sunnis in retaliation,
the mainstream Sunni resistance started to fight back with the same
methods, and Iraq was trapped in the same spiral of violence that
doomed Lebanon to fifteen years of civil war.
Zarqawi is dead, but he has probably achieved his purpose. Baghdad
central mortuary is now receiving close to fifty mutilated bodies each
day, almost all of them victims of sectarian killings, and every month
the number rises. It’s probable that two or three times as many dead
end up in other mortuaries or are simply found and buried by their
relatives without any official record. The situation in Iraq will
probably get much worse, but it is already past saving.
By Gwynne Dyer, a London-based independent journalist whose articles
are published in 45 countries.

DID HUMAN FACTOR CAUSE CRASH OF A-320 AIRBUS?
By Aghavni Harutyunian
AZG Armenian Daily
16/06/2006
Or It’s Another Version to Save Russian Air Communicator.
The decoding of the black boxes of the crashed A-320 airbus is
completed, Moskovskiy Komsomolec newspaper quoted one of the experts
as saying.
According to the expert the official data will be published in
several days, but it is known already that the airplane was in perfect
technical condition.
The crash was caused by the so-called human factor.
The expert found no drawback in the technical state of the airbus. The
experts found out that there was no lack of fuel, either.
The experts believe that the airbus crashed because of the crew lost
its orientation in the air space. The crew may appear in such situation
because of bad weather conditions or when they lose concentration.
On May 3, the factor of bad weather conditions was more actual. The
black boxes testify that when the air traffic controller sent the
airbus for the second circle, the crew guided the plane and not
the autopilot.
It’s worth mentioning that earlier the unknown sources spread a
version according to which the crash was caused by the controller of
the Adler airport, as he didn’t take into account the capacities of
the Armenian pilot and didn’t let him land.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FAMOUS AND UNKNOWN BRANDS AT ‘BRAND EXPO’ EXHIBITION
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily
16/06/2006
With an aim of representing Armenian and foreign brands “Brand Expo”
three-day exhibition opened yesterday in Yerevan. Around 40 companies
from various spheres represented the consumers more than 100 famous
and unknown brands.
The pavilion of Ashtarak-kat was as always affluent.
Company’s press secretary, Tatevik Khabazian, informed that they
participate in order to display the company’s new brands, get in
touch with the consumers and get acquainted with their ides. Among
other dairy producing companies was “Marianna”.
“Bjni” mineral water and “Noy” drinking water famous in the foreign
countries were also exhibited. Aries Catering Company has been
in organizing furshets, different events, coffee and lunch breaks
and shows.
Virs Info Company’s “Everything About Armenia” informational web
portal provides information on tourism, leisure, real estate rent
and other spheres.
“Treasures of Armenia” is the name of Nina Hovhannisian’s range
of souvenirs.
Yet, yesterday’s exhibition left somewhat sad impression due to lack
of visitors and the visual mess of products from different spheres.

NKR DEMANDS THE OSCE TO FIND OUT THE INITIATOR OF THE FRONTIER FIRE
A1+
[07:29 pm] 15 June, 2006
NKR Foreign Ministry had to respond to Azerbaijan’s charges according
to which Armenians are accused of setting fire to the frontier rural
areas deliberately.
The racket made by the Azeri side is aimed at worsening the situation
of the conflict zone and strengthening inconfidence between the two
sides resumes NKR deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan.
At the same time the Azeri authorities attempt to divert the
attention of the international community from the fact of demolishing
Armenian historical and cultural monuments and cemetery located in the
territory of Azerbaijan. Brilliant evidence to that fact can serve the
destruction of the Julfa khachkars.” Masis Mayilyan also claimed that
the dry grass of the above mentioned territory burns during the hot
summer months. They are unable to extinguish fires because of frequent
violations of the cease-fire. A few years ago the authorities of the
NKR released a letter to the Azeri side through the OSCE Minsk group
Co-Chairs offering to prevent further burning of pasture with joint
efforts. “Unfortunately, the offer was turned down by the official
Baku and it reflects the real principles of the sides, especially
Azerbaijan’s lack of political power to settle issues of bilateral
concern,” claimed NKR deputy Foreign Minster.
By the way, today the NKR Foreign Ministry applied to the office of
the Personal Representative of the OSCE Secretary-in-Office. The NKR
suggested holding a crisis-survey in the frontier areas in order to
assess the situation properly and refute the false rumors spread from
the Azeri side.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE QUALITY OF ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS WILL CHANGE
A1+
[06:48 pm] 15 June, 2006
Armenian Association of the European Centre on the security issues
survey after Gorge Marshal organized a seminar-discussion on the theme
“Peacekeeping and peace centre in South Caucasus” in “Congress” hotel.
The participants welcomed the idea and attached great importance to
such initiative as they see it a perfect chance to contemplate over
the issues and exchange thoughts concerning them.
While addressing the opening ceremony deputy Minister of the RA
Foreign Ministry Arman Kirakosyan noted that the conflict settlement
has always been imperative in Armenia. “Armenia is also involved
in the conflict settlement with its modest means and will go on its
peacekeeping mission. We assume that the duty of each country which
is a member of international relations is to take all the possible
measures in this context.”
John Evans, US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia
noted that 16 graduates of the centre have become Defense ministers,
21 – other ministers or deputy ministers, 22 – ambassadors etc.
He claims that they are all in good relations with each other. “I
would rather say it is a kind of mafia in Europe and in Asia,” adds
the Ambassador. By the way, while speaking of the Armenian 46 snappers
working in Iran the US Ambassador resumed, “Their functions don’t go
in line with the liabilities and duties of peacekeeper,” and added
“Armenian decided to enlarge the battalion and the USA is ready to
render assistance on this score.”

WORLD BANK MEETING IN YEREVAN
A1+
[12:10 pm] 16 June, 2006
On June 17-18 the meeting of the Currency International Fund and the
Dutch group of the World Bank will take place in Yerevan.
The Dutch group comprises the 12 member-countries: Armenia, the
Netherlands, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Israel, Croatia, Cyprus,
Macedonia, Moldova, Georgia, Romania, and Ukraine.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STREETS WILL BE DESTROYED WITHOUT “LINS” FUND
A1+
[07:49 pm] 15 June, 2006
The key issues of today’s session convened by the “Lins” Fund committee
were the results of the constructive tenders in the framework of the
fund programs aimed at realizing road construction and restoration
of Yerevan streets. The session was presided over by Armen Gevorgyan,
president of the “Lins” fund committee and head of the RA President’s
personnel.
A few constructive organizations met the tender criteria and were
considered winners by the Committee.
They are to realize the construction of the Horom – Artik – Alagyaz
highway and a section of the Armavir – Isahakyan – Gyumri motorway.
As for the streets of the capital, two constructive organizations
became the winners of the tender and they are to construct the section
between “Barekamoutyun” Square and Komitas Avenue as well as Tigran
the Great Avenue and railway station.
The session participants also referred to the results of the school
building tenders.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AUA HOSTS SEISMIC WORKSHOP
Armenpress
Jun 15 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS: About 40 experts from 9 countries –
Armenia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and
USA are attending an International Workshop on Base Isolated High-Rise
Buildings that opened today in the American University of Armenia.
The workshop, organized in collaboration with the Armenian Association
for Earthquake Engineering, will end on June 17. It provides
an opportunity for the exchange of updated, detailed information
concerning the state-of-the-art on the development and applications
of the innovative anti-seismic techniques for high-rise buildings.
Topics covered by the Yerevan Workshop are base and roof isolation,
passive energy dissipation, systems formed by innovative anti-seismic
devices, active, semi-active and hybrid control of seismic and
non-seismic vibrations of high-rise buildings.
Armenia was the first among developing nations to exploit the
technology of seismic isolation, and the only such country to have
supported substantial improvement in the technology, especially for
apartments, schools, hospitals and high-rise buildings. Armenia ahs
also pioneered the practice of retrofitting buildings for seismic
isolation and the base and roof without vacating residents or
terminating maintenance.
One day, namely June 17, 2006 will be devoted to Technical Visits to
construction sites in Yerevan.
Participants will be acquainted with base isolated high-rise buildings,
which are currently under construction.