ARMENIAN FORCES BROKEN CEASE-FIRE REGIME IN FRONT LINE ABOUT 70 TIMES THIS YEAR
Author: E. Javadova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 15, 2006
Over the period January-August 2006 Armenian forces have broken the
cease-fire regime about 70 times, Ilgar Verdiyev, the Official of
the Press-Service of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan Republic
told Trendtoday.
“Over this period, Armenian forces units have subjected to sub-machine
and machine-gun firings. If over this period the cease-fire regime has
been broken in the directions of the Gazakh District of Azerbaijan
Republic, now it is broken in the Tartar direction”, pointed out
I. Verdiyev.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA GOVERNMENT ASSIGNS AMD 2.2 BLN FOR DOMICILE FOR VICTIMS OF 1988 EARTHQUAKE
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 15, 2006
YEREVAN, August 15. /ARKA/. In 2006, Armenian government assigned
AMD 2 billion 225 million (about $5,5 mln) for implementation of
programs on providing families of Armenian and Azerbaijani refuges
and families living in Lori and Shirak regions of the republic,
which had lost their homes after the 1988 earthquake, with domicile.
Such statement was made during a session of the Committee in charge for
providing this category of people with domicile under the chairmanship
of the RA Minister of Territorial Administration Hovik Abrahamyan,
the press and public relations department of the RA government reports.
The money is spent on accomplishment of 101 unfinished houses in Lori
region and 34 unfinished houses in Shirak region, as reported during
the session.
It was also reported that AMD 775 million from AMD 875 million assigned
for implementation of the program on issuance of certificates to
refugee families for purchase of domicile, was assigned to Kotayk
region, and AMD 100 million – to, 20 families, living in one of the
hostels of Yerevan. AMD 875 million was assigned for the program on
issuance of certificates for purchase of domicile to families from
Gyumri city, which had lost their shelters after the 1988 earthquake.
The Committee discussed progress of work on implementation of priority
programs on providing 20 refugee families living in one of Yerevan
hostels, with domicile, as well as families of Armenian refugees,
who had escaped from Azerbaijan in 1988-1992.
According to the report, the Committee estimated satisfactory the
process of the work.

NIXON TROUBLESHOOTER A KEY WATERGATE FIGURE
By Doug Button
Herald Sun (Australia)
August 15, 2006 Tuesday
FIRST Edition
Robert Mardian
Lawyer
Born: October 23, 1923
Died: July 17, 2006
ROBERT Mardian was among the most intriguing minor players in the
Watergate scandal.
He was a high Justice Department and Nixon campaign official who
was convicted for his part in the scandal, only to have the sentence
overturned on appeal.
He led the administration’s pursuit of alleged subversives and
troublemakers.
But he was also briefly rumoured to have been “Deep Throat”, the secret
source who helped bring about the resignation of the 36th US president.
The son of an Armenian immigrant from what had been then the Ottoman
Empire, Robert Charles Mardian was born in Pasadena, California.
He was a member of the large Californian contingent in and around
the Nixon administration.
In 1972 he was appointed a lawyer and “co-ordinator” for Nixon’s
re-election committee, the infamous CREEP (Committee To Re-Elect
the President), which was behind the break-in attempt on June 17,
1972, at the Democrats’ national offices in the Watergate building
in Washington, D.C.
Despite his enthusiasm at the Justice Department for bugging and
surveillance operations, Mardian insisted he had known nothing of
the incident. Prosecutors contended that, on the orders of CREEP’s
director, Mardian phoned one of the burglars, telling him to contact
the Attorney-General to have the leader of the group released from
custody before his identity was discovered.
Thus Mardian became one of the Watergate Seven indicted on March 1,
1974, five months before Nixon quit.
In January 1975, he was convicted on one count of conspiracy to hinder
the Watergate investigation.
The following year his conviction was quashed.
Mardian, 82, died in San Clemente, California.

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN TRADE TURNOVER GROWING – PUTIN, KOCHARIAN
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
August 15, 2006 Tuesday 7:19 PM MSK
The Russian and Armenian presidents agreed that trade between the two
countries is growing and expressed their hope for good prospects in
bilateral relations.
“Trade turnover is growing, and I am sure there are good prospects
for this grow and a desire of the business community to develop
relations of partnership,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said
at a meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharian in the run-up
to the opening of an informal Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC)
summit in Sochi on Tuesday.
The Armenian president also pointed to growth in mutual trade turnover,
but emphasized that “it would be difficult to achieve good quality
without resolving the problems of communication and transportation.”
Kocharian proposed that the two countries focus on the “investment
component” and mentioned a project in which the Russian aluminum giant
Rusal was involved and which had been announced in Sochi two years ago.
The presidents also expressed their willingness to discuss difficult
problems facing Armenia.
“As for the well-known complex problems in the region, I believe we
will have time to talk about them as well,” Putin said.

VLADIMIR PUTIN IS TIGHTENING THE CIRCLE OF HIS FRIENDS
by Vladimir Soloviov, Mikhail Zygar
Translated by A. Ignatkin
Source: Kommersant, August 15, 2006, pp. 1, 5
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part B (Russia)
August 15, 2006 Tuesday
The Launch;
A regional alternative to the World Trade Organization; An informal
summit of the Euro-Asian Economic Community opens in Sochi today. The
presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and
Belarus have confirmed their attendance. Armenian leader Robert
Kocharjan and new Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych have
been invited.
An informal summit of the Euro-Asian Economic Community opens in
Sochi today. The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan, and Belarus have confirmed their attendance. Armenian
leader Robert Kocharjan and new Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych have also been invited to Sochi.
The Kremlin attaches considerable importance to the forthcoming
meeting. The Russian authorities want it to demonstrate that they are
not concerned about the failure of World Trade Organization (WTO)
membership talks. When negotiations with the United States broke
down on the eve of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Moscow decided
to organize an “alternative WTO” – based on the Euro-Asian Economic
Community (EAEC).
In fact, Russia began demonstrating exactly how it perceives the
future economic integration within the framework of the EAEC even
when preparations for the summit were under way. Mounting mutual
dependance of the neighbor states (with both states’ consent, that
is) for starters. Mounting pressure applied to the neighbors still
resisting as phase two. Expansion into the countries that have so
far escaped being in the focus of Moscow’s attention afterwards.
Traditionally for the Kremlin, energy sphere will become the number
one tool and lever. That is why establishment of the EAEC common
energy market is going to become the central issue of the informal
summit that will end on August 17.
Kazakh media outlets report on the eve of the Sochi summit that a
colossal project of water supply for Central Asia – Moscow’s latest
initiative – will become the most important issue on the agenda.
Water has always been a strategic resource in and for Central Asia.
Almost 80% of the water resources of the region are concentrated in
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan while the major consumers are Uzbekistan
and Kazakhstan. Tension usually mounted in summertime when water was
in a higher than usual demand but Kyrgyzstan began storing it up in
reservoirs for electric power production in winter. Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan inevitably brought economic leverages into play to bow
Kyrgyzstan, dependent on exported energy as it is, to their will.
The Kremlin is trying to turn the tables now and make use of the
opportunities this situation is presenting. The idea of an Eurasian
water-energy consortium was first conceived of in Moscow in early
summer. Sources in Moscow and Astana imply that the project may be
financed by the Eurasian Bank Russia and Kazakhstan established not
long ago… Inter RAO EES, a subsidiary of the RAO Unified Energy
Systems, is already building the Sangtuda 1 hydroelectric power plant
and Russian Aluminum the Rogun hydroelectric power plant in Tajikistan.
Realization of the water-energy consortium initiative will put in the
Kremlin’s hands a major geopolitical tool that will certainly boost
its positions in Asia. On the other hand, it will pave way to energy
expansion into the Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese markets.
Eager to do its neighbors great favors, Russia has never yet failed
to encounter one and the same old problem. A great deal of CIS
countries are in the focus of Washington’s interests and attention,
and Vladimir Putin will have to have “friendly chats” with the CIS
leaders who seem to be on too intimate terms with the United States.
Russia has several “problematic” countries to deal with in this
respect and Kyrgyzstan is one of them. Encouraged by Moscow, Kyrgyzstan
asked the United States to revise the terms of the presence of Khansi
airbase in Bishkek airport Manas in 2005. In short, Bishkek wanted
$207 million in rent per year. According to our sources, the Kremlin
feared at first that Washington would accept the new terms but the
latter turned the demand down. Moscow expected that it would result in
curtailment of American military presence in Central Asia but Bishkek
let it down. All of a sudden, it abandoned its new demands and let
the Americans stay for a much lower price that it had demanded at
first. The Kyrgyz-American talks ended on July 14. Under the terms
of the new agreement, Washington is expected to pay $150 million per
year for the airbase. Putin will certainly expect an explanation from
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan now.
One other subject will be raised in Sochi. Russia will do its best
to persuade Kyrgyzstan not to join the HIPC (Heavy Indebted Poor
Countries) program under the aegis of the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund. Kyrgyzstan will be told that membership of the program
will cost it tis sovereignty and place it at the beck and call of
the United States. Moscow will offer Kyrgyzstan dependence on Russia
instead.
Yanukovych as a special guest at the informal summit is the Kremlin’s
other potential headache. According to what information is available at
this point, Putin invited the new Ukrainian prime minister to Moscow
because of the alarming rumors from Kiev that Yanukovych’s contacts
with American negotiators become more and more frequent and that the
sides have all but reached mutual understanding already.
Neither do Yanukovych’s latest statements permit the Kremlin to
relax. The Ukrainian prime minister is resolved to demand a lower
gas price from Russia: $95 per 1,000 cubic meters. This is not
an initiative guaranteed to find Putin or Gazprom particularly
sympathetic. Last but not least, Moscow cannot help noticing that
Yanukovych, the erstwhile “pro-Russian candidate,” isn’t even thinking
of keeping his central pro-Russian campaign promises. (On a working
visit to the Crimea on August 11, Yanukovych announced that making
Russian the second state language is not possible for the time being.)
There are some guests expected in Sochi whose pro-Russian stance
is not something Putin doubts, but even that doesn’t make Russia’s
relations with their respective countries exactly cloudless.
The Russian-Belarusian talks promise to be particularly difficult.
Moscow is resolved to make no more advances to Minsk. Establishment of
a union state is one of the worst problems in the Russian-Belarusian
bilateral relations. Russia wants a common currency introduced in
both countries as soon as possible but Belarus never misses a chance
to delay and impede the process. Alexander Lukashenko demands from
Russia a recompense for the budget losses the forthcoming unification
of the two countries will entail. Belarusian economists maintain that
processes of integration has cost Belarus almost $2 billion in the
last twelve months. Russia, however, has an ace up its sleeve. The
Kremlin is enraged – and doesn’t bother concealing it – that Belarus
is exporting Russian gas and oil products to the third countries
without compunction. According to official estimates alone, Belarusian
petroleum product exports increased by almost 60% in January-May 2006,
to $3.2 billion. More than ample compensation for what losses Belarus
claims it is suffering.
There is one other factor that doesn’t make Russian-Belarusian
bilateral relations any more easier. When Lukashenko was re-elected
this spring, Gazprom announced that the price of Russian gas sold
to Belarus should be raised to match the European average. Moscow
is even prepared to discuss the matter, as long as Beltransgaz turns
over some elements of the gas transportation framework to Gazprom.
But official Minsk wouldn’t hear of it, so the gas price could soar
from $46 to $180-200 per thousand cubic meters. This would be a
near-fatal blow to the struggling Belarusian economy.
Lukashenko has made some frantic attempts to establish a dialogue
with Iran and Venezuela and even evinced vivid interest in the project
of the pipeline from Iran to Pakistan to India. And yet, it is clear
that all these contacts are merely a show, an attempt to make Moscow
more amenable.
Rapprochement with Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, another “faithful
friend” of Russia, is not following the script Russia has chartered.
Tashkent found himself in international isolation after the massacre
in Andijan. Russia moved in, supported Karimov wholeheartedly, and
even signed a treaty of the relations of allies with him. Expecting
Uzbekistan to sell Russia its major assets in return. Well,
considerably glitches have developed in the process. Establishment
of an uranium-mining joint venture to develop the Aktau deposit came
to grinding halt because of the Uzbek redtape on the government level.
The future of the American-Uzbek Zarafshan-Newmont is another
unknown. US-based Newmont Mining withdrew from the project when the
Uzbek authorities slapped back tax claims on it ($11 million for 2005
and $37 million for 2002-04). Moscow hoped that Interros would take
the Americans’ place, but no progress at all has been made yet…
In fact, Moscow has a strong argument to be used in the disputes with
Uzbekistan. The matter concerns the group of Uzbeks currently in the
detention cell in the Russian city of Ivanovo. Suspecting them of
organization of the revolt in Andijan, Tashkent has been clamoring
for their extradition for a year now. Russia is prepared to turn the
Uzbeks over to Tashkent but only in return for serious condescensions
on the part of Uzbekistan. After all, the Russian authorities have
already granted the men in question the status of political refugees,
and their extradition to Uzbekistan will almost certainly make trouble
for Moscow’s image in the West (not to mention political problems it
will generate).
On the other hand, damage to its image in the eyes of the international
community is not what worries Moscow that much nowadays. Mad at the
West, the Kremlin is out to nail together a team of its own. Should
it set the West seething, Moscow will be only pleased.

ISRAEL SUPPORTED BY USA, TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN, POLITICAL SCIENTIST SAYS
Panorama.am
15:47 15/08/06
Gevorg Torosyan, member of World Committee of Armenian Sympathizers
of Lebanese Resistance, informed reporters that 70 bridges and 80
percent of roads in Lebanon were damaged during 34 days of military
actions. The Israeli air combat has blown up the oil storages of
Lebanon causing ecological disaster in the Mediterranean Sea. Torosyan
told a press conference today that 1071 Lebanese people were killed
and another 3628 injured during the war.
Igor Muradyan, a political analyst, believes that Israel would not
start war against Lebanon if not the silent acceptance of the Arab
world.
Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan, a political scientist, assures that 3
countries have supported Israel in this war – the United States of
America, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The political scientist believes that
Israel received 80 percent of its fuel from Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil
pipeline. He says even Azerbaijan does not refute this fact.
Melik-Shahnazaryan said Israeli tanks and airbuses would be only
scrap metal without Azerbaijani oil.

EVENTS DEDICATED TO 15th ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE OF ARMENIA TO BE HELD AUGUST-OCTOBER
Armenpress
Aug 15 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 15, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Education and Science Ministry
is going to conduct a set of events in August-October dedicated to the
15th anniversary of the Armenian Independence. Pupils and students
of the educational establishments of the provinces and Yerevan will
participate in the events.
Narine Hovhannissian, head of the Education and Science Ministry’s
general education department, said today at a press conference that all
the events are of patriotic, familiarizing nature. From August 17 to 20
second pan-Armenian educational conference will be held in Tsakhkadzor,
from August 20 a school competition on writing a composition on
“My Free Homeland” will be announced. The best compositions will be
published in “Krtutyun” (“Education”) and “Kanch” newspapers.
On September 1, the Day of Knowledge, open lessons dedicated
to the 15th anniversary of the independence will be conducted in
schools. Besides exhibitions of works of students and pupils will be
held; on September 21 a march to Yerablur will be organized.
Events will be held in the sport sphere as well, particularly
championships in volleyball, basketball etc. will be
conducted. Besides, in the schools the pupils will meet with
state-political figures, in higher educational establishments
conferences, lectures will be conducted.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION GETS READY FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY
Panorama.am
14:45 15/08/06
The ministry of education and science called a press conference today
to inform the public about the events they are going to organize
connected with 15th anniversary of Independence in Armenia. Narine
Hovhannisyan, secondary education department head, said they are
developing a concept paper to bring education and patriotic upbringing
together. “Only then we can accomplish success,” she said. The ministry
of education has instructed all schools to conduct a lesson on 15th
anniversary of Independence Day in Armenia on the first day of classes,
September 1. The ministry plans meetings with political figures and
Artsakh war freedom -fighters during classes. They will also organize
a march to Yerablur, memorial cemetery of freedom fighters, on the
Independence Day.
Students will also be enrolled in essay writing competition on the
subject “My Free Country.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROBERT KOCHARIAN MEETS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN
Armenpress
Aug 15 2006
SOCHI, AUGUST 15, ARMENPRESS: The delegation headed by the Armenian
President Robert Kocharian arrived today in Sochi to participate
in the non-official summit of the Eurasian Economic Association
conducted in Sochi August 15-17. Armenia is participating in the
summit as an observer.
At the airport Robert Kocharian was met by the governor of Krasnodar
province Alexander Tkachov, Russian deputy foreign minister and
executive secretary of Eurasian Economic Association Grigori Rapota
and Armenian consul in Sochi Vardan Azoyan.
Armenian president met with his Russian counterpart at the latter’s
summer residence “Bocharov Ruchei”.
The two presidents discussed topical issues within their bilateral
relations, including economic, cultural and a number of regional
issues. Vladimir Putin highly underscored the positive dynamic
development of cooperation in trade sphere between the two countries
and expressed his conviction that the Russian-Armenian business
partnership will prove successful.
In his turn, Robert Kocharian emphasized the importance of establishing
effective cooperation mechanisms in the communication, transport and
investment sectors. Vladimir Putin and Robert Kocharian also noted
about the successful conduction of events within the framework of
the Year of Armenia in Russia.
Members of the Eurasian Economic Association are Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Armenia,
Moldova and Ukraine are observers.

ONLY 11 RECEIVE HIGHEST 20 POINTS IN MATH
Panorama.am
14:44 15/08/06
Levon Lazarian, minister of education and science, paid a visit to
Math exam today. This is the last day of this examination at higher
educational establishments. The examination committee managed to
check about 6800 tests in the course of 23 days.
Today, 253 applicants took examination in Mathematics, and 14 people
were registered as absent. The examination committee says the absent
students may have already failed previous exams. The committee says
few students were considered as exceptionally bright, since only 11
out of 6800 received the highest 20 points.