OSKANYAN: FREE AND TRANSPARENT PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN 2007 TO IMPROVE ARMENIA’S REPUTATION IN REGION
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006
YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. Free and transparent parliamentary elections
in 2007 are to improve Armenia’s reputation in the region, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said Thursday in his interview
with Kentron TV channel. He thinks if the elections fail to meet
international standards, Armenia will face grave consequences.
In his words, unlike previous cases, when Armenia will have to deal
with moral consequences after being accused of holding fraudulent
elections, this time the country “will face material consequences,
which will have negative impact on its economy”.
Oskanyan said Armenia has sufficient time for preparing these elections
and any explanation of failure to hold the elections properly will
be unconvincing.
He still hopes that the things will go in the right way.

ARMECONOMBANK’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EXPRESSES APPRECIATION OF CAMPAIGN RUN BY CBA AGAINST DOLLARIZATION
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006
YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. Armeconombank’s Executive Director
Ashot Osipyan, speaking at a press conference on Friday, expressed
appreciation of the campaign run by Central Bank of Armenia against
dollarizatipon.
In his opinion, Armenia, a country with high degree of dollarization,
took very reasonable step this year.
He finds it reasonable to set prices for commodities and services in
Armenian national currency.
Armenian dram has strengthened against US dollar by 4.35% (on nominal
exchange rate) over May. For the first nine days, dram rose by another
2 percent. The CBA set USD exchange rate at AMD 418.94.
Compared with the beginning of the year, national currency jumped 7.63%
against USD.
Armeconombank OJSC was registered on August 26, 1991. Over 75% of
shares belong to the key shareholders – EBRD (25% +1 share) and SIL
Concern founders, Sukiasyan family (50.6%). The bank’s assets totaled
AMD 34.8bln by Dec 31, 2005, total capital AMD 5.6bln and statutory
fund AMD 2.3bln.
The bank’s profit was AMD 1.2bln after taxation and balance accumulated
profit AMD 2.9bln.

AGO TO ARRIVE IN YEREVAN ON FRIDAY FOR 2-DAY VISIT
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006
YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. Ago Group headed by German Representative
in Council of Europe Roland Vegener is to arrive in Yerevan on Friday
for a two-day visit, Armenian Foreign Ministry press service reports.
The Group members are set to meet with Armenian President, National
Assembly Speaker, Justice Minister and Ombudsman as part of their
visit.
A series of meetings with Armenian MPs and political parties’ members
are planned as well.
Ago Group is founded in January 2001 for monitoring fulfillment of
commitments assumed by CE member countries.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FMS TO MEET IN PARIS TOMORROW
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers are due to meet in Paris
tomorrow, Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan told journalists (APA). He
said the details of these talks for the settlement of the Nagorno
Garabagh conflict have not been specified but the Foreign Ministers
are prepared to this meeting.
“We’ll try to reach an agreement on the issues that the Azerbaijani
and Armenian Presidents failed to solve at the meeting in Bucharest.
We’ll make efforts to reach common agreement at tomorrow’s meeting.
Despite the presidents’ failure to reach a consensus in Bucharest
talks, there exist positive nuances for peaceful solution of the
Nagorno Garabagh conflict. We must try to benefit from these nuances
and prepare next meeting of the Presidents,” Oskanyan said.
The Armenian Minister also said that there is a document with some
details agreed on the negotiations table and stressed the parties
could not agree on some issues regarding this document.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizadeh in his
statement to APA confirmed the information on meeting of Azerbaijani
and Armenian foreign ministers scheduled for in Paris tomorrow. He said
this meeting is the continuation of the Prague process, the two foreign
ministers will have talks in the frames of the Prague process.

AZERI, ARMENIAN FMS TO MEET IN PARIS ON 13 JUN
Author: A.Mammadov
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
The Azerbaijan and Armenian Foreign Ministers will meet in Paris on
13 June 2006, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian stated in
Yerevan on Monday (12 June), Midiamax reports.
Addressing the news conference Oskanian said that the format and
agenda of talks are still to be defined.
“The last meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in
Bucharest yielded no results. In Paris we will try to close the
positions on the issue which the presidents had failed to accord. We
have repeatedly stated that the variant under discussions contains
a number of positive aspects, in particular, we succeeded to reach
agreement on the matters which earlier were stumbling bloc. Thus,
it is necessary to put every effort to benefit the favorable moment,”
Oskanian underscored.
Armenian found difficult to forecast the results of the Paris talks
of the Foreign Ministers, noting that the key objective is to make
possible the next meeting of Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

SWITZERLAND FOR SEARCH OF WAYS FOR DIPLOMATIC RESOLUTION OF THE NK CONFLICT
Author: À.Mammadov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Switzerland is for search of ways for diplomatic resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Micheline Calmy-Rey, the deputy chairperson
of the Federal Council of Swiss Confederation, stated in Yerevan on
12 June in a joint news conference with Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian.
The Swiss government has repeatedly organized meetings of the
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Geneva, Trend reports citing
ARKA.
“The resolution of the Karabakh conflict will stimulate the restoration
of relationships between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as Turkey,’
she underlined.
The deputy chairperson of the Federal Council of Swiss Confederation
is on an official to Armenian from 11 to 13 June.
During the visit Calmy-Rey will meet with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian.
–Boundary_(ID_kUCPjQ5CgkLN74inYyu8Ig)- –

US CONGRESS ALLOTS $790K TO EDUCATE AND TRAIN AZERI MILITARIES
Author: À.Mamedov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Chamber of Representatives within US Congress has approved a budgetary
law draft for provisions for UG Government’s foreign operations for the
year 2007. Trend reports the law draft under International Military
Education and Training allots $790k for education and training of
Azeri militaries. The law draft was passed by 373 Congressmen.
The similar amount is granted to Armenia and Russia, while Ukraine
receives $1.725mln.
“IMET is the part of US common program for assistance in security
sphere, through which US Government grants education to militaries
of allied and friendly countries”, – the reference document says.
According to the document, total amount of budget provisions for IMET
program in 2007 is approved to be $88mln.
–Boundary_(ID_5UIpcUu1ZTu8+AdFaD19rw)–

AZERI FM TO PARTICIPATE IN A MEETING WITH HIS ARMENIAN COUNTERPART IN PARIS
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Elmar Mammadyarov, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, is going to
participate in a next meeting with his Armenian counterpart Vardan
Oskanian in Paris on Tuesday (13 June), Tahir Tagizade, the head of
the pres and Information Policy Department of the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry, told Trend.
The meeting of the ministers will be held within the framework of
continuation of ‘Paris process’ and the sides will discuss the ways
for peaceable resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will participate in the talks.
The last meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents was held
in Bucharest on 4-5 June 2006. Then the presidents gave instructions
to the Foreign Ministers to continue the consultations to bring closer
the positions of the countries. The Paris meeting will consider the
possibility of next round of meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
Presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian.

‘THE LAST ROSE IN OUR ORCHARD’ STILL FRESH AT 100
By Maureen O’Donnell Staff Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times, IL
June 12 2006
How to list the ways that Helen Paloian is remarkable?
At age 100, she is a link to the attempted genocide of the Armenian
people. She remembers when World War I-era Turkish soldiers forced
everyone from her village. She survived by eating grass and roots,
“like a chicken.” Yet she also remembers the Turks who slipped her
crusts of bread.
“Be happy,” she likes to say. “Love.”
She has a thick head of hair and all her own teeth. She doesn’t use
hearing aids. Her hip healed nicely after she broke it at 97.
She has almost figured out the Rubik’s Cube given to her by her
grandson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology neuroscientist Robert
Ajemian, who said his MIT colleagues are “blown away” by her mental
acuity.
Helen Paloian celebrates her 100th birthday Sunday at St. Gregory the
Illuminator Armenian Church, 6700 W. Diversey. She credits her long
life to prayer, and no smoking or drinking. (KEITH HALE/SUN-TIMES)
Ask if she knows who the Beatles are, and she replies: “Oh yes! I
like Paul.” Her favorite TV show is “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
She’s a rabid White Sox fan. She does her own cooking.
Not bad for a woman born six years before the Titanic sank.
Friends and family honored her centennial birthday Sunday at St.
Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church, 6700 W. Diversey.
Family genealogist Charles Hardy recounted her story for the crowd.
Helen Paloian’s mother and father died when she was a toddler. Two
brothers were conscripted into the Turkish army and one fled to
America.
None were heard from again.
She begged on the streets for food and went to an orphanage. She
recalled that Turkish soldiers cleared that place of children and took
them to a church packed with other Armenians. The women feared the
soldiers were going to set the church on fire. Helen decided to escape.
“I jump from the window,” she said Sunday. “No stocking, no shoe,
nothing. They don’t catch me, because I’m little girl.”
‘I always say there is a hope’
At that time, her cousin Jacob Hardy was half a world away in the
U.S. He had a strange dream.
In the dream, Helen’s late mother, Mariam, showed him a rose. “This
is the last rose in our orchard. You must pick this rose and take it
with you,” she said.
The next day, he saw Helen’s name on a list of orphans in an Armenian
newspaper. “Now, he understood the dream. Helen was the rose,”
Charles Hardy said.
Jacob Hardy found her at an orphanage in Greece. Told she had a
better chance of entering the U.S. from Cuba, they took a detour
to Havana. They arranged a sham marriage with an Armenian-American,
Zadig Paloian, to try and gain her entry to the U.S. The plan was to
have the marriage annulled later.
She and Jacob were able to emigrate to Racine, Wis., where she decided
to accept the handsome Zadig as her husband.
They settled in Chicago and were married 55 years until his death in
1986. She gave birth to four children and lost two. A daughter, Sima,
died at 31 of cancer. Mariam died in an accident at age seven. Two
others survived: her daughter Lucille Ajemian, 67, of Boston, and
her son Matthew, 66.
Helen lives with Matthew on the Northwest Side. She has six
grandchildren and four great-grandchildren who have achieved multiple
college degrees.
She attributes her long life to prayer, and no smoking or drinking.
“I walk around the block,” she said. “I read the Bible. I sing. My
voice, still young. I always say there is a hope. Hope and pray.”
She also tells young wives they don’t have to do what their husbands
say. Zadig “always said ‘Vote Democratic.’ I said ‘OK,’ but I vote
Republican.”
news/cst-nws-bday12.html

RA FM TO LEAVE FOR PARIS TO MEET AZERI COLLEAGUE
DeFacto, Armenia
June 12 2006
June 13 RA FM Vardan Oskanyan will leave for Paris to meet with
his Azeri colleague Elmar Mammadyarov. While talking to journalists
Armenian FM stated the meeting’s agenda has not been determined yet,
REGNUM correspondent reports.
To remind, June 8 Vardan Oskanyan said RA and AR FMs’ meeting for
the conduct of the Nagorno Karabakh talks might be held in the near
future. However, he noted there was no information on a recurrent
meeting to be held between the two countries’ Presidents Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev. “The date of a recurrent meeting between
the two countries’ heads will be known after our meeting”, Vardan
Oskanyan remarked.
According to RA FM, the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs are not expected
to put forward new proposals on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement. “Unfortunately, the parties failed to work out an
agreement in the course of the talks in Bucharest, despite new
proposals repeatedly submitted by the mediators, being disapproved by
the parties. After the Presidents’ meeting in Rambouillet (France)
the document that was on the bargaining table has undergone
alternations and enlarged from one page to two and a half. Some
items, formulations have been extended, however, the essence and
stands are unchangeable. The issues being discussed by the Presidents
are complicated, but they can be settled only via negotiations. The
dialogue should be continued, there is no alternative to the talks”,
Vardan Oskanyan stated.