RUSSIAN AVIATION AUTHORITIES NOT BAN ARMENIAN ARMAVIA COMPANY’S FLIGHTS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 4 2006
YEREVAN, August 4. /ARKA/. The Russian Federal Aeronautical Service
has not made a decision to ban flights of Armavia Air Company, the
press service of Armavia reported today.
“There were just certain difficulties that are already eliminated,
and the air company will continue to operate its regular flights on
the Russian territory,” the press service of Armavia reported.
Armavia Air Company was founded on December 12, 1996. MIKA Armenia
Trading currently holds 100% of its shares. Its owner is well-known
businessman Mikhail Bagdasarov. R.O. –0–

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 4, 2006
Bush bill offers to cut aid to ex-Soviet states
AssA-Irada 04/08/2006 23:29
US President George Bush has sent a bill to the Congress proposing to
reduce assistance to former Soviet republics.
The move of the White House, reflected in the 2007 draft budget of
the State Department, is to affect all of these countries except
Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, which have lately experienced a soft change
of power referred to as ‘velvet revolution’. The figures are $1.9m
and $7.3m over 2006 respectively.
The aid to Armenia is expected to decrease from $75m to $50m, while
Russia and Georgia will get $58m each. Azerbaijan will receive $28m,
while Tajikistan – $22m, Kazakhstan $19m, Moldova $16m, Uzbekistan
$15m, Belarus $10m, and Turkmenistan $5m.
The total aid package is to be reduced from $508.8m this year to
$441m in 2007, according to the Bush administration’s proposal.
The US assistance to FSU states aims to support democracy, market
economy and the development of civil society and its institutions.

Guelph Tribune, Ontario, Canada
Aug 4, 2006
Role reversal for duo making movie in city
Virginia McDonald, Guelph
Videomaker Glen Curtis (left) and director Carlo Essagian at West End
Community Centre.
When Guelph director Carlos Essagian rolled the cameras here last
week it was a case of role reversal for Conan Doyle’s Lost World star
Michael Sinelnikoff.
Twenty years ago, Essagian took a course in television close-ups with
the British character actor, who’s also a Montreal-based producer and
teacher. They kept in touch.
Essagian went on to rack up his own credits in Hollywood and Canadian
film and TV, most recently in Atom Agoyan’s Ararat.
Essagian moved here five years ago, changed his scripts to showcase
Guelph, and offered his former teacher a cameo in a short film called
Driver’s Test.
“I said, ‘You’re bringing me all the way from Montreal for one
line?'” jokes Sinelnikoff as he relaxes on the set. “He said, ‘Yes,
and it better be a good one.'”
Asked if he’s ready for his close-up, Sinelnikoff, whose series still
screens worldwide, quips that he isn’t sure he’s getting one.
Guelph, however, is showcased, in an opening aerial shot courtesy of
local Talon Productions. Driver’s Test is shot the back parking lot
of West End Community Centre by Guelph videomaker Glen Curtis. It
follows an octogenarian’s fears and frustrations as he re-takes his
driver’s test with the same examiner who flunked him, even though
he’s vowed to never drive again.
“He didn’t want society to make the decision,” says Essagian, who
based the story on his own father’s experience and also stars as the
driver’s son.
“I woke up one morning and the film was already written in my head,”
says Essagian, who figures the humour will also appeal to aging
boomer drivers who will be also be at the mercy of someone half their
age.
“Carlos has shown me a couple of short films he did. They’re really
quite excellent. It’s obvious he has talent,” says Sinelnikov, who
plays another furious, flunked-out senior driver in the film.
“I’m going to park my butt here. They can stick their driver’s
licence up their arse,” interjects actor Dean Hagopian, still in his
driver’s character as he takes a seat.
His long list of film and television credits range from co-star and
principal roles to smaller parts in well-known productions such as
Denys Arcand’s acclaimed Jesus of Montreal.
In the TV movie Little Gloria Happy at Last (true story of the
custody battle over heiress Gloria Vanderbilt) Hagopian served papers
to Angela Lansbury, the formidable aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.
“I tripped on a cable and fell head first into her bosom.” It was
worth it, he says, to play a scene with Lansbury.
The Ottawa-Montreal Hagopian hails from Galt, “I still can’t bring
myself around to calling it Cambridge,” he says, and draws the
Armenian he uses in the film from his father, “who never drove,
didn’t ride a bicycle. He walked to work.”
The city Hagopian can’t stand to call Cambridge has its own film
liaison office at city hall, as does Kitchener-Waterloo and Acton.
This year a $12,000 budget request from Guelph’s economic development
department to set up such an office to promote the city as a film
site wasn’t granted. The request is on the books for 2007.
Meanwhile, the department’s marketing and research coordinator
Jennifer Peleschak is pulling together a web page that will include
films, TV productions and commercials already filmed here, potential
locations and a link to the Ontario Media Development Corporation,
which provides incentives for film companies to shoot outside the
Greater Toronto Area. “Toronto directors love us because we’re so
close,” says Peleschak. She’s also excited about Guelph’s talent
including Essagian, who has two more projects planned practically
acted out the entire short for her when he approached the city.
Sinelnikov, the first director of Cirque de Soleil, is working on his
own film, the true story about how the famous artistic company
started by two street performers nearly didn’t open.
He predicts that Essagian’s shorts will be “calling cards” for the
“energetic, resourceful” director now based in Guelph.
s_634421.html

Armenian Community Sets Sights On Church
By CHRISTOPHER KAZARIAN
CapeNews.net, Massachusetts
Aug 4, 2006
When George Shalian, chairman of the parish council for the Armenian
Church of Cape Cod, drives by 646 Old Barnstable Road in Mashpee,
he does not see a vacant three-acre lot. He sees what will one day
be there-an Armenian church and cultural center.
A sign that reads “Future Site of Armenian Church & Cultural Center”
sits on the lot, representing not just Mr. Shalian’s vision, but
those of the Armenian Church of Cape Cod and its members.
Some of those members are from Falmouth, he said, including Lucy
Kayajanian of Chilmark Drive, the parish council’s treasurer.
Shahkeh Yaylaian Setian of Mashpee, a retired educator, said the
idea for building an Armenian church and cultural center began in
the early 1980s with a small population of dedicated and devoted
Armenian-Americans.
In February 2005, that goal moved closer to becoming a reality when
the Mashpee parcel was purchased for $280,000. The church raised the
bulk of that money through the years from donations of church members
who shared the goal of establishing an Armenian church on Cape Cod.
Without the generosity of parishioners, Mr. Shalian said, “I don’t
think we would have this land.”
Mashpee was chosen because of the town’s accessibility to the rest
of Cape Cod and the price of the lot, he said.
Another reason this area was chosen: “There is a big Armenian community
in Falmouth,” he said. While some are members of the church, he hopes
more will become involved in the near future.
The church will be situated between Leather Leaf Lane and Leisure
Green Drive near Mashpee High School.
Now that the church has an actual site, parishioners are focusing
their efforts on fundraising, he said.
On Saturday, August 19, the church is sponsoring an Armenian Family
Kef and Dance at St. George Greek Community Center in Centerville.
Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 children and include lamb and
chicken kebabs and music by Roger Krikorian and his ensemble.
Residents can call Sharlene Mourian at 508-771-2352 for more
information.
The kef, which means a celebration in Armenian, is now in its seventh
year, Ms. Mourian said. All proceeds will go toward the future church
and cultural center.
Once the building is complete, parishioners will have a place to
worship on a weekly basis. Mr. Shalian said the church averages
anywhere between 20 to 30 people who attend the monthly services at
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Wianno Avenue in Osterville.
This Sunday parishioners of the Armenian Church of Cape Cod will
welcome the Reverend Father Vasken Kouzouian and an organist from the
Holy Trinity Church of Cambridge to St. Peter’s Church in Osterville.
Father Kouzouian, a guest celebrant, will preside over the service for
church members. The service begins at 2 PM and constitutes the only
public worship offered by the Armenian Church of Cape Cod this month.
Mr. Shalian said, “We used to do it once a week.” Because the church
is considered a mission parish, it has to hire priests from outside
the area to officiate its Eucharistic services. “Hiring a priest is
expensive,” he said.
He estimates there are roughly 600 Armenians living on Cape Cod. In
addition, a number of summer residents who currently attend services
and events will also benefit from having an Armenian church in the
area, Mr. Shalian said.
Dr. Setian, who teaches a course in the Academy of Lifelong Learning
at Cape Cod Community College titled, The History of Genocide: Using
the Armenian Genocide as a Case Study, hopes the church will prove to
be a resource for all Cape residents to learn about Armenian culture.
The daughter of parents who survived the Armenian genocide, Dr.
Setian said the Armenian church “is what has kept the culture alive
during all these massacres, not just at the hands of the Ottoman-Turks
[in 1915], but before that as well.”
Part of what makes Armenians so unique, she said, is that “they have
maintained their culture through all these adversities.”
Although there are no definitive plans yet, Dr. Setian said, she
hopes that the cultural center will offer visual displays of Armenian
history, host lectures, and foster the language and dance that make
the culture distinct.
While many details still have to be worked out, Mr. Shalian said,
the most important part is that “we are looking forward…We will
have our own church.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ambassador: Damage to Lebanon assessed at $5bn
Regnum, Russia
Aug 4, 2006
“Israeli Air Force strikes are mainly targeted at the vitally
important facilities. Three bridges were destroyed today morning in
Beirut. $50mln will be needed to reconstruct each of them. For the
22 days of the military action, about 22 Lebanese have been killed,
over 3, 000 wounded, millions became refugees, and the damage is
assessed at $5bn,” Ambassador of Lebanon to Armenia Gabriel Geara
said at a news briefing at a National press club.
Geara said that representatives of foreign countries visit
Lebanon daily. “Nothing, however, has been done in the direction of
establishing ceasefire. They say that on Monday a decision on ceasefire
will be taken at the UN Security Council’s session. We urged everybody
to exert maximal effort.” The Lebanese diplomat also informed that his
government drafted a document of seven items on establishing peace. “It
is necessary to establish ceasefire, to exchange prisoners of war, to
withdraw Israeli armed forces from the occupied territories, to deploy
the legal Lebanese army on the whole of the country’s territory, to
station peacekeeping forces under the UN aegis, to return Lebanon and
Israel to the ceasefire agreement signed in 1949, to announce Lebanon
a disaster zone and to apply for help to other countries,” Geara said.
A conference of all Lebanon Muslim and Christian spiritual leaders
convened two days ago, at which Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I and
Head of Armenian Catholic Church Patriarch Nerses Bedros were also
present. The statement adopted at the conference fully corresponded
to the Lebanese government’s position, the ambassador said. Speaking
of the Hezbollah movement disarmament, Geara noted that the issue is
included in the agenda. “The government of Lebanon says that the issue
will be resolved after the seized territories liberated, prisoners of
war exchanged, and the ceasefire established. Hezbollah is a movement
of national resistance, that will become obsolete after is executes
its mission – returns the southern country’s territories – and continue
political activities in parliament and other state structures,” Geara
said. He said the beginning of a civil war in Lebanon was unlikely.
A conference of all Lebanon Muslim and Christian spiritual leaders
convened two days ago, at which Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I and
Head of Armenian Catholic Church Patriarch Nerses Bedros were also
present. The statement adopted at the conference fully corresponded
to the Lebanese government’s position, the ambassador said. Speaking
of the Hezbollah movement disarmament, Geara noted that the issue is
included in the agenda. “The government of Lebanon says that the issue
will be resolved after the seized territories liberated, prisoners of
war exchanged, and the ceasefire established. Hezbollah is a movement
of national resistance, that will become obsolete after is executes
its mission – returns the southern country’s territories – and continue
political activities in parliament and other state structures,” Geara
said. He said the beginning of a civil war in Lebanon was unlikely.
The entire world helps Lebanon these days. Gabriel Geara expressed
gratitude to the government of Armenia for the humanitarian aid
rendered to Lebanon. “I want to assure all the Armenians in the world
that Armenians living in Lebanon are in no danger, they suffered
neither material nor physical damage; even the smallest shop owned
by an Armenian remained intact. Probably, God loves Armenians. We
are glad that it is so,” the ambassador said.

Azerbaijani soldier killed in fire from Armenians: Baku
Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 4, 2006
04/08/2006 19:14
An Azerbaijani soldier has been killed by fire from ethnic Armenian
forces near the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, the defense ministry
in Baku said Friday.
The 20-year-old, Babek Mirzaliyev, died Thursday on the Azerbaijani
side of a ceasefire line that has been in place since a temporary
accord was reached between Baku and Yerevan over the disputed region
in 1994.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-year war over the Armenian-majority
enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, which seceded from Soviet Azerbaijan in
the early 1980s.
The conflict claimed 25,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands
of people, ending in the 1994 ceasefire.
Tensions have remained high and incidents occur regularly, with the
Armenian-controlled region’s status still unresolved.

Bloomington Pantagraph, USA
Aug 4, 2006
Poverty exercise inspires other role-playing ideas
Pantagraph Editorial
Like so-called reality TV programs that “simulate” being stranded on
an island or being thrown into a house full of strangers with “Big
Brother” watching, the poverty simulation exercises conducted by the
University of Illinois Extension and the McLean County Diversity
Project barely give people a taste of what real poverty is like.
It is one thing to run out of “money” in what amounts to a game. It
is another thing to go to bed hungry or wonder how to replace the
shoes your child has outgrown.
But if the simulations can change perspectives and increase
understanding, they are worth the effort.
And that appears to be the case with participants in the simulation
that took place recently at The Salvation Army Corps and Community
Center in Bloomington.
Even participants who have worked with people in poverty had their
eyes opened to circumstances they hadn’t considered, such as failing
to get a receipt to prove rent was paid or spending time dealing with
paperwork and bureaucracy.
In fact, the simulation seems to have done such a good job of
increasing awareness for participants, we would like to suggest other
simulations or role-playing activities
— Gov. Rod Blagojevich should play the role of a nursing home
administrator or pharmacy owner trying to pay employees, rent,
utility bills and other expenses while waiting months for the state
to reimburse him for Medicaid cases.
— Lawmakers should play the roles of teachers trying to teach
students the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic while also
finding time to teach state-mandated material on genocide in Armenia
and the Ukraine, “the vestiges of slavery in the country” and healthy
eating.
Bonus points will be awarded if they figure out how to teach these
topics while also taking time off for such holidays as Casimir
Pulaski Day.
— Supreme and appellate court justices should play the role of just
about anyone trying to make sense of and live within the boundaries
of their sometimes conflicting rulings.
Would such role-playing change their habits? Probably not.
But, like the poverty simulation exercises, it might give them a
greater understanding of what others go through and maybe — just
maybe — it could inspire them to make the things better for those
affected by their actions or, at least, not do anything that makes
the situation worse.

Russian air traffic controllers to stop offering services to Armavia
Interfax, Russia
Aug 4, 2006
MOSCOW. Aug 4 (Interfax) – The Russian Federal Air Navigation Service
told Interfax on Friday that it is halting navigation services
in Russian air space to Armenian airlines as of August 14, due to
growing debts.
“As the Armavia company failed to pay its overdue debts and current
bills its aircraft will be denied navigation services in Russian air
space as of August 14,” a service report says.
The company’s debts to air traffic controllers total almost $800,000.

TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug 4, 2006
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs eager to submit different versions to
Nagorno-Karabkh conflict sides
Source: Trend
Author: S.Agayeva
04.08.2006
On August 2, 2006, the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador
Yuriy Merzlyakov (Russia), Ambassador Bernard Fassier (France) and
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza (United States of
America) met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris to assess
the current stage in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
Trend reports citing a statement by the French embassy in Baku on
the results of Paris consultations.
The Co-Chairs also discussed the results of Matthew Bryza’s
introductory visit to the region, in his capacity as a Co-Chair.
Proceeding from the St Petersburg G8 Chairman’s statement on Nagorno
Karabakh, the Co-Chairs considered different options to achieve its
objectives, which will be proposed to the parties, and await them
for their thoughts.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
Aug 4, 2006
“Echo”: Second Armenian “Warning”
04.08.2006
This time “veterans of Arzakh war” threatens
Diplomatic activity in regulation of Garabagh conflict observed today
can be interrupted by drastic aggravation of home policy in Armenia.
Thus during visit of American mediator, Mathew Brayza to the region,
Armenian leaders of “Veterans of Arzakh war” political movement,
those who were directly involved with fights and “ethnic cleaning” in
Azerbaijan, made notable political statement. Commander of “Arzakh”
regiment, Mikael Apresyan and chairman of “Union of Veterans of
Arzakh war” “Erkrapa”, Arkadiy Karapetyan, made public point of view
on present stage of Garabagh conflict regulation: “We repeatedly
declared about liberated territories of our motherland – we won’t let
anybody have our motherland”. We should remind here that Armenia
calls occupied regions of plain Garabagh not being the part of former
Nagorni Garabagh Autonomous Region, “liberated territories”.
Accordingly to the statement of veterans, statements of M. Brayza and
head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, V. Oskanyan, and
statements of other top-brass representatives demonstrate direction
of negotiations which have been held in secrecy within last years.
Authors of the statement hold that position of official Yerevan is
not in line with the view of Armenian people. They said that conflict
should be regulated on the basis of… Sevres agreement.
In any other country attempt “to resuscitate” this agreement in 2006,
signed in 1920 and finally cancelled in 1923 when Lausanne agreements
were signed between Turkey and countries of former the Entente,
would be the part of political odds at best. But it doesn’t concern
Armenia. In Armenia attempts to resuscitate Serves agreement has been
going on more than 80 years since the moment this agreement
representing realization of the plans of European countries “to bring
Ottoman Empire to Konya vilayet” at the same time promising creation
of “Great Armenia” on Azerbaijani and Turkish territories, has been
send to “archive”, precisely, into the dustbin of history. And if
respectable international organizations unlikely resuscitate Serves
agreement, in Armenia calls to regulate Garabagh conflict on its base
may succeed. Especially if the fact that “veterans” are supported by
influential “Dashnaktsutsun” is taken into account. It is worth
reminding that some weeks ago one of its leaders head of “ay data”
office, Kiro Manoyan declared before journalists that “Armenian
revolution federation “Dashnaktsutsun” doesn’t share readiness of
official Yerevan to compromise within the frames of frame agreements
on regulation of Garabagh conflict, presented by OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs”.
–Boundary_(ID_Au7rS7kDqj2 vyCH3Q1dxhA)–