ARMENIA SEEKS UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM ASSISTANCE TO EASE CONSEQUENCES OF DROUGHT
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 3, 2006
YEREVAN, August 3. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
at his meeting with UN World Food Program Executive Director James
Maurice on Wednesday, asked the program to provide assistance to
Armenia to ease consequences of drought, governmental press service
reports.
Margaryan described current problems caused by this year drought
and expressed gratitude for WFP assistance sent in 2000for the same
purposes. The PM said the assistance had brought considerable relief
to drought-stricken regions of Armenia.
WFP delegation visited Armenia on Aug 2-3 as part of its regional tour.
This summer drought has struck hard at many farmers. Armenian
government has decided to allocate AMD 1bln 18mln for 8 provinces –
Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk, Sunik, Shirak and Vayots Dzor –
to compensate the damage inflicted by drought. ($1- AMD 412.54).

TOTAL OF INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS DECREASES BY 15.2% TO AMD 3.9BLN IN
ARMENIA FOR 1ST QUARTER 2006
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 3, 2006
YEREVAN, August 3. /ARKA/. The total of insurance payments made by
insurance companies for the 1st quarter 2006 totaled AMD 3.9bln in
Armenia. The National Statistical Service reported that amount of
this indicator compared with the beginning of 2006 decreased by 15.2%
or AMD 697mln.
At the same time, the amount of insurance payments made by insurance
companies in the 1st quarter 2006 decreased by AMD 77mln and totaled
AMD 444.6mln.
According to the statistics, the amount of insurance risks under the
contracts in force by March 31, 2006, totaled AMD 1,184.8bln, 31.6%
or AMD 549.3 decrease compared with the beginning of the year. At the
same time, the number of active insurance contracts increased by 5991
and totaled 29,449.
As of March 31, 2006, 26 insurance companies were incorporated in
Armenia against 23 at the beginning of the year. ($1 – AMD 415.54).

HEAD OF AZERBAIJAN ISLAMIC PARTY REFUSED TO MEET WITH ADVISER OF U.S. EMBASSY
TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug 3, 2006
Source: Trend
Author: J.Shahverdiyev
The head of Azerbaijan Islamic Party (AIP) refused to meet with the
political adviser of the USA embassy Reveto Neslo, Trend reporta with
reference to AIP.
The initiative for the meeting was made by the USA embassy.
It was stated in AIP that the reason to refuse the meeting is the
anti-Islamic policy of USA and policy of double standards that is
implemented by the USA in relation with Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Besides, the refuse to the meeting is justified through occupation
of Iraq by USA, non-recognition of Armenia as an occupant country
and occupation of Lebanon and Palestine by Israel.

ARKA NEWS AGENCY ISSUES “CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS OF ARMENIA” BULLETIN
FOR 2ND QUARTER 2006
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 3, 2006
YEREVAN, August 3. /ARKA/. ARKA News Agency issued “Credit Organization
of Armenia” financial and economic bulletin for the 2nd quarter
2006. This product is issued every quarter and is compiled on the
basis of official reports of credit organizations of the country.
“Credit Organizations of Armenia” bulletin contains about 25 pages
of table materials regarding different indicators of the credit
organizations’ activity, and is divided into 12 principal sections:
Overview of Credit Organizations
Assets Liabilities Capital Profit/Losses Information on Funds Turnover
Normative Indicators of Credit Organizations’ Activity Capitalization
indicators Profitability and Yield Indicators Summary Indicators of
Credit Organizations’ Activity.
The information in the bulletin gives an opportunity to present the
overall picture of the financial state of Armenian credit organizations
and conduct a comparative analysis of their activity. The product also
contains technical and methodological comments to the tables. R.O. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENZIED PUNK-FUNK PARTY: SYSTEM OF A DOWN. 17,000 FANS SLOG THROUGH
STEADY MIST TO HEAR IMPRESSIVE ARMENIAN-AMERICAN HARD ROCK BAND
The Gazette (Montreal)
August 3, 2006 Thursday
Final Edition
By T’CHA DUNLEVY, The Gazette
“Welcome to the soldier side, where there’s no one here but me,” sang
Serj Tankian, of Armenian-American hard rock act System of a Down,
over a solemn guitar line.
Make that no one there but him, his band and 17,000 fans – all
more than happy to tough it out through rain and muck to hear
this impressive band deliver yet another air-tight, no-frills,
riff-and-groove-laden performance at Jean Drapeau Park.
It was an action-packed evening, with six bands performing from
6 p.m. onward: Bad Acid Trip, Unearthed, Norma Jean, Hatebreed,
Avenged Sevenfold and the headliners.
System of a Down was here just last year, playing the Bell Centre in
support of its two-CD set Hypnotize/Mesmerize. A full two-thirds of
last night’s show comprised songs from that package, beginning with
four off the top.
>From Soldier Side, they kicked into high gear with the aptly-titled
Attack. A barrage of punk guitars and speed-metal drums provided stark
contrast to the melodic introduction. As if on cue, rain began to
fall. Not the torrential storm that had come down in the afternoon,
but a steady mist, nonetheless.
Tankian strolled about the stage with an aura of calm, while his
bandmates – guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and
drummer John Dolmayan – raged away behind him. The song, like much
of the band’s repertoire, flipped between chaotic frenzy and more
spacious acoustics.
The prog-like shifts in tempo and tone carried into the anti-war
diatribe B.Y.O.B., with its Zappa-esque punk-jazz freakouts and ironic
chorus – “Everybody’s going to the party have a real good time.”
Revenga carried a Balkan-inspired festive spirit, providing a
thrash-friendly hybrid of hopping funk and quasi-operatic balladry.
The rain relented about six songs in, as Tankian prodded the crowd:
“Clap your hands, people. We’re gonna do it like this.”
He launched the rabid chant of Psycho, off the band’s 2001 album
Toxicity: “Psycho, groupie, cocaine, crazy!” Again, the mania was
played against a melodic interlude.
It began to feel a bit like formula. Without the canned intensity of
an indoor venue, and perhaps because of the weather, the drama wasn’t
building as effectively as it could have.
Respite came with Lonely Day, an introspective lament, with Tankian
singing of “the most loneliest day of my life.”
But System of a Down can’t stand still for long. Things picked up again
with the rollicking Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll and the electro-disco-inflected
Old School Hollywood, following which Tankian finally addressed
the crowd.
“Where we come from, we live in a civilization that is not so
civilized,” he began. “It feels more like we live in an organization
– that sells you war, that sells you religion, McDonalds, murder …
the organization is not on your side.”
With that, the rain picked up again, this time with feeling,
as Tankian rattled off the tongue-twisting punk-funk of Violent
Pornography. Deadline, and the elements, sent this writer toward the
metro. In the background, Tankian was bandying the phallic boasts
of Cigaro.
[email protected]

ROW OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PUTS US ENVOY’S APPROVAL ON HOLD
Agence France Presse — English
August 3, 2006 Thursday 6:46 AM GMT
by Maxim Kniazkov
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 2006
Efforts by the White House to win quick approval for its new ambassador
to Armenia have hit a snag after a bipartisan group of senators moved
to force the US government’s formal recognition that Turkey committed
genocide during World War I.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday quietly decided
to postpone for at least a month a vote on the nomination of career
diplomat Richard Hoagland as the next US Ambassador to Armenia,
congressional officials said Wednesday.
The move came as key committee members expressed open consternation
over the mysterious “resignation” of the current US Ambassador to
Armenia, John Evans — after less than two years on the job.
The senators are also frustrated with the administration’s persistent
refusal to use the word “genocide” to describe events in Turkey between
1915 and 1917, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians are said to
have been killed or died after being forcibly driven from their homes.
Armenians all over the world push for official recognition of those
killings as genocide.
However, Turkey argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many
Turks died in an internal conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians
to win independence for eastern Anatolia and secure assistance for
their bid from Russia, Turkey’s age-old nemesis.
While acknowledging that mass killings have taken place, US government
officials have so far sidestepped the touchy dispute by referring to
them as a “tragedy.”
The old row flared on Capitol Hill earlier this summer when Senator
Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat on the committee, sent a letter
to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, questioning what he called an
“unexpected” decision to replace Evans with Hoagland.
Evans was posted to Yerevan in August 2004 for what was supposed to
be a three-year term.
“In this case, I am particularly troubled by reports that the decision
to recall Ambassador Evans may have been motivated by statements
he made to American citizens in which he accurately described the
Armenian genocide as genocide,” Biden wrote.
In a carefully-crafted response, Assistant Secretary of State
for Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Bergner assured the senator that
allegations the envoy had been forced to quit under pressure from
Turkey were “simply untrue.”
As for Armenian genocide, Bergner insisted that the characterization
of “this tragedy” should be determined “through heartfelt dialogue,
not through diplomatic or political proclamations.”
The arguments did not sit well with both Republican and Democratic
committee members.
Republican Senator Norm Coleman, who is Jewish, said he took issues
related to genocide very seriously and wanted the government to take
a clear-cut position on the subject.
“I am not sure how we can continue to have ambassadors to Armenia
who can be effective, unless they give recognition to the genocide,”
Coleman said.
Another Republican, George Allen, noted that he personally referred
to the events of 1915 as genocide “and have strongly encouraged the
president to do so as well.”
In his letter, Biden directly asked Rice to “please explain why these
events do not meet any of the five definitions in the Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
Overall, half of the 18-member committee are now said to have
reservations about endorsing Hoagland as the new Armenia envoy.
The imbroglio, however, may result in additional strains for US
relations with Turkey, the only Muslim NATO ally whose cooperation
is key to US success in the war on terror, experts said.
Turkey is already upset over cross-border raids by Kurdish separatist
rebels based in US-occupied Iraq, and is demanding resolute action
by the United States to halt the incursions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

145 HOSPITALS, 458 OUTPATIENT CLINICS OPERATED IN ARMENIA IN 2005
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 3, 2006
YEREVAN, August 3. /ARKA/. 145 hospitals and 458 outpatient clinics
operated in Armenia in 2005. The RA Statistical Service reports that
76.6% of hospitals and 86.9% of outpatient clinics were in charge of
the RA Ministry of Health.
38.2 doctors and 57 paramedics were per every 10,000 of Armenia’s
population. In 2005, 44.6 hospital beds were per every 10,000 of
Armenia’s population. P.T. -0–

RF, ARMENIA TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON MIL-TECHNICAL COOPERATION
ITAR-TASS News Agency
August 3, 2006 Thursday
By Sergei Ostanin, Roman Cherepanov
Prospects for cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the
defence sphere are being discussed at a meeting of the Bilateral
Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation on
Thursday.
The meeting is held within the framework of the international
exhibition of Land Troops military products “MVSV-2005” at the
All-Russia Exhibition Centre in Moscow.
“This is the third meeting of the intergovernmental commission
of the two countries,” deputy director of the Federal Service
on Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Paleshchuk told
journalists. “The two-day meeting will result in the signing on Friday
of a Russian-Armenian agreement on military and technical cooperation.”

COLEMAN OPPOSED TO NOMINEE FOR ARMENIA AMBASSADORSHIP
The Frontrunner
August 3, 2006 Thursday
The AP (8/3, Frommer) reports, “A Republican senator is planning
to vote against President Bush’s nominee for ambassador to Armenia
because the nominee has refused to refer to the deaths of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide. ‘I continue to be troubled by our policy that
refuses to recognize what was a historical reality,’ Minnesota Sen.
Norm Coleman said in a telephone interview Wednesday.” Turkey
“strongly objects to the use of the term, and U.S. policymakers are
wary of antagonizing an important strategic NATO ally.” On Tuesday,
“the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Coleman serves,
postponed a vote on Richard E. Hoagland’s nomination until next month.”

THE LOVES OF LEBANON: COUPLE BUILDS NEW LIFE, CUISINE BUSINESS HERE
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
Aug 3, 2006
By Virginia Phillips
For Henry and Najat Nazarian, who run a Lebanese food business here,
the recent air strikes that have erupted in the past three weeks in
their home country have brought back harsh memories. The Mt. Lebanon
couple immigrated to the United States during the 1975-1991 civil
war that laid their country in ruins.
“This war is worse,” Henry says. “That was civil war. You could get
in touch with the other side. No one can do that now.
“We hear there have been almost no air strikes north of Beirut. But
there is no safe place south of Beirut. Our cousins have gone at
least for a couple of months to Egypt and to Armenia. They left
businesses behind. For two weeks we haven’t been able to reach an
aunt and uncle in Bint Jbeil, the place talked about so much on CNN,
close to the border with Israel. They are 80 and 87. They have no
car. We just hope someone gave them a ride out. Everyone is calling
the Red Cross and the Red Crescent to find out.
“Najat’s sister says in a 25-mile swath north of the border people
have lost homes and are living in the schools.
“Frankly, Najat and I have been avoiding the whole subject. Maybe
talking about it this way will make it easier for us to face the
realities.”
Meantime, there is the discipline of cooking every day.
“It tastes like they made it half an hour ago.”
Amy Rosenfield, proprietor of Mon Aimee Chocolat in the Strip, has
slipped away from her shop this Saturday morning and down the street
to the Farmers@TheFirehouse farm market to the Najat’s Cuisine stand.
She is scoping out Lebanese food for a party.
“It’s lighter.”
Lebanese-born Henry Nazarian, 48, and his wife Najat, 42, affirm that
their country’s approach is lighter. For one thing, Lebanese tradition
calls for less olive oil than in neighboring nations’ food ways. This
restraint is reflected in the recipes that Henry and Najat have
translated — literally — from their own mothers and grandmothers.
Not that the oil itself is lightweight.
“Would you like to taste this olive oil?” Henry hails the Mediterra
Bread table next door for a baguette to dip. “Be careful,” he says,
pointing to his gullet. This organic Lebanese olive oil, green-gold
in color, has a tiny peppery catch in the throat.
Full-flavored Lebanese oil figures across the board in the Najat’s
Cuisine repertoire. It is a qualifying element in Najat’s strictly
traditional hummus, made with long-simmered dried chickpeas and
Lebanese tahini. Henry unscrews a jar of the sesame nut paste and
offers a sniff. The flavor and fragrance are startlingly fresh and
powerful — another reason the hummus you make at home may not be as
distinctive. But both the tahini and oil are for sale (see “Where to
find Najat’s Cuisine” above).
Hummus is the top seller, followed by baba ghannouj, a roasted eggplant
dip. Third is plaki, a spicy white-bean spread, flavored with tomato
and onions. Gathering fans is muhammara, a peppy spread of sweet
and hot red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate syrup. Other staples
are spinach pies (three versions), sleek (an earthy dish of bulgur,
black-eyed peas and browned onions), tabbouleh (a lemony parsley salad
with bulgur) and grape leaves (you may be surprised that the only
‘meat’ in the filling, Henry’s mother’s recipe, is roasted hazelnuts).
Henry touts a bracing citrus cilantro/mint pesto for roast or grilled
chicken. The green sauce does double duty as a dip for pita chips
and carrots.
Jewels to cuisine
An ad in the national edition of The New York Times read: “Pittsburgh
jewelry designer wants platinum smith with extreme knowledge of all
specialized facets of traditional/contemporary platinum work, must
pass test.”
The jeweler reading the ad in New Jersey three years ago — who then
picked up the phone and said, “We should talk” — was Henry Nazarian.
He and Najat had wearied of East Coast commutes; Najat longed for the
fresh air she’d known growing up in a little mountain town outside
Beirut. When Henry successfully completed the “test,” a set of diamond
and pearl earrings, the couple drove to Pittsburgh.
They did a whirlwind tour of the city, found an apartment in Mt.
Lebanon in an hour on a Sunday (“God’s will”) and left a rental
deposit with Henry’s new employer, Bob Levine of Mt. Lebanon, the
owner of Robert T. Levine and Co., Downtown.
“Henry was trained by masters in Paris and New York,” Mr. Levine
says. “He was adept at so many aspects of jewelry making. He could
fabricate from scratch and could set pave, tiny close-set diamonds,
better than anyone — skills unusual in Pittsburgh. He also had such
refinement of language and disposition.”
Like most Lebanese, Henry and Najat speak flawless French.
Henry and Mr. Levine did eventually agree to disagree — “on
respectful, affectionate terms” — over the fact that the design work
had to be done to punctilious specs and Henry preferred a “Tell me
where we are going, not how to get there” approach.
So the Nazarians launched Najat’s Cuisine two years ago — an idea they
had been incubating for years. Mr. Levine believes he “was probably
fed better by Henry and Najat than by his own mother.” The Levines
received the couple’s first sample food basket.
Mr. Levine takes pleasure in being the force that brought Henry,
“who has an extremely worldly palate and the most determined,
perfectionist ways, and Najat, an unbelievably capable and organized
chef,” to Pittsburgh.
Business ties, marriage
A Eurasian goldfinch, weighing 20 grams, the equivalent of five
teaspoons of sugar, sings and bounces around a cage near the windows
of Najat’s Cuisine’s bright storefront kitchen in North Braddock. An
employee patiently trims a case of parsley that will be hand-chopped
for tabbouleh.
Lebanese hospitality demands a tiny cup of cardamom-scented Lebanese
coffee, which Najat prepares, and serves with her feathery baklava.
There is much to taste, and the backward progression from pastry to
appetizers works fine.
A map of Lebanon spread out on the table shows Najat’s hometown,
Bhrsaf, half an hour from the northern Christian suburb of Beirut where
Henry’s family lived. Business brought the two families together when
Najat was a toddler. Warm ties evolved that weathered Lebanon’s years
of civil war. Henry, 15, and his sister were sent to Paris in 1975,
months after the war began. The Nazarian parents followed.
“Citizen ID cards indicated your religion,” Henry says. “It had become
too risky to show them. Thousands of people were disappearing.” Najat’s
family managed to visit Paris twice.
Henry immigrated to New Jersey in 1981 and sent for his parents. He
went back to Lebanon as a U.S. citizen, and asked Najat’s father
“if she had anybody.” They were married with the parents’ blessing
in 1992 in Najat’s Maronite church, a sixth-century branch of
Christianity. Henry is Armenian Orthodox.
At the time, the United States had no embassy in Lebanon, so Najat’s
visa required arduous overnight trips to the American embassy in
Damascus, Syria, waiting in long outdoor lines that formed at 2 a.m.
Henry refolds the map to make room for a demo of Najat’s father’s
favorite summer refresher. In Lebanon it would be made with a
high-shouldered tomato with a concave top that we don’t have here.
Najat is using a supermarket tomato, just to show how it works. She
scoops out the stem, makes slashes all around the interior, drizzles
in a mix of salt, allspice and olive oil, and replaces the top. After
a while she cuts the tomato into wedges. We sprinkle on more salt
and lime juice. Henry’s habit of spritzing lime on everything is
contagious. This treatment makes something edible of a denatured
winter tomato. Henry anticipates using his own Cherokee tomatoes,
warm from his Pinewood Drive garden. If Henry’s mother can take
credit for most of Najat’s Cuisine’s savory recipes, Najat’s mom is
the guiding spirit for a line of sweets that only begins with baklava.
New to Pittsburgh are mamool, pale semolina dough cookies, formed
in hand-carved wooden molds. “I learned from my mother,” says Najat,
the oldest of four siblings who started helping at age 8.
In fact, the rosewater-scented, nut-filled confections, as
labor-intensive as Christmas cookies, are a high point of Easter.
They are served and given as hostess gifts in Middle Eastern countries,
where each family takes pride in its own refinements to the recipe. The
wooden molds are handed down for generations. Najat’s hand-me-downs,
placed next to her new molds, are visibly darkened by years of
buttery hands.
“The deep, round mold is walnut. The shallow round one is for dates.
The oval is pistachio — always. But for kids, my mom would make the
big round ones with no dates.”
How has Pittsburgh taken to the rosewater?
Najat: “One man was excited, ‘These are cookies with rosewater? I
want them, I want them!'”
Henry: “But we find people don’t like too much of it!”
Word of mouth
One artisan knows another in Pittsburgh. The Nazarians wanted to take
a trunkful of Mediterra’s five-pound loaves of Mt. Athos bread to
New Jersey. They went to the bakery, taking along samples from their
newly launched Najat’s Cuisine. Baker Nick Ambeliotis liked the food
and invited them to do a tasting for a cafe he was planning.
The Nazarians’ next sales call happened to be to the East End Food
Co-op. The Co-op’s prepared foods buyer Fran Bertonaschi said, “I
know you, and I know your food. I tasted it last week at Mediterra.”
He signed them on and recommended them to Today’s Market, a health
food store in Verona.
Another vote of confidence came at the Forest Hills farm market when
they arrived in a downpour for opening day of their second season
there. “People were waiting under umbrellas,” Najat says. They said,
“We are glad to see you.'”
Frozen entrees in the Najat’s Cuisine line do not go to market. Items
including baked kibbeh, several versions using chicken or beef, and
Henry’s mother’s sublimely simple pasta and cheese — egg noodles,
mozzarella and milk, topped with an unusual flat pastry crust —
are available frozen at the store and for catered events.
Three pots of grapevines tagged Cabernet Sauvignon have pride of place
on the file cabinet. They are not for sale. They are for Henry’s mom
in New Jersey. He has already planted his own and built an arbor for
them at home. The couple will soon have fresh grape leaves to stuff
and shade to eat them under.
NAJAT’S TRADITIONAL HUMMUS
PG TESTED
If you use dried chickpeas, Lebanese olive oil and particularly the
Lebanese tahini, your hummus will taste like Najat’s. “You must taste,”
she cautions. “It comes out differently each time.”
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (in a pinch, use one 15-ounce
can chickpeas)
Lebanese olive oil
2 tablespoons Lebanese tahini
Salt
Juice of one lemon
2 small cloves of garlic, crushed To soak, put 1 cup chickpeas in
a bowl, cover generously with cold water and soak overnight. Drain
before cooking. Put beans with pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan,
and add 2 cups water, or enough to generously cover.
Bring to a boil and add salt.
Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 2 hours, adding
hot water as needed to keep them covered. If cooking chickpeas ahead,
refrigerate them in their cooking liquid. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking
liquid. Makes about 2 cups cooked chickpeas.
Place cooked chickpeas and 2 or 3 tablespoons of the cooking liquid
into food processor. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the tahini, 1/2
teaspoon salt, lemon juice and garlic. Process for 2 minutes, taste.
Correct for salt, lemon juice and tahini. You may prefer a bit more
of any of these. Drizzle more oil on top and serve with pita chips.
CILANTRO/MINT PESTO
PG TESTED
This lively green pesto is recommended for roast chicken. It may also
be used as a dip with raw vegetables and will brighten a vinaigrette
salad dressing or a white bean chili.
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 cup olive oil, divided
1 large bunch cilantro, rinsed and trimmed; discard roots
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig fresh mint
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon salt In heavy saucepan, saute garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil
until light golden. Add 3/4 cup olive oil, cilantro, sprig of parsley,
two or three leaves of mint and lime juice. Cook at low heat a few
minutes until cilantro begins to turn a grayish color. Remove from
heat and allow to cool. Add salt.
Place in processor and whirl until smooth. Keeps two weeks
refrigerated.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress