CITY OF BERD TO HAVE CHURCH AT LAST

BERD, MAY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The city of Berd of the Tavush marz will
again have a church: after destroying the only church of the city in
1930s, a new church has not been build yet. As Andranik Sharian, the
Berd Mayor informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, construction of the
new church in the city will start this year and end, perhaps, in
2008. According to the Mayor, the place where the church will be built
have already been decided and the necessary geological works have
already been done. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, with
benefactors’ assistance, will care expenses for contruction of the new
church.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PEOPLE ARE THE CORE OF ORINATS YERKIR
Lragir.am
26 May 06
There is no information on a mass desertion of the regional organizations of
Orinats Yerkir, stated the deputy leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party Gagik
Mkheyan and Gagik Avetyan. They mentioned that over the ten years of existence
of Orinats Yerkir many people joined and left the party but the core stayed.
Gagik Avetyan says people are the core of the Orinats Yerkir Party. The
Orinats Yerkir members of parliament said they did not have information that
there is pressure on the regional organizations of the party to disband the
political party.
Gagik Avetyan thinks that people are making a fuss about the party, but the
real danger is smaller than the noise. Gagik Avetyan has announced that the
question of pressure from law enforcement agencies on him was settled several
months ago. `It lasted and came to an end, a positive end,=80=9D said Gagik
Avetyan, adding that all the charges were dismissed.

ARF AND REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TIGRAN TOROSYAN
Lragir.am
26 May 06
Galust Sahakyan is going to nominate speaker of the National
Assembly. He told this to the news reporter of Lragir.am on May
26. Galust Sahakyan endorses the candidacy of Tigran Torosyan and
denied that he would be nominated too.
In the meantime, others are likely to nominate Galust Sahakyan, namely
Member of Parliament Hakob Hakobyan, Peoples Deputy Group, from
Echmiadzin. `They did not strengthen my position inside the party, by
this wish they were trying to do me a favor. There cannot be such a
question because for the Republican Party a post is not an end in
itself,’ says Galust Sahakyan, commenting on Hakob Hakobyan’s
initiative. Of course, he says his position was not weakened either.
`I have my duties which are very important for me, and over these
years there were cases when I bore greater responsibility. I
personally think that our debates will be focused on this direction,
and in the plenary meeting I will prove that the election of Tigran
Torosyan is the right choice,’ says Galust Sahakyan.
He did not deny that after the election of Tigran Torosyan to the post
of speaker the vacant post of the deputy speaker will be given to the
newly established Businessman Group. Member of Parliament Hrair
Karapetyan, ARF,also endorsed Tigran Torosyan. He said they are
faithful to their arrangement, and the ARF will give their 12 votes to
Tigran Torosyan. Galust Sahakyan does not doubt that Tigran Torosyan
will be elected in the first round. The only concern of the Republican
leader is the number of votes Tigran Torosyan will get.

The construction works at the North Avenue were of high quality

ArmRadio.am
27.05.2006 15:06
President Robert Kocharyan received today the delegation of the
delegation of Russian `Makarios’ company, which carried out the
construction works at the North Avenue.
Representatives of the Company thanked for trust and noted that they
took the work very seriously. The construction works were of very high
quality and were carried out according to the preset schedule. They
informed that the works at the Chief Avenue will continue, programs
should be implemented in the sphere of hydroelectricity.
The President expressed the confidence that further cooperation would
also be effective. According to Robert Kocharyan, this was just the
start of the North Avenue; its final appearance will be rather
interesting.
Reference was made to other construction projects in Yerevan.

Bush urges Azeri leader to be consistent in Karabakh settlement
Turan news agency
26 May 06

Baku, 26 May: US President George Bush has congratulated Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev on the national holiday – Day of the Republic
(28 May).
Recalling his meeting with Aliyev in Washington last month, Bush
called it a “historical opportunity” for the development of “common
interests in the sphere of security, energy and democracy”. “Your
government is continuing to build a successful future full of hope for
the Azerbaijani people,” Bush wrote. He expressed the hope that the
Aliyev government will continue democratic and economic reforms to
ensure Azerbaijan’s success in the future.
Bush also expects Aliyev to conduct a consistent policy to achieve a
peaceful solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
[Passage omitted: Aliyev has also received congratulations from other
world leaders]

Russian TV sees revitalized GUAM as possible threat to CIS

BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom; May 26, 2006
Sources as listed,compiled in English 0001 gmt 26 May 06
The GUAM summit which brought together the leaders of Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova in Kiev on 23 May was generally seen
by Russian TV channels as an attempt to revitalize the organization so
it would become a Russia-free alternative to the Commonwealth of
Independent States. Gazprom’s NTV played down the threat to the CIS,
while Moscow-government-owned Centre TV saw the renewed GUAM as
potentially viable, particularly if plans for a Caspian-EU energy
corridor came to fruition. State channel Rossiya (RTV) viewed the
organization as a US-funded attempt to counterbalance Russia’s
influence in the former Soviet Union area.
Although the Russian Foreign Ministry issued statements saying it did
not view GUAM as an anti-Russian coalition, prime-time TV news reports
on the summit generally took the view that an element of anti-Russian
feeling was involved. NTV Segodnya news programme on 23 May raised
concerns about the summit’s pro-Western focus, but then played down
the possibility the organization would pose a threat to the CIS.
“In Kiev today there was criticism of the CIS and calls to move closer
to NATO and the European Union”, presenter Aleksey Pivovarov said. The
ensuing report featured comments by Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko that full European integration was GUAM’s main aim, while
correspondent Roman Sobol cited a survey that showed that more than 60
per cent of Kiev residents believed that GUAM was an anti-Russian
organization.
However, Sobol went on to say that the majority of those involved in
the summit did not view the end of the CIS as imminent. “Although
GUAM is called an alternative CIS, here they prefer somewhat less
strident wording: not a replacement for the CIS but in parallel with
the CIS,” Sobol said, pointing out that only Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili had categorically expressed a wish to leave the
commonwealth.
The report suggested that the four member states were fundamentally
incompatible and hinted that this may well hinder the organization’s
progress. “The Georgian and Ukrainian president’s are old friends and
leaders of colour revolutions. But often the question arises: what
links them to the Moldovan Communist Voronin and Azerbaijani leader
Aliyev?” Sobol asked. Centre TV the same day also asked similar
questions about the viability of GUAM, but was less quick to dismiss
the possibility the organization could be successful.
Introducing the report presenter Nikolay Petrov highlighted the
fundamental differences between the GUAM member states. “GUAM is now
called the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. True,
it is not entirely clear exactly what Communist Vladimir Voronin and
crown prince Ilham Aliyev have to do with democracy,” he said
pointedly.
Correspondent Aleksandr Ogorodnikov noted that “it seems shared
grudges against Russia unite the four presidents more closely than
their common goals”, but added that Aliyev had made a point of
stressing Azerbaijan’s good relations with Russia. However,
Ogorodnikov warned that if GUAM’s proposed Caspian-EU energy corridor
“which threatens to take the bread from Russia’s mouth” became a
reality, then conflict between Moscow and Baku would be unavoidable.
Nevertheless, the report saw the energy plans and the agreements on
creating of a free-trade zone as a good basis for the future of “GUAM
mark-II”, especially as it has US support. “So, GUAM, which nearly
disintegrated six years ago, now seems to have a real chance of
success,” Ogorodnikov said. He went on to suggest that expansion to
include Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania might even be on the
cards.
RTV’s Vesti on 23 May saw the plans for an energy corridor as the main
aim of GUAM, which it suggested was nothing more than a US foreign
policy tool.
Presenter Mikhail Antonov introduced the report with claims that the
organization was funded by the USA. “GUAM’s main task is to create a
counterbalance to the CIS and provide an energy corridor from the
Caspian to Europe, bypassing Russia. The people who thought up this
plan and are willing to finance it can only be found far beyond the
boundaries of the former Soviet Union,” he said. He added that because
of this the abbreviation GUAM is particularly apt, as Guam is also the
name of the American military base “from which the USA put political
and military pressure on those it disliked”.
The ensuing video report featured comments by political analysts which
supported this view of the USA’s role. Mikhail Pogrebinskiy, director
of the Kiev-based Centre for Policy and Conflict Research, described
GUAM as “an instrument for implementing US policy in the former Soviet
area”. Director of the Political Research Institute Sergey Markov
insisted that the organization was entirely dependent on US funds. In
a fuller version of his comments, broadcast in the later Vesti Plyus
bulletin, Markov described GUAM as an attempt “to shut the Russian
bear up in its Siberian lair and isolate Russia from Europe”.

L’Arménie pays de paradoxes
Benoît Legault
Édition du samedi 27 et du dimanche 28 mai 2006
Mots clés : Arménie (Pays), Tourisme
Partout dans le monde, des pays s’ouvrent aux voyageurs. Parmi eux,
l’Arménie, où on découvre le paradoxe d’une vie religieuse intense
et d’un nightlife inoubliable. C’est un petit pays du Caucase entouré
de voisins exotiques… tels l’Iran, la Turquie, la Géorgie et
l’Azerbaïdjan. Mais l’Arménie est près de l’Occident en matière
de spiritualité et, maintenant, de tourisme.
Dans une nature mythique, de grands monastères subliment les paysages.
Un de ces joyaux architecturaux est le monastère Haghpat, inscrit au
Patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. Photos: Benoît Legault
=0DErevan — L’Arménie est le plus vieux pays chrétien du monde
(depuis le IVe siècle), une identité qui a forgé la vie et
l’histoire de son petit peuple martyrisé par des voisins non
chrétiens (on pense au génocide turc de 1915 en particulier). Un
Canadien francophone ne peut qu’être très touché par un pays qui a
préservé son identité par la religion pendant 15 siècles. La
visite des monastères est d’ailleurs l’un des moments forts d’un
voyage en Arménie.
Ce pays est une ex-république soviétique, et c’est visible.
L’architecture, les voitures, même la grisaille égayée par une
grande élégance féminine, tout rappelle l’Union soviétique. Le
russe y reste parlé plus couramment que l’anglais comme langue
seconde.
Les liens historiques fraternels tissés avec la France exhalent la
chaleur naturelle des Arméniens envers les francophones (on compte
350 000 Français d’origine arménienne, dont le plus connu est
Charles Aznavour). Il y a peu, très peu de touristes en Arménie,
mais visiter ce pays procure des sensations à la Tintin : on a
l’impression d’être un vrai voyageur, un vrai explorateur. Les
Arméniens s’intéressent vraiment aux visiteurs, comme êtres
humains. Et personne n’a cherché à me faire surpayer un produit ou
un service sous prétexte que j’étais un touriste (par ailleurs, les
vols à la tire sont très fréquents).
Quelque 90 % des visiteurs font partie de la diaspora arménienne, au
moins deux fois plus nombreuse que la population de l’Arménie (3,8
millions d’habitants). La communauté arménienne de Montréal, elle,
compte 30 000 personnes, soit la moitié de ce groupe au Canada.
=0D=0D
De succulentes ptisseries sont proposées en bord de route.
=0DLa diaspora est riche et donc pleine de ressources. Aussi, les
Arméniens sont très doués en affaires. Dans une large mesure,
c’est elle qui finance et orchestre le renouveau économique du pays et
en particulier de sa capitale, Erevan (1,2 million d’habitants, le tiers
de la population nationale). Le visage de cette ville change donc très
rapidement. Imaginez, son produit intérieur brut du pays augmente de
plus de 10 % par an, alors que l’activité économique se déroule
surtout à Erevan. La population en général demeure pauvre même
si ce n’est guère évident : les Arméniens soignent beaucoup
leur apparence.
Erevan rayonne d’une vie nocturne grouillante et spectaculaire, presque
indescriptible. Les artères de son joli centre-ville, d’allure
européenne, sont envahies par des flots de fêtards joyeux. On mange
et on boit aux terrasses dans une atmosphère méditerranéenne qui a
un je-ne-sais-quoi de plus exotique qu’ailleurs, car, après tout, on
est ici en Orient ! Avec un climat de type continental sec, brûlant
l’été et frigorifique l’hiver, l’idéal est d’y aller au printemps
ou à l’automne.
Mais l’Arménie ne convient pas à tout le monde. Le pays vit un
conflit frontalier armé avec l’Azerbaïdjan à propos de la région
du Karabagh. Aussi, elle est située dans une zone sismique et on se
souvient du tremblement de terre de 1989, qui a fait 25 000 morts. On
se sent toutefois en sécurité. Le plus grand danger encouru semble
être de se faire renverser par une voiture, les automobilistes ne
laissant aucune, mais alors là aucune chance aux piétons.
Voilà une destination qui permet d’ouvrir grand les yeux sur un autre
mode de vie de notre petite planète, au-delà des sentiers battus.
À l’heure du rouleau compresseur de la mondialisation, vivement le
dépaysement ! D’autant plus que cette destination n’est plus très
difficile d’Accès : British Airways, Austrian Airlines et Lufthansa
proposent des vols directs à partir de l’Europe, puis Air France la
dessert depuis quelques mois. Le décalage horaire de neuf heures y est
toutefois éprouvant.
***
Renseignements
– Hôtel Marriott Armenia Yerevan, marriott.com/EVNMC.
– Tatian’s Travel : tatianstravel.com, DiscoverArmenia.am.
– Achat en ligne d’artisanat arménien de qualité :
MadeInArmeniaDirect.com.
– Armenia Tourism Development Agency : ArmeniaInfo.am.
***
Notre journaliste était invité par l’hôtel Marriott
Armenia Yerevan et les lignes aériennes Lufthansa, qui ont rendu
possible ce reportage… effectué dans le cadre du tout premier voyage
de presse touristique de l’histoire de l’Arménie.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Arménie – De Noé au KGB
Benoît Legault
Édition du samedi 27 et du dimanche 28 mai 2006
Mots clés : Arménie (Pays), Tourisme, kgb
Les essieux du minibus touristique se tordent de déplaisir. Les
passagers sont projetés vers la gauche, vers la droite, puis de bas en
haut. Nous sommes sur une route de campagne assez banale en Arménie,
où le réseau routier a été torturé par le grand tremblement de
terre de 1989. Une partie de ce réseau n’a pas encore été
réparée.
Le grand hôtel Marriott Armenia constitue la plus prestigieuse adresse
touristique du pays. Il est situé sur la place centrale d’Erevan, la
capitale.
Pays martyr, peuple très religieux, monastères formant la
principale attraction touristique : tout se tient. On nous avait
prévenus d’apporter de l’eau et des victuailles car la campagne
arménienne propose peu de nourriture qu’un tendre estomac d’Occidental
peut digérer. Mais que fait-on ici ? Nous entrons dans un monde
d’histoire antique, de monastères à la fois vivants et
millénaires.
À l’inverse du Canada, l’Arménie propose beaucoup d’histoire (7000
ans) et peu de géographie (340 kilomètres de l’est à l’ouest et
170 kilomètres du nord au sud). On peut donc visiter tout le pays en
quelques jours. Bien que situé en Turquie, juste au-delà de la
frontière, le célèbre mont Ararat domine l’histoire et le paysage
arméniens. Selon de nombreux historiens, ce mont aurait été le
refuge de Noé et de son arche il y a quelque 4000 ans.
La majesté du mont Ararat fascine, mais les splendeurs naturelles
abondent dans ce petit pays. Des vallées, des plaines, des canyons,
aux multiples couleurs de sable… autant d’images s’incrustant pour
toujours au fond de l’esprit.
Dans cette nature mythique, de grands monastères subliment les
paysages ; ils furent construits en hauteur pour rebuter les
envahisseurs. Grands btiments de pierre bruntre surmontés d’une
tour ronde au toit conique : le style des monastères y est
admirable. Le plus beau de ces joyaux architecturaux est le monastère
Haghpat, inscrit au Patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. En outre, les
monastères arméniens sont habités, mais l’ascétisme n’est qu’une
facette d’une vie religieuse qui façonne l’évolution sociale et
politique du pays depuis plus de 1700 ans.
L’Église apostolique arménienne s’apparente au catholicisme,
cependant que les hommes mariés peuvent y devenir prêtres. Un peu
comme dans le Canada français d’autrefois, l’Église joue ici le
rôle d’une forme de gouvernement parallèle.
Erevan prend l’allure d’une ville russe moderne. Elle qui ne comptait
que 14 000 habitants en 1900 en abrite aujourd’hui 1,2 million. Il
s’agit d’une cité du XXe siècle d’allure soviétique et non pas
d’une ville-musée orientale.
Le square de la République donne des frissons tant il en impose. Cette
place immense, typique de l’architecture urbaine soviétique, est le
coeur de la capitale. Au coeur de ce coeur, l’hôtel Marriott Armenia
Yerevan propose des chambres de luxe et une terrasse où le Tout-Erevan
aime à se faire voir. Anecdote : le btiment de l’hôtel, qui
abritait autrefois des bureaux du KGB, héberge aujourd’hui le consulat
du Canada…
Le génocide arménien de 1915 (deux millions de morts) prend tout son
sens lors d’une visite du monument qui lui est consacré à Erevan.
Cette visite glace le sang. Le génocide figure en bonne place au
palmarès de l’horreur massive. De la vague connaissance historique à
la prise de conscience, ce monument vous fait voyager dans le temps et
l’émotion.
La meilleure des bonnes surprises d’Erevan demeure l’animation des rues
le soir et celle des restaurants où on fait la fête dès que les
assiettes sont vidées. Un copieux repas de spécialités, bien
arrosé, coûte environ 15 $. Voir et faire des choses en Arménie
ne coûte jamais cher, même si les souvenirs qu’on en conserve
demeurent, eux, très chers.
Collaborateur du Devoir

PanARMENIAN.Net
Unrest in North Iran Directed by Baku, Ankara and Washington

27.05.2006 13:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ What is happening in Iran’s northern provinces for
over 10 days is apparently directed not only by Baku and Ankara, but
also Washington, political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, it should not be forgotten
that authors of the notorious cartoon, as well as editor of the Iran
newspaper were arrested and apologies are presented to the Turkic
speaking population of Iran.
«However, an «occasion» was invented and there is sort of official
ground for discontent. It should not be surprising any more that
slogans «Karabakh is our,» «Turkic people are united» and similar ones
are heard during rallies,» he remarked.
When commenting on the fact of burning the Armenian national flag in
Tebriz, the Armenian expert underscored that the incident is one of
the directions of the policy of rally participants. «Their major goal
is not Karabakh or Armenia. Major goal of rally participants is to
tear away the territory, which will be the support for Turan’s
struggle against Iran,» the expert said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
CNN to Broadcast Trailer on Armenia

27.05.2006 14:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The CNN will daily broadcast a trailer, which
represents Armenia as a country of tourism, Armenian Deputy Minister
of Trade and Economic Development Ara Petrosyan told journalists.
In his words, Armenia and Second Channel TV Companies won the contest
of making trailers of 30 and 60 seconds. The cost of 1 minute’s
advertisement on the CNN is $800-1000. `An agreement is reached with
CNN leadership that these trailers will be broadcast 7 times a week,
i.e. daily, and a large number of people worldwide watch CNN,’ he
remarked. The Deputy Minister also reminded that each tourist during
4-5 days of his stay in Armenia, leaves about the same amount of money
in the country as that of 1-minute advertisement on the CNN, reports
IA Regnum.