10 chess players to participate in an international tournament in Sevan
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 12:12
10 chess players of Armenia, Russia, Iran and Georgia will participate
today in an international chess tournament to be held in Sevan
city. The event has been organized by the Armenian Chess Academy
headed by Grand Master Smbat Lputyan.

Senator Feingold adds voice to growing congressional calls for answers on
Ambassador Evans firing
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 11:55
Concerns continued to grow this week regarding the circumstances
surrounding the firing of US Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall
Evans, as Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) becomes the ninth member
of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee to call for
clarification of the State Department policy on the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America.
In a written statement submitted as part of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee hearing on Ambassador Designate to Armenia Richard
Hoagland, Senator Feingold noted that, “I want to express my deep
concern about the Administration’s reluctance to acknowledge the acts
of genocide that were committed against the Armenians almost a century
ago. The Administration’s continued failure to recognize these tragic
events is troubling to me and to those who share my belief that we
should speak honestly about, and insist on accountability for, past
crimes against humanity and genocide.”
Sen. Feingold’s concerns are shared by half of the influential Senate
Foreign Relations Committee members – including Senators George Allen
(R-VA), Ranking Democrat Joe Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA),
Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT),
John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) – who must first approve
Ambassador Evans’ replacement prior to a full Senate confirmation. The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed action on Ambassador
Designate Hoagland, while quickly voting for the incoming Ambassadors
to Switzerland and Ireland, who were before the Committee the same
day as Ambassador Designate Hoagland.

Official ceremony of opening Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline to be held in Turkey
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 13:40
The ceremony of opening Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will be
held today in Turkey. Representatives of 16 countries will attend
the event. US President George Bush sent a “presidential delegation”
headed by Deputy Secretary of Energy Jeffery Sell.
The budget of the official opening ceremony exceeded US$4 million. The
expected ceremony has been already called the most massive event in
the history of the Republic of Turkey.

US Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Frank Mermoud visits Armenia
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 14:57
Frank Mermoud, US Special Representative for Commercial and Business
Affairs at the US Department of State is visiting Armenia July
11-13. During his visit, Mr. Mermoud met with representatives of the
American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, other business representatives
and Armenian government officials.
Mr. Mermoud discussed ways to further increase US investments in
Armenia and emphasized the positive cooperation between the United
States and Armenia in the economic sector. He also encouraged all
Armenians to continue to fight against corruption and to work to
increase transparency as a means of promoting economic growth.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

European Parliament postpones the vote on Turkey to September
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 13:33
The vote on the draft resolution on “Turkey’s progress toward
accession,” which should have been voted on Wednesday, July 12th by
the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, was
postponed due to practical reasons, reported the European Armenian
Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD).
The major reason for delay was the late translation of the numerous
amendments. These amendments were submitted only on Monday afternoon
to the various political groups, which did not leave time to them
to prepare for the vote.
While the provisional report made only vague references to Armenian
concerns, the amendments tackle key concerns comprehensively. Many
parliamentarians from the main political parties – including
the Christian Democrats, Socialist, Liberal, and Communist –
unanimously call on Turkey to “withdraw without condition the
blockade of Armenia” and to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as
“a prerequisite to accession”.
The European Parliament resolution will finally be voted on the first
week of September by the Foreign Affairs Committee and eventually on
the last week of September in the plenary session.

Mikhail Saakashvili: Armenia suffered more than Georgia because of closing
Upper Lars checkpoint
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 15:30
“Armenia suffered more than Georgia because of the prohibition of
the transportation of people and cargos through Kazbek – Upper Lars
checkpoint at the Russian-Georgian border,” Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili declared yesterday during a news conference in Tbilisi.
“Closing of Upper Lars checkpoint did not cause particular damage
to the Georgian economy, since the Georgian export does not go this
way. But for ordinary people, who travel from one country to another,
it is bad. It is especially bad for Armenia, which imports most of
the goods through Upper Lars,” said Saakashvili, noting that all the
same import of Georgian goods was not allowed this way.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zhirayr Sefilyan: There is no Karabakh issue as such, there is an
Azerbaijani one
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 16:00
“Today there exists no Karabakh issue as such, it has been settled,”
declared Zhirayr Sefilyan, head of the “Liberated Territories” NGO,
Shushi battalion commander.
According to him, now there exists an Azerbaijani issue, not a Karabakh
one. Existence of such a false state in our region causes great damage.
Turning to the latest statements of the US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group Matthew Bryza, Zhirayr Sefilyan said that Americans have never
been interested in the resolution of the Karabakh issue, they just
want to strengthen their control in this region.
According to Zhirayr Sefilyan, today’s political field of Armenia
has nothing to do with the people. In his words, we should unite and
fight against the vicious phenomena in our country.
By the way, Zhirayr Hovhannisyan’s application for citizenship was
again rejected.

RF Minister of Transport associates closing of Upper Lars checkpoint with construction works
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 16:22
RA President Robert Kocharyan and RF Minister of Transport, Co-Chair
of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic
Cooperation Igor Levitin discussed today a number of urgent issues
of the bilateral agenda.
Reference was made to the closing of Upper Lars checkpoint at
the Russian-Georgian border, which the Minister associates with
construction works.
The parties exchanged views on the prospects of development of
transport communication.
Igor Levitin informed also that the Russian side is currently trying
to solve the issue of resuming operation of “Mars” enterprise.

Stepanakert calls the anti-Armenian propaganda of Azerbaijan “primitive”
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 13:21
Head of the Press Service of the NKR Ministry of Defense Senor Asratyan
called the anti-Armenian propaganda of Azerbaijan “primitive.”
Senor Asratyan called an “absurd” the information disseminated by
APA Agency, which asserts that “no constructions are left in Talish
village conflagrated by Armenians.
“Armenians have been living in Talish village in Martakert region of
Nagorno-Karabakh for centuries, and healthy logics suggests that they
could not have fired their own settlement,” Senor Asratyan said. He
noted that active reconstruction works have been carried out in this
village after liberation from Azeri occupation.

Decoding of the flight recorders of the crashed A-320 is in the final stage
ArmRadio.am
12.07.2006 17:17
President of the CIS Interstate Aviation Committee Tatyana Anodina
declared today in Yerevan that decoding of the flight recorders
of the crashed A-320 is in the final stage. For the first time she
officially stated that they have all grounds, which will allow to
detect the exact reasons of the crash.
“The whole information will be publicized by the end of the month
and the work will be completed,” Tatyana Anodina said.
The decoded data will not be disseminated through mass media, as it
is required by international law. Recently “Moskovskiy Komsomolets”
newspaper wrote that the decoding of the flight recorders suggests
that those guilty of the crash should be searched for on the land
and that the human factor cannot be considered the cause of the
tragedy. The paper quoted also pilot Alexander Akimenko’s words:
“There are no felones-de-se among pilots. And after the crewmembers
die, taking also the lives of hundreds of passengers, the culprits
should be searched for among the alive. Tatyana Anodina considers
such publications impermissible and improper.
“Consultation with any structure is excluded. According to
international norms, the Interstate Aviation Committee should draw
objective suggestions and there can be no pressure on the part of
any structure,” she said.
To remind, the last flight of the crashed A-320 was modeled in
Toulouse.
French, Russian and Armenian specialists were participating in the
works. The results of the investigation have not been completely
summed up so far.