A-320 AIRPLANE COULD EASILY LAND FROM THE FIRST TURN
Yerevan, May 16. ArmInfo. The crashed A-320 airplane could easily
land in Sochi from the first turn, said on a award ceremony at the
Russian Security, Defense and Order Academy Mikhail Bagdasarov,
president of MIKA Limited company and owner of ArmAvia.
According to Bagdasarov, the weather conditions were surely bad,
but unable to impede the landing. He stressed that airbuses, unlike
old Soviet airplane, can land without problems in extreme weather
conditions. Commenting on the versions of the tragedy Bagdasarov
said that the only facts the Russian and Armenian authorities
officially stated are that the fuel of the airbus was sufficient,
the airplane functioned properly and that the skill of the pilots
cannot be doubted. He said that the authorities do not posses more
information and any version of the catastrophe is groundless yet. He
also denied that the crashed A-320 was repaired in Belgium. It was
under technical servicing in Budapest, Hungary.

MAMMADOV: NO AGREEMENT ON MEETING BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA PRESIDENTS IN PARIS
Author: E. Husseynov
Trend, Azerbaijan
May 16 2006
There has no been any agreement on the meeting between Azerbaijan`s
and Armenia`s Presidents to be held in Paris at the end of May, the
Chief of the President`s Apparatus Department of External Affairs
Novruz Mammadov exclusively told IAA “Trend”.
According to him the possibility of meeting between the two presidents
during the Spring Session of NATO Parliament Assembly in Paris is
just a fantasy of the journalists who suggested if Robert Kocharyan
and Ilham Aliyev participate in the forum journalist fantasy, a next
round of negotiations will be.
Moreover, Mr. N. Mammadov confirmed that President Ilham Aliyev willl
take part at the session at the end of May. “He is to take part and
delivery a speech to 450 representatives of NATO member-states during
the plenary session. The President is to tell about measures taken
towards Azerbaijan`s integration into Euro Atlantic structures”,
he told.

ERDOGAN REITERATES BOYCOTT THREATS TO FRANCE
Armenpress
May 16 2006
ANKARA, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
threatened France with trade sanctions if it adopts a bill making it
illegal to deny that the 1915-17 massacre of Armenians in Turkey was
“genocide,” AFP said quoting from a Turkish newspaper.
“Patience has its limits. We do not have hatred (toward France) but
we will impose our sanctions,” the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted
Turkey’s prime minister as saying at a summit of Muslim countries on
the Indonesian island of Bali. French lawmakers are due to consider
next week a bill from the opposition Socialists which would make
anyone denying the existence of the “Armenian genocide” liable to a
five-year jail term and a 45,000-euro ($57,000) fine.
French MPs should be “particularly sensitive” to the issue of possible
sanctions since France is the number one investor in Turkey, Erdogan
said. “There will possibly be problems.”

ARMENIAN MEN AND WOMEN CHESS PLAYERS FLYING TO ITALY FOR CHESS OLYMPIAD
Armenpress
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS: Armenian men and women chess players are
flying this week to Italy’s Turin which is hosting the 37-th Chess
Olympiad set to kick off on May 20. Armenia’s men team is headed by
Levon Aronian, ranked number three in the world.
Gagik Hovhanesian, the chief secretary of Armenian Chess Federation,
said the chess players are in good shape. He said the men who are
ranked third in the world will try to achieve as higher as possible
results. He said Armenia’s main rivals are Russians, Indians and
Ukrainians.

OSCE MINSK GROUP COCHAIRMEN TO VISIT YEREVAN LATER IN MAY
Armenpress
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS; Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian
said today the OSCE Minsk group cochairman-Yury Merzlyakov (Russia),
Bernard Fassier (France) and Steven Mann (USA) will be visiting
Yerevan on May 25-26.
Oskanian said the cochairman had already sent their new proposals
to the conflicting parties. He said the Azerbaijani reaction would
be clear after his anticipated meeting with Azeri foreign minister
Mamedyarov in Strasbourg later this week. Oskanian said proceeding
from the situation and the complexity of the Karabakh conflict it
was impossible to have the same approach towards any document.
“Any document that is put on the table contains both positive and
negative aspects which have to be elaborated in the course of talks,”
he told journalists. Oskanian said the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan could meet next month or later given a successful outcome
of his meeting with Mamedyarov and Minsk group cochairmen’s visit to
the region.

OPERATION TO LIFT A-320 AIRBUS FLIGHT RECORDERS STARTED IN SOCHI
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 12:49 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Vessel Navigator having a robot aboard arrived from
Sochi at the location, where A-320 airplane fell. By means of the
robot rescuers hope to lift airborne recorders of the liner from the
Black Sea bottom. They are at the depth of some 500 meters and they
will help determine the cause of the catastrophe. Several days may be
spent on search for the flight recorders – it depends on the weather.
Today the visibility is enough and the deep-water device will work
round the clock.
On the night of May 3 a Yerevan-Sochi plane of Armavia Armenian air
company crashed in the Black Sea 6 km away from Adler airport. All
113 passengers, including 6 children and 8 members of the crew, died
as a result. Among them were 26 Russian citizens, one Ukrainian and
one Georgian citizen, while the rest were Armenian citizens.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

M. BAGHDASAROV CALLS NOT TO BELIEVE TO VARIOUS HEARSAY OVER A-320 CRASH
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:22 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The flight recorders may be lifted already today
and most likely French specialists will lift them, Armavia air
company head Mikhail Baghdasarov said in Yerevan. In his words,
in a few days it will be possible to know how the tragedy actually
happened. He also said that the Airbus Investigation Bureau is holding
all investigation. He called not to believe to various hearsay and
versions.
“We should base ourselves on facts and they are: there was enough
kerosene, the plane was trig, the crew was trained. All the rest will
be cleared out, when flight recorders are lifted,” he said. Baghdasarov
added there were no arms and especially fight aboard. “If it were
the case, it could be heard from the land,” he said.
The air company head underscored that pilot Grigoryan was trained and
retrained in Holland and he was a qualified pilot. “As of bad weather,
it was not so bad that A-320 could not land. Old soviet airplanes could
not do it, but airbuses land in any weather,” Baghdasarov remarked.
As of further plans of the company, May 18 a new A-319, bought in
Canada, is arriving in Yerevan. “We are going to buy another airbus
and a small plane with 50-60 seats. The company buys only those plane,
which are produced after 2000. The new A-319 is assembled in 2004,”
the air company head said.

OSKANIAN: ANY OSCE MG PROPOSALS HAVE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIDES
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian did not rule out the
possibility of a Kocharian-Aliyev meeting, noting that much depend on
the outcomes of the meeting of Armenian and Azeri FMs and mediator’s
coming visit to the region.
Oskanian said the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are scheduled to visit the
region in late May. The Armenian FM said the mediators have presented
some new ideas to parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and these
will be discussed at his meeting with Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov
in Strasbourg this week within the session of the Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers.
Any proposals have both positive and negative sides and all disputed
issues should be solved in the course of talks. We will try to make
our stands maximally close,” the Armenian FM said, noting that much
will depend on the response of the Azeri party to the new proposals
of the mediators, Mediamax reports.

DEEP-WATER DEVICE DID NOT DISCOVER À-320 FLIGHT RECORDERS YET
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The search group did not find the airborne recorders
of A-320 airplane, which crashed near Sochi on the night of May
3. Operation to lift flight recorders started in the morning. A
device was dropped at the bottom and started examination of the
location. “Many fragments of the liner are found at the bottom, but
in the opinion of French specialists, nothing like flight recorders
is found yet. The search continues,” an Operative Staff representative
said, Russian media report.
On the night of May 3 a Yerevan-Sochi plane of Armavia Armenian air
company crashed in the Black Sea 6 km away from Adler airport. All
113 passengers, including 6 children and 8 members of the crew, died
as a result. Among them were 26 Russian citizens, one Ukrainian and
one Georgian citizen, while the rest were Armenian citizens.
–Boundary_(ID_SGX9STSAaI3ZNn8chNLN/A)- –

EU MAY POSTPONE APPROVAL OF ACTION PLANS OF ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 14:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The EU may postpone approval of Action Plans of
South Caucasian states, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner said.
Not ruling out the opportunity to work out a new phase of talks with
Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. “There will be another round of
talks. These will be held after we see again that these countries are
ready to that. I hope we will reach agreement,” the EU Commissioner
said, reports RFE/RL.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress