CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN ON THE OCCASION OF THE DAY OF KNOWLEDGE
Armenpress
Aug 31 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS: Dear teachers and parents, dear
students, I congratulate you on the occasion of the Day of Knowledge.
Good education has always been a priority for our people. The future of
Armenia is with a comprehensively developed, well educated generation.
Currently, the reformation of the educational system is in the
center of the authorities’ attention. It should be conducted through
a combination of our best traditions and modern trends. Educational
programs must be oriented towards training high class specialists in
fundamental sciences and high technology area.
Special attention should be given to the children with particular
educational needs, and they should not be left out of the educational
process.
I congratulate you once again and wish the students good progress in
their studies, and I wish the teachers success in their gratifying
work.

PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN TO VISIT GERMANY, BELARUS AND KAZAKHSTAN BY THE END OF THE YEAR
By Gohar Gevorgian
AZG Armenian Daily
01/09/2006
Viktor Soghomonian, spokesman for president Robert Kocharian, met
journalists on August 30 to present president’s scheduled foreign
visit for this year. In his words, by the end of this year president
Kocharian will visit Germany, will take part in CIS Summit in Minsk
as well as will pay an official visit to Kazakhstan. Almost as many
presidential visit are expected to take place in Armenia. “Diplomatic
circles discuss French president Jacques Chirac’s official visit as
well as the visits of presidents of Slovenia and Romania,” Soghomonian
said. Concerning Chirac’s visit, the spokesman suggested to view his
visit as manifestation of traditionally friendly relations between
the two states and not to look for political contexts. Journalists
availed themselves of the opportunity to ask Viktor Soghomonian
their questions.
There is no conflict between Robert Kocharian and Serge
Sargsian. Soghomonian turned down rumors about the argument between
Kocharian and Sargsian concerning Prosperous Armenia and Republican
parties. As to the struggle between the parties, Soghomonian thinks
there is no such thing. “There may be discords and contradictions; if
they are absent then there are no different forces.” The spokesman said
that he did not discuss with the president the publication according
to which the president does not want to see Serge Sargsian as his
successor. The spokesman made no forecast about Robert Kocharian’s
political future advising to ask president himself. He only said
that so far there is no consideration about Kocharian joining any
political party. Viktor Soghomonian stated that neither he is going
to join any party citing the principle that Kocharian’s staff should
not belong to any party.
As to Kocharian-Aliyev meeting, Soghomonian said it untimely to speak
about it. “A few days ago the foreign ministers agreed to meet. They
will try to prepare the presidents’ meeting,” he said.
Asked why Armenia does not send peacekeepers to Lebanon, the
spokesperson said that now Armenia is not going to send its forces
as there are several reasons.
“Firstly, the mandate of peacekeeping forces is not finalized
yet, i.e. it is not clear where are the limits of their
activities. Secondly, participation of Armenian peacekeepers in
diverse clashes can be harmful for Lebanon’s big Armenian community.”

ON THIS DAY – AUG. 31
News24, South Africa
Aug. 31, 2006
Today is Thursday, August 31, the 243rd day of 2006. There are 122
days left in the year.
Highlights in history on this date:
1990 – After Armenian Republic’s parliament declares a state of
emergency, 250 militant nationalists give up their weapons.
1290 – Jews are exiled from England by proclamation of King Edward 1.
1704 – Forces of Russia’s Czar Peter the Great take Narva in Russia.
1876 – Turkey’s Sultan Murad V is deposed on plea of insanity and is
succeeded by Abdul Hamid 2.
1886 – In one of America’s worst disasters, 110 people are killed
when an earthquake rocks Charleston, South Carolina.
1888 – Mary Ann Nicholls is found murdered in London’s East End. She
is the first victim of Jack the Ripper.
1900 – British forces under Frederick Roberts occupy Johannesburg,
South Africa.
1918 – Bolshevik troops attack British Embassy in Petrograd, Russia.
1922 – Czech-Serb-Croat Alliance is signed at Marienbad.
1923 – Italy starts a brief occupation of the Greek island of Corfu
after the murder of a boundary delegation.
1935 – United States President Franklin D Roosevelt signs an act
prohibiting the export of US arms to belligerents.
1942 – German general Rommel renews offensive against British at
Alam Halfa in North Africa in World War 2, but is driven back to
original lines.
1947 – The US Investigating Committee recommends that Great Britain
give up control of Palestine.
1957 – Malaysia gains independence as Federation of Malaya.
1962 – Trinidad and Tobago become independent nation within British
Commonwealth.
1971 – Cuba terminates the airlift that has brought 246 000, Cuban
refugees from Havana to Florida since December 1965.
1977 – Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith’s party wins the election and
gains all 50 white seats in parliament. The vote gives Smith a mandate
to negotiate with black leaders on greater political representation
for the country’s six million blacks.
1980 – Polish labour leaders sign agreements with Communist government
establishing for first time in a Soviet-bloc nation the rights to
strike and to establish free trade unions.
1982 – El Salvador defences minister Jose Guillermo Garcia Merino
discloses that the armed forces have suffered 3 657 casualties in a
year; bringing the number of people killed by rightists during the
three-year civil war to more than 35 000.
1986 – Moscow’s secret police hold US news correspondent Nicholas
Daniloff on spying allegations. His wife calls it a frame-up.
1987 – Government and opposition officials in South Korea agree on
revising constitution to clear way for direct presidential elections
and other reforms.
1990 – After Armenian Republic’s parliament declares a state of
emergency, 250 militant nationalists give up their weapons.
1991 – Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan become the ninth and tenth Soviet
republics to declare independence.
1994 – Irish Republican Army declares an open-ended cease-fire in
its 24-year campaign against British rule of Northern Ireland.
1995 – A bomb-laden car explodes in a crowded square outside Algeria’s
national police headquarters, killing 10 and injuring 15.
1996 – Iraq captures Irbil in northern Iraq, a key city inside the
Kurdish “safe haven” protected by US-led forces. It is Saddam Hussein’s
largest military action since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
1997 – Typhoon Rex veers away from Japan’s main island of Honshu, but
the record rainfall it spawned forces thousands to flee their homes.
Flooding and landslides caused by the rains kill 14 people and
injure 45.
1998 – North Korea launches a new, more powerful long-range ballistic
missile that crosses over Japan’s main island and crashes into the
Pacific Ocean. The test draws strong protests from Japan and the US.
2002 – A Russian Mi-24 assault helicopter is shot down by a missile
in Chechnya. Both of the gunship’s pilots are killed. Chechen rebels
claim responsibility.
2004 – Militants in Iraq kill 12 Nepalese contract workers, in a
gruesome video discovered on an Islamic website, showing one of
them beheaded and the 11 others shot in a methodical series of
execution-style slayings.
2005 – Panicked by rumours of a suicide bomber, thousands of Shi’ite
pilgrims break into a stampede on a bridge in Baghdad during a
religious procession, crushing one another or plunging into Tigris
River. Nearly 1 000 die, mostly women and children.
Today’s Birthdays: Theophile Gautier, French author (1811-1872); Maria
Montessori, Italian doctor and educator (1870-1952); William Saroyan,
US writer (1908-1981); Buddy Hackett, US actor/comedian (1924-2003);
Van Morrison, Irish singer (1945); Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist
(1945); Richard Gere, US actor (1949).
Thought for Today: Show me the country in which there are no strikes
and I’ll show you that country in which there is no liberty – Emma
Goldman, American anarchist (1869-1940).

ARMENIANS PROTEST TURKISH PARTICIPATION IN UN PEACEKEEPER FORCE
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
August 31, 2006 Thursday 4:50 PM EST
DPA POLITICS Mideast Conflicts Lebanon Armenians Turkey Armenians
protest Turkish participation in UN peacekeeper force Beirut Some 100
Lebanese-Armenians took part in a demonstration Thursday to protest
Turkish participation in the United Nations peacekeeping force due
to to deploy alongside the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon.
Media reports have said Ankara could send between 600 and 1,200 men
to join a bolstered UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
UNIFIL plans to patrol southern Lebanon, enforcing a fragile ceasefire
that ended a month of deadly Israeli strikes on the country
and rocket attacks by Hezbollah militants against Israel.
The protest took place near UN headquarters in downtown Beirut.
The demonstrators handed a UN official an open letter addressed to
UN chief Kofi Annan.
Lebanon is home to the largest Armenian community in the Arab world,
made up of descendants of survivors of the 1915-1917 massacres
in Turkey.
The Lebanese-Armenian community is estimated to number 120,000,
half of what it was before the 1975-1990 civil war.
Several countries have recognized the massacres as genocide – a term
Turkey fiercely rejects – and Brussels has urged Ankara to face its
past and expand freedom of speech.
Reports say an announcement on the details of the Turkish deployment
could be made when Annan visits Turkey on September 6.
Turkey occupies a unique role in the area, as an overwhelmingly
Muslim nation that nevertheless enjoys the confidence of Israel –
with which it signed a military cooperation agreement in 1996 –
while retaining close ties to nearby Arab states.

SOUTH CAUCASUS CONCERNS
European Report
August 31, 2006
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on
28 August in Slovenia that she was looking forward to celebrating
the adoption of European Neighbourhood Policy action plans to boost
economic and political links with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
when she visits the region with the Finnish EU Presidency in early
October. But she said that the last weeks and months had shown an
alarming combination of worrying trends in the region, with little
or no progress in settling frozen conflicts’ combined with rocketing
defence spending and increasingly inflammatory rhetoric. ‘Any further
escalation of tension could re-ignite the conflicts with devastating
consequences for the entire region’, she warned.

NAASR CELEBRATES WITH SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Aug. 31, 2006
The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
will present an evening of discussion, with pictures and video,
entitled “Searching for Armenia: An Inner and Outer Journey,” at
8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, in the First Armenian Church Auditorium,
380 Concord Ave., Belmont.
The participants in the discussion will be among those who took
part in NAASR’s June 2-18 Armenian Heritage Tour, the first such
trip NAASR has sponsored in over a quarter of a century. (NAASR’s
initial Armenian Heritage Tour in 1967 was the first of its kind in
the United States.) The participants will share their impressions
and recollections, and photos and video from the trip will also be
shared and discussed.
Taking in the Armenian Republic and Karabagh, portions of Georgia,
and much of today’s Eastern Turkey, the 2006 tour was led by Professor
George Bournoutian, a historian at Iona College in New York. Over 20
people accompanied Bournoutian on the tour, many of them visiting
places they had never been before or from which their parents or
grandparents had come nearly a century ago.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). Following the
discussion there will be a reception at the NAASR Center, across from
the church. The bookstore will be open, with a special discount for
the evening of 20 percent off all items.
NAASR will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Sept. 30. A symposium
on “Armenian-Turkish Dialogue and the Direction of Armenian Studies”
will be held at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, from 9 a.m. until
1 p.m., featuring five leading scholars from various areas of Armenian
Studies. The symposium is open to the public at no charge.
The NAASR Gala Banquet and Celebration of 50 Years will take place
that evening at the Royal Sonesta, with a reception, dinner and a
program that will include a keynote address, a retrospective video,
music and dancing, and surprise announcements. The banquet is open
to NAASR members and non-members alike. Interested parties should
contact NAASR as soon as possible for information on reservations.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY: WE’LL SUPPORT AZERBAIJAN’S REPLY TO THE MINSK GROUP’S PROPOSALS
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 31, 2006
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry commented on the U.S co-chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group Mathew Bryza’s calling for the parties to the Nagorno
Garabagh to make a trade-off.
A Foreign Ministry official told the APA’s Turkey bureau that
Azerbaijan’s position remains important to them.
“We’ll support whatever reply Azerbaijan gives to these proposals. It
is up to Azerbaijan to accept these proposals. What will happen
if Azerbaijan does not accept these? Would power states invade
Azerbaijan for that? Turkey will never force Azerbaijan to accept
any proposal. We unconditionally support Azerbaijan in this issue,”
the official underlined.

ARKADIY GHUKASSYAN: I UNDOUBTEDLY BELIEVE IN NKR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
Stepanakert, August 31. ArmInfo. In view of 15th anniversary of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s formation, NKR President Arkadiy Ghukassyan
answered the questions of electronic site of “Azat Artsakh” Republican
newspaper. Several hundred questions from Karabakh, Armenia, Russia,
USA, Azerbaijan and other countries, concerning different spheres,
entered the editorial office.
As the ArmInfo own correspondent in Stepanakert informs, asked “Do you
believe in International recognition of Nagorno Karabakh Republic?”,
A. Ghukassyan answered: “Undoubtedly. When our people had declared,
at the referendum, for NKR independence 15 years ago, it thought first
of all about its future and not about the possible response of the
International community. NKR, independent from Azerbaijan, is not a
self-purpose but the only condition of the Karabakh people existence
on the land of its ancestors, of its development and prosperity. We
clearly understood that the International recognition of NKR is a
long and extremely difficult way. But, finally, all depends on us,
on our will, patience, and ability to overcome difficulties and
our readiness to build a legal state. The Nagorno Karabakh Republic
is de-facto formed and this is recognized by many in the world. We
could defend our independence in the war, moreover, we overcame its
consequences for a relatively short historical period of time and
built a state which left Azerbaijan behind it by many parameters,
including the level of democratization of the political-social life”.
Asked “If you and the military-political authorities intend to hand
over the territories of the so-called security zone without NKR
independence recognition?”, the President answered: “We shall never
agree with such settlement which can prejudice the Karabakh security,
not to mention the independence from Azerbaijan. I am sure the attempt
to solve any issues, including that of the security zone around NKR,
is a way to war. We have no closed subjects, however, it does not mean
we are ready for one-sided concessions. The degree of our concessions
depends on the degree of Azerbaijan ‘s concessions”.
Asked “How would you comment the recent expression of OSCE MG
American Co-chairman, Mathew Bryza, saying that the participation
or non-participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiation process
depends on the will of Armenia and Azerbaijan?”, A. Ghukassyan
answered: “Only Azerbaijan stands against NKR participation in
negotiations as a conflict party. Baku prefers to deal with Yerevan in
order to transform the problem of NKR people self-determination into a
plane of territorial claims of Armenia to Azerbaijan. Unfortunately,
the International mediators made concessions to Azerbaijan for the
peaceful process maintenance. But I am sure this concession has a
temporary character. In the documents of Budapest (December, 1994)
Summit of SCCE, the Karabakh side is actually recognized as a conflict
side. Moreover, there are questions which cannot be solved without
our participation. And their number is not less. This circumstance is
fully realized by all the MG Co-chairmen. By the way, when Azerbaijan
had ever turned out in a difficult situation during the war, Baku had
directly contacted with Stepanakert. We have a rather considerable
portfolio of corresponding documents”.
Asked by Azeri citizen Akhmedov: “Mr. Ghukassyan, is there actually
any single Armenian in the world who really believes that Azerbaijan
will ever give in Karabakh? Do you in Stepanakert actually want
war? The Azeri army is not the way it was in 1992,” Ghukassyan said:
“I will answer in your style: is there actually any single Azeri in
the world who really believes that the Karabakh Armenians will ever
agree to submit to Baku? Do you in Azerbaijan want war?
The Karabakh army is by far not the way it was in 1992. War is not
a solution. Unfortunately, you, Mr. Akhmedov, is a typical victim to
the Azeri propaganda, who denies the right of the Karabakh people to
self-determination – the right that is recognized by the international
mediators: the OSCE MG co-chairs – the biggest world powers – the
US, Russia and France. We should look for reasonable compromises,
while hope for military budget, hope for revenge is a bad, suicidal
hope. Azerbaijan has always been several times stronger than Karabakh
in personnel and hardware, but you all know the results of the previous
war. I think that the Azeri authorities should stop misleading their
people and start natural direct contacts with Stepanakert. We can
really solve many problems if we sit down at the negotiating table.
Asked by Seidova from Ganca (Azerbaijan): “Mr. Ghukassyan, the world
will never recognize the independence of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic.
Sooner or later, Azerbaijan will get Karabakh back. Isn’t it better
for you to agree to this at once? You will not deny that the unsettled
Karabakh problem hinders the economic development of Armenia, will
you?,” Ghukassyan said: “Dear Ms. Seidova, the Karabakh Armenians have
chosen independence for fully exercising their rights and freedoms
which were grossly violated by the Azeri authorities. Time has shown
that we were right and we have chosen the right way.
Look, what an attitude the authorities of your country are showing
to the Karabakh Armenians today. They are threatening to finish us
off if we refuse to join Azerbaijan. Is this serous? Do civilized
leaders use threats and blackmails when urging their neighbors
to co-exist? The Karabakh people does not hate the Azeri people,
while in your country the situation is opposite. In Azerbaijan the
authorities are actively cultivating hatred towards Armenians. One
proof: you in Azerbaijan present the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as
Armenian-Azeri conflict. If you happened to wish to visit Nagorny
Karabakh you would see that there is such more freedom of speech and
democracy here than in your country. Unlike Azerbaijan, we are not
forced by anybody in the world to comply with democracy norms or to
hold elections in conformity with the European standards. But despite
everything, despite the protests of your authorities, we persist
in democratizing our society even though the Baku authorities are
constantly threatening us with new war. We are doing this, first of
all, because we need democracy. I assure you that people in the world
perfectly know about progress in Karabakh. No coincidence that the
army of our friends is growing every year. As regards the prospect
of our international recognition, unlike you, I have higher opinion
of the international community. Please, don’t worry for Armenia, you
better think about the abyss your own authorities are leading you to.
To the question of Hakopyan from Tbilisi: “From his very first days
in power of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has been daily saying that
his country will be able to solve the Karabakh problem by force. Do
you think this scenario possible?,” Ghukassyan said: “We can’t
fully exclude the possibility of new war, but I don’t think that
Azerbaijan will take such a suicidal step. We have already got used
to the Azeri authorities’ blackmails. Today they want to scare us
with growing military budget fed by oil revenues, but such policy
is unpromising. First, should Azerbaijan decide to resume war, it
will face a worthy rebuff and quite sad consequences. Second, the
military scenario seems unreal also because the world and regional
powers are not interested in instability in the region because of
its oil projects and their huge investments therein. Third, the Azeri
society does not want war as it suffered much from the military actions
of 1992-1994. Only those who don’t know what war is are speaking of
it now. Those people will hardly fight should the war resume. If you
have noticed, most aggressive are those who are sitting in warm seats
of the Azeri government and, certainly, have “reserve airdromes”
for their children and relatives in case of war. If Azerbaijan was
a democratic country, the Azeri people would ask their former and
present leaders: for how long will they be used as cannon fodder? I
think that it is immoral to think and speak about war. Life has proved
that the Karabakh problem cannot be solved by force.”

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT IS NOT GOING TO OPINE ON VERSIONS OF ARMENIA’S NATIONAL ANTHEM
Yerevan, August 30. ArmInfo. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is not
going to opine on the versions of the national anthem of the Republic
of Armenoia, says the spokesman of the president Viktor Soghomonyan.
He says that, of course, Kocharyan has his preferences but if he
expresses his opinion this may be regarded as pressure on the expert
commission. The commission includes professionals, the versions will
be discussed by wide public and in the parliament, so everything is
going on normally, says Soghomonyan.

ARMENIA IS NOT YET GOING TO SEND ITS PEACEKEEPERS TO LEBANON
Yerevan, August 30. ArmInfo. Armenia is not yet going to send its
peacekeepers to Lebanon, says the spokesman of the Armenian President
Viktor Soghomonyan.
He says that it is not clear yet what mandate the peacekeepers
deployed in the Lebanese-Israeli conflict zone will have. Besides,
there is a big Armenian community in Lebanon and the appearance of
Armenian peacekeepers in the region may damage its interests, which
is inadmissible, says Soghomonyan.