ALIYEV AND KOCHARYAN HAVE A PAUSE BEFORE A SERIOUS STEP
Lragir.am
26 June 06
Armenia and Turkey are ready to establish bilateral relations. The
news agency ARKA reports that the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Mathew Bryza told this in an interview with the Radio Liberty. He
said they are making efforts to improve the relation between Armenia
and Turkey. According to him, both Armenia and Turkey are ready for
it. Bryza also said that the normalization of Turkish and Armenian
relations is facilitated by the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
With regard to the settlement, Mathew Bryza, who is also the new
American Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said that the co-chairs
decided to take a pause throughout the summer. “The co-chairs talked
today about taking a bit of a pause throughout the summer to find out
whether or not the presidents do in fact have that sort of political
will,” said Bryza.

NO REASON NOT TO INVITE KOCHARYAN TO WASHINGTON
Lragir.am
26 June 06
There’s no reason not to want President Kocharian to come to
Washington, said Mathew Bryza, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State, in an interview with Radio Liberty,
reports the news agency ARKA. “Let me just say I hope we can see a
similar series of positive steps on democratic reform in Armenia as
we hope we are starting to see in Azerbaijan. Maybe we’re wrong about
Azerbaijan. Maybe we’re overly hopeful. But we think things are moving
in a positive direction,” said Mathew Bryza. At the same time Bryza
mentioned that the United States signaled its support for Armenia with
the Millennium Challenge Account. “That is, in many ways, one of our
highest forms of stating that we seek a partnership with a country,
to help it move forward on democratic reform,” stated Mathew Bryza.

FIRES REACHED EUROPE
Lragir.am
26 June 06
If cases of fires are reported in the Azerbaijani areas controlled
by the Armenian forces, problems are reported in the settlement of
the conflict over Karabakh. Rene van der Linden, the president of
the PACE, made such a statement in a press conference in Strasbourg
on June 26. His press conference was devoted to the summer session of
the PACE. According to Rene van der Linden, the PACE Interim Committee
on Karabakh will raise the question of fires. The president of the
PACE criticized such actions on behalf of one of the conflict parties.

FOREIGN MINISTER VARDAN OSKANYAN TO LEAVE FOR GEORGIA JUNE 27
ArmRadio.am
26.06.2006 17:22
June 27 RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will pay a working visit
to Georgia. During the visit the Minister will meet the President
of Georgia Mikhail Sahakashvili, Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili,
and Parliement Speaker Nino Burjanadze.
June 28 the Foreign Minister will deliver a speech on regional policy
issues at the Georgian foundation for strategic and international
studies.
The same day the delegation headed by Minister Oskanyan will return
to Armenia.

THERE IS A GREAT POTENTIAL FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN ARMENIA AND BULGARIA
ArmRadio.am
26.06.2006 17:43
The recurrent fourth sitting of the Armenian-Bulgarian
intergovernmental commission for trade-economic and
scientific-technical cooperation started today in Yerevan.
The trade-economic cooperation between the two countries should be
activated, stated the Co-Chairs of the Commission – RA Minister of
Transport and Communication of Armenia Andranik Manukyan and the
Minister of State Governance and Administrative Reforms of Bulgaria
Nicolas Vasilev. In 2005 the volume of commodity turnover between
Armenia and Bulgaria totaled US$85 million. Although this index
is rather high as compared to US$10-12 million in 2003, it does
not satisfy RA Minister of Transport and Communication, Armenian
Co-Chair of the Armenian-Bulgarian intergovernmental commission
for trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation Andranik
Manukyan. In his opinion, the economic relations should be as active
and warm as the political ties.
The Bulgarian Co-Chair of the Commission, Minister of State Governance
and Administrative Reforms of Bulgaria Nicolas Vasilev considers that
there is a great potential for cooperation between the two countries,
which should be utilized to further improve the relations between
Armenia and Bulgaria.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS NOT SUBJECT TO DISPUTE, CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS DECLARED IN ISTANBUL
ArmRadio.am
26.06.2006 18:05
“The Armenian Genocide is a reality of 90 years. For our people this
issue is not subject to discussion,” the Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II said in a press conference in Istanbul.
The Catholicos emphasized that “such events should be condemned by
all peoples to save the humanity from the reoccurrence of these.”
The Supreme Patriarch noted that the fact of the Armenian Genocide is
recognized by all countries, except Turkey, since, according to him,
there are numerous evidences of the massacre, Istanbul based “Marmara”
daily informs.
The visit of the Catholicos of All Armenians to Istanbul was
covered also by Turkish media. “Zaman” daily titled the article
about the Patriarch’s visit “The thrilling comments of the Armenian
Patriarch.” “Radikal” used the following title – “Garegin II: The
reality of the Genocide.” It deserves attention that the Turkish
media used the word “Patriarch” instead of “Catholicos.”
Turkish papers note that the Catholicos expressed appreciation for air
communication between Armenia and Turkey. He remarked that Armenia is
willing to normalize its relations with Turkey. Garegin II mentioned
that despite the fact that Armeniansare spread all over the world,
they have their own state; therefore, according to him, the Republic
of Turkey should speak with Armenia as a state.
In response to the questions about the acts of protest organized
by Turkish nationalists, the Catholicos noted that it was his first
visit to Constantinople and these protests had no influence on his
impressions. He expressed the hope that no such protests will occur
during his second visit.

FORMATION OF BEAUTY INDUSTRY IN ARMENIA REQUIRES FIVE YEARS
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 26 2006
YEREVAN, June 26. /ARKA/. The formation of the beauty industry in
Armenia requires about five years, President of the Armenian Union
of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists, International Referee Marina
Arakelyan told a press conference in Yerevan.
According to her, this industry is just in the making in Armenia.
“Beauty shops are now opened in Armenia for hobby or business. I hope
that the situation will change in time, and this sphere will become
a business industry,” she said.
According to Arakelyan, beauty shops must ensure a high quality of
services for this industry to develop, and professional producers of
cosmetics must be represented in Armenia.
She pointed out that the only representative of the world producers
of cosmetics in Armenia is the L’Oreal company. “There are no specific
obstacles to the development of beauty industry in Armenia.
What is needed is time,” Arakelyan said.
In his turn, Head of the Department of Trade and Services, RA Ministry
of Trade and Economic Development, Gagik Kocharyan pointed out that
hairdressing and visagism is a relatively new industry in Armenia
that is dynamically developing. “The consumers have a wide selection
of quality and prices on this market,” he said. G. Kocharyan added
that competition promotes professionalism.
The Armenian Union of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists was founded
in 1999. This allowed Armenia to join the World Organization of
Hairdressers founded in 1907 (headquarter in Paris).
The main goal of the Armenian Union is raising the professional level
of local specialists. The Union is closely cooperating with the renown
Russian stylist Sergey Zverev.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA READY FOR RELATIONS WITH TURKEY WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 26 2006
Yerevan, June 26. /ARKA/. Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic
relations with Turkey without any preconditions, RA Presidential
Spokesman Victor Soghomonyan told ARKA, commenting on an interview
give by the American Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Bryza
to the Liberty Radio.
Armenia has repeatedly stated this, Soghomonyan said. He pointed out
that, by stating that the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement will contribute
to the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations, Bryza expressed
his point of view.
Still earlier, Matthew Bryza stated that Armenia and turkey were
ready for the establishment of normal relations. He pointed out that
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would contribute to
this process.

EU’S EFFORTS TO SETTLE NK CONFLICT MOTIVATED BY ITS AMBITION TO RID REGION OF RUSSIA’S DOMINANCE
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 26 2006
YEREVAN, June 26. /ARKA/. European Union’s efforts to settle Karabakh
conflict are motivated by its ambition to rid the region of Russia’s
dominance, Russian political analyst Victor Nadein-Rayevski said
Saturday at a press conference in Yerevan.
He also said that OSCE Minsk Group’s and International Crisis
Group’s latest proposals prompt certain concern. In particular,
if peacekeeping forces are deployed in the troubled region,
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s borders, including border with Armenia,
will be blocked and European Union will oust Russian troops from the
region, the political analyst said.
In his opinion, Azerbaijani refugees return backed by peacekeeping
forces will produce irreparable effect here, just like in Kosovo,
where Serbs fled their homeland to survive genocide.
Nadein-Rayevski also pointed out that this way to settle the
conflict is very convenient to the EU also because it will secure
Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline. Instead, this way is extremely
disadvantageous to Karabakhi and Armenian people, he said wondering
why the problem of Azerbaijani refugees is surrounded by so fuss
while that of Armenians driven from their homes in Baku and other
Azerbaijani cities is fallen into neglect.

ARMENIAN FM TO VISIT GEORGIA
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 26 2006
Yerevan, June 26. /ARKA/. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan is to
be on a visit to Georgia on June 27-28, 2006.
The RA Foreign Minister is to hold meetings with Georgian President
Mikhail Sahakashvili, Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and Speaker
of the Parliament Nino Burjanadze.
On June 28, at the Georgian foundation for strategic and international
studies, Minister Oskanyan is to make a report on regional foreign
policy affairs.