PRESIDENT AWARDS EDGAR HILSENRATH
AZG Armenian Daily
06/05/2006
At the sitting of “Hayastan” Pan-Armenian Fund yesterday president
Robert Kocharian presented German writer Edgar Hilsenrath with an
award for his contribution in bringing international recognition to
the Armenian Genocide.
The writer received the award for his novel “The Fairy Tale of Last
Thoughts”.

26 VICTIMS OF AIRCRAFT CRASH DELIVERED TO YEREVAN AIRPORT “ZVARTNOTS” AT 5:30 AM YEREVAN TIME ON MAY 5
Yerevan, May 5. ArmInfo. 26 bodies of the killed in the crash of
Airbus A320 and their relatives, who had left for Sochi to identify
the bodies, arrived at “Zvartnots” airport in Yerevan at 5:30 am
local time.
Police officers, ambulances, psychologists were on duty at Yerevan
airport all night long. Government members were at the airport as
well. The bodies were delivered to Yerevan medico-legal morgues. May
5-6 are declared Mourning Days in Yerevan. The funerals of the victims
will take place just on these days. The unidentified bodies will be
buried in common graves in Sochi. Body fragments will be transported
to Rostov-on-Don for histological examination. No new bodies were
found as of 8:00 am Yerevan time. Despite the readiness of Russian
and French rescuers to search the bodies as long as necessary, experts
say the bodies start decomposing already in three days at such depth.
Data on the number of the found bodies fluctuate between 48 and 53
according to different sources. The reported numbers of unidentified
bodies are also contradictory: 24-28. 113 people were killed in
the crash. The reasons are still unknown. Criminals cases have been
initiated on the fact both in Russia and Armenia. Investigation is
in process.

CRASHED A-320 AIRBUS HAS NEVER UNDERGONE TECHNICAL CHECKUP IN BRUSSELS
Yerevan, May 05. ArmInfo. The crashed –320 airbus has never undergone
technical checkup in Brussels. Karla Daniels, press secretary of
“Sabena Technics” company that was to carry out technical checkup of
the burnt Armenian planes and A-320 airbus, said in the interview to
“Liberty” Radio Station.
She denied the information, according to which A-320 airbus underwent
technical checkup in Brussels, in April. As for the incident that took
place in the repair plant of the company last night, she said that
the plane of “Armavia” and that of “Versant” company are totally
destroyed. Daniels added that at present, the experts carry out
investigation to find out whether the fire occurred as a result of
technical breakdown or a subversive act. She added that the results
of the investigation will be announced soon.
To note, Armavia’s burnt plane just like the crashed one were insured
by the Armenian company Grand. The cost of the burnt plane is estimated
at $35-38 mln. Versant’s burnt plane was insured by newly created
Armenian company H&F, which also belongs to businessman Versandik
Hakopyan. Insurance experts say that if the Belgian side is found
guilty of the fire, all the damages will have to be refunded by Sabena
Technics or its insurer.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TRANSFERS HIS MONTHLY WAGES TO FUND OF SUPPORT OF FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF A-320 CRASH
Yerevan, May 5. ArmInfo. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has
transferred his monthly wages – 318,000 AMD – to the fund of support
of the families of the victims of the May 3 A-320 crash, reports the
president’s spokesman Viktor Sogomonyan.
Parts of the wages of the presidential administration employees will
also be transferred to the fund.

GENERAL PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE STUDIES THE RECORDINGS OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE A320 PILOTS AND GEORGIAN DISPATCHERS
Yerevan, May 5. ArmInfo. The Georgian side has handed Armenia the
recordings of the conversations between Georgian dispatchers and
A320 staff, and now the materials are being studied by the General
Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia. The investigation workgroup created
by eth order of eth General Prosecutor has already returned to
Yerevan. The General Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia reports that the
workgroup has questioned the Georgian dispatchers that worked on the
night of the catastrophe.
Previously in telephone conversations with his Russian and Georgian
colleagues General Prosecutor of Armenia Agvan Hovsepian made an
agreement of collaboration and reciprocal assistance in investigating
the matter of the air crash.

NEW CORPSES FOUND ON THE A320 CRASH SPOT
Yerevan, May 5. ArmInfo. The Emergency Department of Russia reports
that new bodies are found of the spot of the A320 liner crash.
Russian mass media repost that the corpses will be taken aout of
the sea later, as searches are suspended in connection with mourning
ceremony in Sochi town.
Today evening another airplane will arrive to Zvartnots airport,
Yerevan, carrying the bodies of the killed passengers. To be reminded,
113 people died in result of the air accident. 53 corpses have been
already found, of which 41 identified.
From: Baghdasarian

ARKADY GHUKASYAN IS DISSATISFIED WITH ARMENIA FUND
Lragir.am
05 May 06
NKR President is dissatisfied and satisfied with the Armenia Fund.
Simultaneously. Arkady Ghukasyan told his opinion to news reporters
on May 5 during the break of the meeting of the board of trustees of
the Armenia Fund in Yerevan. The president of Karabakh announced he
had greater expectations than the present indices. “Our expectations
are much greater. I think the Diaspora is a very powerful structure
and the Diaspora can offer greater assistance to Karabakh. Second,
we have problems with quality of work, and we find that the fund
should enhance control,” said Arkady Ghukasyan.
This is an unexpected, even a sensational statement, for it is an
unprecedented attempt of expressing dissatisfaction publicly.
However, what happened is quite normal in the context of recently
circulated information about the intention of the government of
Karabakh to gain direct control on the money of the fund. In this
context, reliable sources even report that Arkady Ghukasyan proposed
to change the executive director of the fund but the president of
Armenia refused.
“You see, if there was such a proposal, I would not be standing here
because we work. I think it is clear libel,” said Executive Director
Naira Melkumyan May 5 to the reporter, before the meeting of the
board of trustees of the fund. The executive director is appointed
by the board of trustees. This question was not found on the agenda
of the annual meeting of the board, which means that it will not
be taken up for another year. Although, an extraordinary meeting is
possible. Especially that there are such moods. The evidence to it
is the dissatisfaction of the NKR president with the activity of the
fund. The president of NKR would hardly oppose to the entire fund. He
might know that there are others who share his attitude. The evidence
to this is his approach of changing the executive director. The
NKR president does not think that the questions he raised would be
settled by the change of the executive director, but he thinks that the
question can be discussed. “It is a question to be decided by the board
of trustees, I cannot decide alone. I think that we must solve the
problem. There are several ways of solving the problem. At any rate,
this is a question that must be discussed,” stated Arkady Ghukasyan.

ACCIDENTS INVOLVING ARMAVIA PLANES CONTINUE
Lragir.am
05 May 06
Four planes burnt down in a fire at the airport of Brussels. One of
these planes, an A320, belonged to Armavia Airlines. The plane was
in Europe for a technical examination. Armavia Airlines rented three
A320 planes, one of them crashed on May 3 in Sochi. Another Armenian
plane burned in the capital of Belgium. This A320 belonged to the
Armenian International Airlines. However, unlike the plane of Armavia,
the plane of the Armenian International Airlines was damaged slightly.
The Armenian International Airlines does not have flights from
Armenia. It is interesting that Armavia was likely to rent the A320
plane of this company. The owner of Armavia Mikhail Baghdasarov
announced in a press conference on April 1 that they wanted to aid
Versand Hakobyan, the owner of the Armenian International Airlines,
and rent his only and unused plane. Baghdasarov said they wanted to
help Versand but the latter demanded a too high price, and they could
rent a better plane on the same money.

REFORMS REFER TO THE ELITE
Lragir.am
05 May 06
Today Armenia is a more democratic country than it was before its
accession to the Council of Europe, stated Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan in the conference “Council of Europe and Armenia: 5 Years of
Cooperation” on May 5. Vardan Oskanyan assured that Armenia fulfilled
all the commitments it had undertaken on accession to the Council of
Europe. “We are going through a second stage of democratization. It is
a difficult stage for it suggests reforms that are directly related
to the political elite. We must display a political will,” stated
Vardan Oskanyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE BELGIAN COMPANY REFUTED ARMAVIA
Lragir.am
06 May 06
A320 of Armavia Airlines, which crashed on May 3 during the
Yerevan-Sochi flight, has never been to Brussels, at Sebena Technics,
announced Karla Daniels, the press secretary of the Belgian company.
Karla Daniels said their specialists worked on the plane in Yerevan,
but never in Brussels. The owner of Armavia Mikhail Baghdasarov,
who assures that the plane was in good condition, announced May 4
that the plane had been taken to Belgium for maintenance.