MARGARYAN: RUSSIA’S PARTICIPATION IN IRAN-ARMENIA PIPELINE’S CONSTRUCTION “WILL NOT INFLUENCE THE PROCESS”
Regnum, Russia
June 15 2006
All questions, concerning Iran and construction of Iran-Armenia
pipeline, have been solved or are being solved, Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan stated, being interviewed by a REGNUM correspondent,
commenting on a statement of Iranian vice-ambassador to Armenia.
It is worth reminding that recently Iranian Vice-Ambassador to Armenia
Ali Akbar Jokar stated that the Iranian side had no information
about Russia’s wish to take part in construction of the pipeline. The
vice-ambassador stated that information about handing over a section
of the Iran-Armenia pipeline to Gazprom was not confirmed at meetings
with top officials.
According to Andranik Margaryan, if Russia participates in the
pipeline’s construction, “the fact will not influence the process.”
It is worth stressing that the Iranian vice-ambassador stated recently
that Armenian-Iranian treaty on construction of the pipeline was not
changed anyhow. Ali Akbar Jokar pointed out that agreement of all
parties was a necessary prerequisite of changes.

SHOWING THEIR ‘WRITE STUFF’
By Geoff Moore/ Correspondent
Lincoln Journal, MA
June 15 2006
On June 8, 13 local writers, collectively known as the Lincoln Public
Library “Write Stuff Group,” invited friends and relatives to a public
sampling of the fruits of their writing labor.
On what was an appropriate, if cliched, “dark and stormy night,”
26 people gathered in the wood-paneled Tarbell Room to hear five of
the writers read works ranging from memoir to mystery.
The depth of these talents was to the fore at the first public
reading of the group as Henry Haroian read movingly from the final
chapter of his recently completed memoir. In it he describes his
family’s harrowing and fortunate escape from the Armenian Genocide
that began in 1914 and their new life filled with hope and growth in
the United States.
Dancing Candles, a thriller by Kathy Deickler and set in an old
Victorian mansion, told of a woman’s fear, alone with an intruder
during a storm and power outage that was as chilling as the weather
conditions outside.
Of a gentler nature was the short essay from Wesley Frost recalling
the journey of a durable cast iron cider press from Vermont to Codman
Farm through 60 years of use by three owners, including Frost himself,
who also rebuilt its oak frame.
Intrigue returned with a “twist in the tail” story from Palmer
Faran. Set in an art gallery, two women discuss an abstract painting
that reminds one of them of her artist sister and her death as a
result of using poisoned finger paints.
Geoff Moore read a scene from his mystery novel, in which Scotland
Yard detective Harry Flash, on assignment to Boston Police Department,
is embroiled in a seemingly random act of road rage, which has fatal
and far-reaching consequences.
The evening ended with an inventive piece of fiction from Neil
O’Hara, describing a hedge fund manager’s ingenious, if shocking
plans to mitigate his funds losses after a terrorist attack blocks
the Panama Canal.
What inspires a group of people to come together and share their
creative thoughts and inner feelings in written form? Some are seeking
a nurturing environment for their first foray into writing for an
audience. For others, as at ease with their words as they are with
their lives, it is an extension of a love for the written word that
began a lifetime ago.
>From diverse backgrounds and with differing ambitions, these writers
have many things in common. One of them is a willingness to share
their work, be it a memoir, essay, editorial commentary, short story,
poetry or mystery novel. Another is their commitment to read each
others work, first perhaps for enjoyment, but then again as writers,
looking to provide comments on plot, style, structure, dialogue,
theme or any of the many skills that make up a good writer’s toolbox.
The Write Stuff group was established in October 2004 and is led
by Lincoln Reference Librarian Jeanne Bracken, herself a published
writer. It meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of each
month during the summer. New writers of all interests and abilities are
welcome to attend and further public readings are planned in the fall.

THE FILTHIEST 48 HOURSLIES AND DISTORTIONS THAT FILL THE MAILBOX JUST BEFORE ELECTION DAY
By David Zahniser
LA Weekly, CA
June 15 2006
Forty-eight hours before last week’s primary election, voters in the
43rd Assembly District checked their answering machines and found
the audio equivalent of a stink bomb: “What does Paul Krekorian have
in common with a convicted terrorist? Plenty,” said the man with the
pinched voice, who did not identify himself or the political entity
paying for the call. “Convicted terrorist Mourad Topalian received
an award from the Armenian National Committee and then pled guilty
to weapons and explosives charges. Now, Paul Krekorian has accepted
the endorsement of the Armenian National Committee.”
The caller explained how Krekorian – not to mention his wife, who
is also Armenian – worked with the local chapter of the American
National Committee of America to donate books to the Burbank Public
Library. Then he offered a second warning about Krekorian, who was
running for state Assembly in a district that includes Glendale and
North Hollywood: “There’s no place in our community for a group that
hands out awards to convicted terrorists. And there’s no place in
the state Assembly for Paul Krekorian.”
The written version of the Krekorian attack was even more explosive,
largely because the sender was the California Latino Leadership
Alliance, a political-action committee that spent more than $60,000
on Krekorian’s opponent, Glendale City Councilman Frank Quintero.
Suddenly, the attack was the subject of angry phone calls, press
interviews and Armenian cable news shows.
“It’s an attempt to drive a wedge between the Armenian and Latino
communities,” said Zanku Armenian, spokesman for the Western regional
office of the Armenian National Committee of America. “It’s very
unfortunate and actually disgusting that they would stoop to that
level, trying to characterize an organization that does a lot of
community service and voter outreach in that way.”
Quintero supporters were equally dismayed, saying the 11th-hour
strike inadvertently smeared their candidate, a soft-spoken man who
had spent 30 years forging ties with Armenian civic leaders. Still
others said the campaign missive had the potential to leave lasting
wounds in Glendale.
“We’ve had these underlying tensions between Latinos and Armenians
for six years, and this flier doesn’t help,” said Glendale Community
College trustee Victor King, who called the anti-Krekorian attack
“the most racially divisive” he had seen in his city in 30 years.
Krekorian defeated Quintero in last week’s Democratic primary and,
because the district is heavily Democratic, is expected to win the seat
in November. But a week after the election, none of those responsible
for the attack mail have been held to account, slipping through the
cracks of the state’s arcane campaign-finance rules.
Keep Reading
The California Latino Leadership Fund is an independent-expenditure
committee, one of the entities that bankrolled some of the most
vicious ads of the political season. By law, they may spend money
on behalf of a candidate as long as that candidate is not involved
in the effort. The California secretary of state’s Web site offers
scant information on the organizers of the leadership fund, only
listing phone numbers for the group’s treasurers, both of whom work
at the Oakland-based firm Henry C. Levy & Co. Accountant Stacy Owens
referred calls to the leadership fund’s lawyer, who did not respond to
a request for comment. While she had seen the Armenian attack mailer,
Owens had no comment on it.
“It’s not my job,” she said. “I don’t know the political atmosphere
in Glendale, and I’m not responsible for content of mailers.”
Three contributors to the leadership fund said they were asked to
contribute by Assemblyman Joe Coto, vice chairman of the California
Latino Legislative Caucus. Jose Mejia, director of the State Council
of Laborers, said his group gave $15,000 at a fund-raiser earlier
this year and was under the impression that the committee was being
funded with help from leaders of the Latino Legislative Caucus,
Coto and state Senator Martha Escutia, D-Los Angeles.
“We do get invited and make contributions to some of these groups, and
then we later find out they did something like [the attack mailer],”
Mejia said. “Or they put money into somebody that we didn’t take a
position on or even endorsed against.”
Coto did not respond to three requests for comment. Escutia said she
was not involved with the California Latino Leadership Fund, but did
attend one of its fund-raisers in the past year. Escutia, who said
she was appalled by the anti-Krekorian mailing, had no contacts for
the group and could not remember the day of the fund-raiser.
“I’m not aware of the comings and goings of independent expenditures,
of which there are so many,” she said. “You’re asking me questions
about an I.E. that I don’t have any control over.”
The California Latino Leadership Fund based its Krekorian attack
mailer on Mourad Topalian, a one-time head of the Armenian National
Committee of America who was indicted in 1999 by a grand jury in
Ohio. Topalian, who was living in the Cleveland area at the time,
was accused by federal prosecutors of participating in the 1980
bombing of the Turkish Mission in New York City. Topalian reached
an agreement with prosecutors in 2001, pleading guilty to charges of
storing illegal explosives and owning two machine guns.
At the time of his arrest, the FBI identified Topalian as a suspected
leader of the Justice Commandoes of the Armenian Genocide. Topalian
denied he was a terrorist but agreed to plead guilty to storing the
weapons, which prosecutors insisted were used in the Turkish Mission
bombing.
When the federal charges were filed, Topalian resigned from his post
at the ANC, a group described by its members as fully integrated into
the political and philanthropic life of Los Angeles and other parts
of the country. The ANC endorsed the candidacy of Los Angeles City
Councilman Eric Garcetti – whose Hollywood district includes Little
Armenia – as well as Quintero and Krekorian in various races. The head
of the ANC’s Glendale office, Steve Dadaian, served on Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s transition team.
When the terror mailer hit, Quintero posted a letter on his Web site
denouncing it. Garcetti, who had endorsed Quintero, said the Glendale
councilman was “sick to his stomach” over its contents. And King,
the Glendale-college trustee, insisted that Quintero would never have
engaged in such self-destructive behavior. “People are really upset
about this flier, but they shouldn’t be directing it at Frank Quintero,
who is innocent,” King said. “This guy is a really good guy, and if
someone like him can be smeared by this, any of us could get it.”
Krekorian responded in a different way. With 36 hours left before
the polls opened, he persuaded a handful of elected officials to
denounce the attack through a new round of automated phone calls
across the 43rd Assembly District. In Silver Lake and Los Feliz, calls
were made by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg. In Glendale and Burbank,
messages were left by state Senator Jack Scott. U.S. Representatives
Brad Sherman and Loretta Sanchez also pitched in.
With the primary election behind him, Krekorian has made little
progress in tracing the money that paid for the hit piece, finding
instead a web of campaign committees and intersecting political
relationships. “They do these things specifically to avoid
accountability,” he said.
Fund-raising reports show that the California Latino Leadership Fund
spent nearly $100,000 on behalf of state Senate candidate Lou Correa,
who prevailed Tuesday in his race against Assemblyman Tom Umberg.
Correa and Quintero relied on the same campaign consultant –
Sacramento-based Phil Giarrizzo. A third legislative candidate backed
by the Latino fund was Assembly candidate Renee Chavez of La Puente,
whose political consultant was Leo Briones, Escutia’s husband. The
Latino fund spent $42,630 on behalf of Chavez, a week after it paid
Briones $99,398 to send mailers supporting Correa.
Furthermore, the California Latino Leadership Fund found other ways
to fund Quintero’s Assembly bid. On May 10, it contributed $75,000
to the blandly titled Communities for Good Government. That group,
in turn, spent $47,797 on Quintero’s behalf.
Communities for Good Government also spent $122,788 on the candidacy
of Alhambra Councilman Dan Arguello, who ran for the state Assembly
last week against Monterey Park Councilman Mike Eng. That group was
also funded by a third committee, the Oakland-based Vote Matters,
which has the same address and treasurer as the California Latino
Leadership Fund.
An independent expenditure targeting Mike Eng in the 49th Assembly
District.
Eng, like Krekorian, found himself the target of a last-minute
mailer denounced as racially divisive. He had been seeking the
West San Gabriel Valley legislative seat being vacated by his wife,
Assemblywoman Judy Chu, who represents cities such as Monterey Park,
Alhambra and San Gabriel – communities that are predominantly Asian
and Latino.
Targeting Eng was a group identifying itself as the North-South-East
Coalition to Reform Local Government, which warned that Chu had
undermined the spirit of term limits by helping her husband. The
mailer told voters that Chu’s seat “belongs to OUR COMMUNITY,
the residents of the District.” In a much larger font, it added,
“Mike Eng. He’s not like us.”
“It’s designed to alienate the Latino, Asian and Anglo communities
from each other by saying we have nothing in common,” said Eng, who
worked in the 1980s to defuse tensions between Asian immigrants and
an angry Anglo old guard in Monterey Park.
While the anti-Eng group filed no contribution or spending reports with
the secretary of state, the California Latino Leadership Fund regularly
submitted fund-raising documents, which showed such contributions
as $295,000 from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, $50,000
from the state’s real estate agents and $25,000 from Ameriquest,
the mortgage lending company.
Chris Orlando, a spokesman for Ameriquest, refused to comment on his
company’s contribution. Mark Giberson, spokesman for the California
Real Estate Political Action Committee, referred all questions to
Coto, the assemblyman who represents part of San Jose. “[Realtors]
feel, and rightly so, that it’s the leadership of the fund that has
to comment,” Giberson said.
Sacramento-based political consultant Sandra Polka, who received
nearly $19,000 from the fund to craft the hit piece on Krekorian,
did not return calls seeking comment. Another consultant involved
with the fund also did not respond.
Ask Quintero these days about the California Latino Leadership
Fund, and he responds with another question: “You mean the group
that completely fucked up my campaign and fucked me up with all my
friends?” Quintero, after all, had to field the angry calls that came
in after the anti-Krekorian mailer hit the voters. They came as a
blow to a man who had taken pride in being called an ambassador to
his city’s Armenian community.
“How are they going to be expecting that I had nothing to do with it?
It’s unbelievable,” he said. “The campaign laws are nothing but crap.
That’s the best way to describe it.”
Photos: -hours/13782/

HOW TO RUN A NASTY CAMPAIGN
By David Zahniser
LA Weekly, CA
June 15 2006
Last week’s primary election left voters with a particularly bitter
aftertaste, and not just because of the highly toxic gubernatorial
campaign. In legislative contests across Southern California, voters
looked in their mailboxes just days before the election and found
some of the most unpleasant accusations of the campaign.
One campaign committee implied that state Assembly candidate Paul
Krekorian, an Armenian who lives in Burbank, had ties to Armenian
terrorists. A second, more shadowy group produced a viscerally
unflattering image of Assemblywoman Judy Chu, her face morphing into
the visage of her husband, who was running for her vacant seat.
But these mailings weren’t created just to make your stomach churn.
Would-be candidates of the future can learn a few things from these
mailers. Do you, gentle reader, want to run for office? And, more
importantly, do you want to take down your opponent without looking
like a jerk? A survey of attack mailers can offer a few lessons for
a candidate who wants to succeed with a good – that is, really nasty
– campaign.
1. Pray that someone else will attack your opponent. This approach
isn’t as passive-aggressive as it sounds. In California, candidates
who don’t want to ream out the opposition can sit back and nervously
wait for a supporter – you know, those independent-expenditure groups
that politicians are always complaining about – to do the dirty work
for them. In the West San Gabriel Valley, a mysterious group known
as the North-South-East Coalition to Reform Local Government warned
residents that Assembly candidate Mike Eng, a Chinese-American city
councilman in Monterey Park, is “not like us.” Voters couldn’t be
sure who “us” was, but it didn’t help, since Eng won anyway.
2. “Big” is always better. If your opponent takes campaign donations,
always assume it’s from somebody big. In the South Bay, business
leaders who favored state Senate candidate George Nakano dinged his
opponent, Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, for taking contributions from
“Big Oil.” Consumer advocates, in turn, gave Nakano hell for taking
money from “Big Tobacco.” (Oropeza won.) Once again, neither candidate
wrote or paid for those pieces, leaving the unsavory attacks up to
their supporters. And, of course, such independent-expenditure groups
always keep their distance from the campaigns of their candidates,
as required by law. No, seriously.
Going negative early: George Nakano got schooled by Jenny Oropeza
3. Let the family twist the knife. Why look angry when there’s an
indignant spouse on hand? Nakano, for example, relied on his wife
to tell voters that Oropeza had distorted his voting record. In an
oversize letter to the electorate, Helen Nakano said her husband
couldn’t have voted on a sensitive environmental issue highlighted by
Oropeza since he was in a hospital recovering from prostate cancer
on the day of the vote. “As a cancer survivor herself, I don’t know
why Jenny Oropeza would lie about my husband’s vote,” said Helen,
whose poison pen then also implied that Oropeza had been a bit eager
to trumpet her own bout with cancer to the media. Up in Glendale,
the wife of Assembly candidate Frank Quintero made a similar pitch,
saying her husband had been unduly slimed by Democratic opponent Paul
Krekorian. “I knew this race would be tough… but I never thought
our opponents could sink so low,” wrote Jani Quintero. Krekorian did
indeed send issue-negative ads, but Jani declined to tell voters what
they were.
4. Rely on your friendship network. Okay, so you have no way to pay
for your own negative mail, and there’s not a spouse on hand to help.
That still doesn’t mean you have to look negative! State Assembly
candidate Kevin de Leon found four union leaders who looked especially
grumpy over his opponent, union organizer Christine Chavez. The union
leaders badmouthed Chavez, ironically, for refusing to sign a de Leon
campaign pledge against negative campaigns. After slamming Chavez
for failing to vote in the 2000 election, the union leaders reminded
voters to say “YES to Kevin de Leon and his positive campaign for
the future of California.” The reality was, Chavez had not sent any
hit pieces. But de Leon, who won by 20 points, said on Election Day
that he sent the piece because Chavez had authorized a telephone poll
accusing him of mistreating avocado pickers.
Kevin de Leon, in an ironic twist, criticized Christine Chavez for
not signing his positive-campaign pledge.
Barry Groveman’s attack on Jonathan Levy in the 41st Assembly District
5. Find a zippy symbol to demonize your opponent. Teacher and peace
activist Marcy Winograd zeroed in on a piece of jewelry during
her long-shot campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Jane Harman, a
Democrat running for reelection in a coastal district stretching from
Marina del Rey south to San Pedro. The bling in question was a brooch,
featured prominently on Harman’s lapel, of a B-2 bomber. The bomber
lapel pin neatly established Harman as a little too willing to march
into President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq. Farther up the coast,
Calabasas Councilman Barry Groveman skewered attorney Jonathan Levey
over one of his former law firm’s clients: Philip Morris.
Groveman sent out mailers with Levey’s face, looking slightly demented,
superimposed on individual cigarettes inside a case titled “Jonathan
Levey Extra Lights.” Groveman and Levey canceled each other out,
sending school-board member Julia Brownley to the state Assembly.
o-run-a-nasty-campaign/13783/

TEYMOURIAN IS FIRST NON-MUSLIM PLAYER ON IRAN SINCE ’78
AP
Persian Journal, Iran
June 15 2006
Many soccer players have a habit of routinely crossing themselves as
they emerge onto the field for a World Cup match.
But Anderanik Teymourian is different.
His simple gesture has amazed television viewers around the world
because Teymourian plays on the national team of Iran, one of most
thoroughly Islamic nations in the world.
Teymourian is a member of Iran’s tiny Armenian minority, part of
an Orthodox Christian presence dating back to biblical times. About
200,000 Armenians currently live in Iran, mostly in Tehran and other
towns of the northwest.
Although Iran is an Islamic theocratic state, Christianity and other
non-Muslim religions are not banned as in other strictly fundamentalist
states such as Saudi Arabia.
“I’m the first Christian Iranian player in the World Cup since 1978,”
Teymourian said.
The last non-Muslim player on the national team was defender Andranik
Eskandarian in 1978. He now lives in the United States.
The gangly, 22-year old midfielder, who is seen as one of the great
hopes of Iranian soccer, plays for the Aboo Muslim club from Tehran.
He also has played for Iran at every youth level so far before being
drafted to the national squad by coach Branko Ivankovic.
“He is a wonderful player. Very serious, very committed, I can rely
on him to fulfill any task,” Ivankovic said. “He will definitely play
a big role on the national team for many years to come.”
Teymourian says he gets along very well with his teammates, and that
religious differences don’t affect their relations on the field or
on a personal level.
“I am very happy that as a Christian I am playing for a Muslim team,”
he said. “I will put all my abilities at the disposal of the nation
and the team.”
He said that normally he regularly attends church in Tehran.
“But it’s been impossible to get out of the camp in Germany because
of security, so I haven’t been able to do so here.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
06/14/2006
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) UNESCO Requests Removal of Documents from Ottoman Exhibit 2) Oskanian and Sarkisian Participate in North Atlantic Council And Armenia Meeting 3) Toronto Banquet Raises $300,000 for Armenia Fund 4) ARF Has New Parliament Member 5) Turkish Press Says Turkey is Cyprus~R ~QToy~R in EU Talks 6) New Minister Alarmed by Declining Education Standards 1) UNESCO Requests Removal of Documents from Ottoman Exhibit ISTANBUL (Combined Sources)Turkey pulled out of a Paris exhibit of Ottoman archives last week, when organizers requested the removal of five questionable submissions made by the Turkish Government. Before the exhibit, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which organized the exhibit, requested that five items be removed and two subject to changes. Turkey initially agreed to the request, but later decided to not partake in the exhibit. One of the documents in question is a letter said to be written by the heads of Armenian organizations praising the Ottoman Government, and especially the Sultan, for its treatment of the Armenian people. The letter, which is dated 1898, also says that its writers pledge their loyalty to the Ottoman Empire, despite the actions of [khankarich]s, because of the great pride they have in being Ottoman citizens. UNESCO~Rs request that this and other similar documents be removed from the archival exhibit prompted harsh reaction from nationalist circles in Turkey. Calling the events "a shame," Turkish Institute of History (TTK) President Professor Yusuf Halacoglu said, "Turkey acted in good faith to solve the Armenian genocide. The cases never refer to science or honesty anymore. There are some letters, which Armenians forwarded to the Ottoman Empire from America and Canada, to ask for help. We are face to face with such a big shame." 2) Oskanian and Sarkisian Participate in North Atlantic Council And Armenia Meeting YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian participated Wednesday in the North Atlantic Council and Armenia meeting, during which they discussed Armenia~Rs Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) program with NATO based on the introductory evaluation of NATO delegation. Oskanian and Sarkisian presented reports at the meeting in which they referred to the issues on boosting Armenia-NATO cooperation and implementation of the IPAP. The reports of the ministers were followed by the speeches of ambassadors of North-Atlantic Council~Rs member countries in which they assessed the Armenia~Rs progress in the implementation of the program. Special Representative of NATO~Rs Secretary General to the South Caucasus Robert Simmons said in an interview after the meeting that the introductory report on Armenia~Rs IPAP with NATO is positive. According to him, the complete assessment of Armenia~Rs IPAP with NATO will be given next spring. Sarkisian said he was pleased with the positive results of the report, which detailed the pace of Armenia~Rs Individual Partnership Action Plan implementation. Oskanian described the meeting as useful. 3) Toronto Banquet Raises $300,000 for Armenia Fund Around 500 community members, members of the clergy, local and Canadian officials came together Sunday for a banquet at the AGBU Alec Manougian Center in Toronto, Canada, to raise $300,000 for the Armenia Fund. During Sunday~Rs banquet, Treasurer of the Armenia Fund, Ara Boyadian, presented a report to those present about Armenia Fund~Rs projects in Karabagh~Rs village of Madaghis, which the donated money will help to support. The school in Madaghis, a three story building with eleven classrooms, a computer room, library, and auditorium, will be completed in time for the upcoming school year in September. Boyajian also noted that the Toronto Armenian community has raised 2 million dollars for the Armenia Fund. Representing Prime Minster Stephen Harper, Jason Kenny took the podium to speak about the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Canadian Government and read a special message from Harper to the Armenia Fund. The keynote speaker of the evening, Baroness Caroline Cox, spoke about the freedom loving spirit of Karabagh~Rs people and its right to self determination. She said that the people of Karabagh have the right to live freely and independently in their homeland. Baroness Cox also brought up the state of Karabagh~Rs dire need of monetary and moral support. In light of her support of Karabagh and its people, the Armenia Fund committee of Toronto decided to name the new school after Baroness Cox, said the Master of Ceremonies Vahan Kololian. 4) ARF Has New Parliament Member YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenia~Rs central election commission registered Wednesday Spartak Seyranian as a new Member of Parliament. Spartak Seyranian, Editor-in-Chief of Yerkir Weekly and member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), replaced Levon Mkrtchian who was appointed education and science minister. 5) Turkish Press Says Turkey is Cyprus~R ~QToy~R in EU Talks ANKARA (AFP)--Turkey has turned into a ~Stoy~T for Cyprus as it strives for European Union membership, the Turkish press has said one day after the stormy start of Ankara's detailed entry talks with the EU. "A rough start," wrote the left-leaning Cumhuriyet, referring to the talks, whose beginning was delayed by objections from the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot Government. Cyprus wanted Turkey to recognize it as a state and open its ports to Cypriot ships and planes--EU demands Ankara has yet to meet--before the talks begin. The EU's Austrian Presidency clinched a last-minute deal at a Foreign Ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, narrowly avoiding a new crisis for the bloc. Several commentators harshly criticized both Cyprus for its stance and Turkey for putting up with it. "Turkey has turned into a toy for a country of a few hundred thousand people," said a commentator Tuesday in the mass-circulation Hurriyet, calling on Ankara to end the "mascarade." Many newspapers stressed that Turkey would continue to face veto threats from the Cypriot Government as the EU votes on the opening and closing of each of the 35 detailed policy chapters to be negotiated, plus a final vote when all the chapters are completed. "At least 69 more crises to go with Europe," headlined the liberal Radikal. "Cyprus will continue to be capricious on the political front until the last minute... [inflicting] Chinese torture" on Ankara, a commentator in Milliyet, another liberal daily, wrote, calling for action from Brussels. "The EU should either stop the Cypriot administration from acting capriciously whenever and wherever it wants, or should change its rule for a unanimous vote in order to get work done," he said. 6) New Minister Alarmed by Declining Education Standards YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The newly appointed Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian pledged on Tuesday to embark on a sweeping reform of Armenia~Rs education sector to reverse what he described as an alarming post-Soviet decline in education standards. ~SThere is a clear decline in our education sector,~T admitted Mkrtchian. ~SArmenia is gradually losing its high level of education. We used to compare ourselves with European countries but are now being compared to Central Asia.~T ~SIf we continue to move down this path, I am sure that we will lose the remaining quality of our education system,~T he said. Mkrtchian, who had already served as education minister in 1998-1999 and 2001-2003, acknowledged that he has also been responsible for the ongoing erosion of that quality. It is widely attributed to a lack of government funds channeled into education as well as the resulting lack of motivation among schoolteachers and university professors. Bribery and nepotism is also seen as a serious problem facing the sector. Government officials have said that Armenia~Rs ongoing transition to 12-year primary and secondary schooling, supported by Western donors, will help to reverse this trend. But according to Mkrtchian, that reform alone will not improve the situation unless it is accompanied by a ~Sradical revision~T of school curricula. The minister, who is a leading member of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation, also pledged to crack down on dozens of private universities where education standards leave much to be desired. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

EVICTED RESIDENTS THREATEN
A1+
[08:20 pm] 14 June, 2006
“Thieves, robbers…” These were the cries of the residents of the
North and Main Avenues, the Koghbatsi street, the Dalma gardens, as
well as the representatives of the “Justice” bloc and the Communist
party who organized a rally of complaint in the yard of the National
Assembly.
The people holding posters which said “Deputies, include the issue of
the Dalma gardens into the agenda”, “The 10% you took was illegal”,
“We are not selling our houses” demanded the deputies to discussed
their problems. They intended to meet the Prime Minister who was to
come to the National Assembly.
“After the decision of the Constitutional Court the evictions still
continue. If the problem is not solved, we will demand change of
authorities,” said Vachagan Hakobyan, the president of the Committee
of protection of the North Avenue residents.
There were as many policemen opposite the Parliament building as
participants of the rally. Nevertheless, there were not incidents
between them. None of the Government members paid any attention to
the people.
Gegham Babayan, the secretary of the People’s Party regional
organization of Kentron community, had also come to support the
citizens. He said, “They have applied to us, and it is our duty to
help them.”
By the way, the representatives of the opposition informed that
they support the people outside, and inside the Parliament Stepan
Demirchyan and the other members o the Justice faction are to raise
the issue of the evicted citizens.

CENTRAL ASIA – CAUCASUS ANALYST
Wednesday / June 14, 2006
ARMENIA’S RULING COALITION UNRAVELS
Grigor Hakobyan Last month, beset by numerous defections of a number of
deputies from the Orinats Yerkir (Law-Governed Country) faction and
mounting differences between Orinats Yerkir and its coalition partners,
the speaker of Armenian Parliament, Artur Baghdasaryan, resigned from
his position. The change in Armenia’s ruling coalition underscored the
immaturity of many political forces in Armenia and created a new
political reality in the country that may also have certain implications
for the foreign policy of Armenia in the region. BACKGROUND: On May
29th, Artur Baghdasaryan officially relinquished his position as the
Chairman of National Assembly of Armenia. His resignation was caused by
growing differences between his party and the presidential
administration, as well as its partners in the coalition, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Republican Party of
Armenia. To some external political observers, the history of
disagreements between the outspoken Chair of National Assembly, often
accused by his opponents for engaging in populism, began last year. At
the time, Artur Baghdasaryan accused the ruling government of engaging
in voting irregularities on the eve of the constitutional referendum in
Armenia and forwarded a list of recorded cases of alleged voting
misconduct to the Supreme Court for review.
The tensions between him and the member coalition partners, as well as
the presidential administration, continued to increase when he further
ventured into the foreign policy field and began making statements on
various issues pertaining to Armenian-Russian, Armenian-NATO and
Armenian-Turkish relations. Specifically, he advocated the pursuit of
NATO membership for Armenia, retaliatory actions toward Russia for their
decision to raise gas prices for Armenia by charging the difference in
gas prices for the hosting of Russian military base in the country. The
last straw for Baghdasaryan’s career in the ruling administration came
after he made calls for reviewing the 2001-2003 privatization decisions,
due to various fraudulent tenders that he alleged had occurred during
the implementation of the controversial privatization program.
IMPLICATIONS: Baghdasaryan’s active advocacy with a view to scrutinizing
the country’s recent privatization program caused discontent among many
of his party’s business elite, who benefited from the above-mentioned
privatization program and saw their positions endangered from their
association with the ever more vocal Baghdasaryan, whose criticism of
the ruling administration failed to subside. The defection of nearly a
dozen of parliamentarians associated with Orinats Yerkir resulted in the
decline of the party’s faction in the Armenian National Assembly and
undermined the party’s role in the coalition government. That also
showed the main weakness of the party, which was the lack of a unique
political vision that would attract people regardless of whether the
party is a part of the ruling government or the opposition.
Artur Baghdasaryan was considered the most outspoken politician
advocating NATO membership for Armenia, as well as rapid integration
into European political structures. His pro-European views earned him
the title of `The Best European of the Year’. Very often, he was
perceived by various political observers as the most likely candidate to
earn the largest number of votes in the next presidential elections.
However, his subsequent demise and the party’s positioning as an
opposition force toward the current authorities, coupled with the
desertion of many wealthy businessmen that provided financial backing
for the party, may seriously undermine his chances to win the upcoming
presidential elections in 2008. Very few wealthy businessmen would ever
consider to back a political opposition force, thus undermining their
own access to the ruling administration which provided them with the
opportunity to prosper in the first place.
The Orinats Yerkir party’s past membership in the ruling coalition does
not attract make it appealing to the current opposition forces in
Armenia either, as many of the opposition forces view the transition of
Orinats Yerkir from party of power into a party in opposition as another
calculated political move by the presidential administration of Armenia
to further split the less than cohesive opposition. Meanwhile, other
opposition forces consider the sudden move of Orinats Yerkir party into
the opposition camp as a calculated pre-election move on behalf of
Baghdasaryan, designed to further his personal ambitions by first
distancing himself from the ruling administration and secondly creating
a momentum to recreate himself for the purpose of enlarging his
electorate and creating an opportunity to pick up additional votes from
a portion of Armenian voters who would otherwise have voted for a
mainstream opposition candidate.
Another factor to consider is the potential for the remaining parties in
power, the Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutiun), if successful in the upcoming parliamentary
elections, to eventually play a decisive role in speeding up the
realignment of political forces in Armenia by consolidating them into a
more cohesive and clear-cut political spectrum where a line between
liberal and conservative ideologists would be easier to distinguish. The
amorphous political situation in Armenia has created a situation where
most political parties lack a clear political vision. They mostly feed
off empty rhetoric, and their would-be members rally around specific
personalities and not specific policies. Parties may pride themselves by
the number of their party memberships, yet this only increases or
decreases depending on whether the party in question is in power or in
opposition and not by any tangible accomplishments for the benefit of
the people. Clearly, this situation is not sustainable.
CONCLUSIONS:The transition of the Orinats Yerkir from a party in power
to a party in opposition was long anticipated, as the disagreements
within the ruling coalition became more transparent after the passage of
the Constitutional Referendum in Armenia. The controversies over voting
irregularities during the Constitutional Referendum, differences over
the country’s foreign policies, and the common belief among the two
junior partners of the government led by the Republican Party of Armenia
` that is Orinats Yerkir and the ARF ` that they were cheated out of
votes during the parliamentary elections could not but undermine the
effective work of the coalition government. Indeed, Orinats Yerkir is
not the only disgruntled party: the continuous tension between the ARF
and the Republican Party could further split the ruling coalition by
resulting in the exodus of another party from the coalition government.
As Armenia’s parliamentary elections of 2007 are fast approaching, it is
expected that further splits, consolidations and the introduction of new
political parties in the nation’s political life will continue to occur.
As a number of well-known oligarchs and government officials rush to
create new political parties to vie for the laurels of power,
strengthening their own positions and advancing their personal agendas,
the common electorate will continue to feel ostracized and further
disfranchised from the entire political process. The situation will
change only if and when people realize that their votes do really matter
and that they do have a power to a make a difference in the life of
their country.
AUTHOR’S BIO: Grigor Hakobyan is a freelance writer based in the U.S.
East Coast.
cleid=4284&SMSESSION=NO

KOCHARYAN SATISFIED WITH CURRENT LEVEL OF ARMENIAN-SWISS RELATIONS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 13 2006
YEREVAN, June 13. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is
satisfied with the current level of the Armenian-Swiss relations. The
press service of the Armenian president reported that Kocharian
reported this during his meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline
Calmy-Rey.
Kocharian highly appreciated that assistance rendered by Switzerland
with the current reforms in Armenia, and pointed out the country’s
inclusion in the Agency for Development and Cooperation.
In its turn, the foreign ministry of Switzerland stated that the
country closely watches the processes in South Caucasus, showing
especial interest in the problems of stability, security and migration.
According to Switzerland, Armenia enjoys a big “capital of sympathy”
in this country, as well as thanks to the Swiss Armenians.
At the same time, both sides pointed out that the indicators of the
bilateral economic relations are rather inconsiderable. They emphasized
the need in a more systematized cooperation.
In this relation, they stressed the importance on the agreement on
exclusion of double taxation signed the day before, and on the economic
forum currently held in Zurich and the bilateral business contacts.
The President of Armenia and the Swiss Foreign Minister also
highly appreciated the two countries’ cooperation at international
organizations.

DONALD KNUTH: ARMENIA HAS POTENTIAL FOR IT DEVELOPMENT
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 13 2006
YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. Armenia has necessary potential for
developing its IT sector, Donald Knuth, Professor Emeritus, Stanford
University, USA, told reporters.
He welcomed the fact that this sector is considered a priority of
economic development by the Armenian Government.
He pointed out the pleasant fact that programming is valued in Armenia
as much as such classical sciences as mathematics and physics.
Professor Knuth added that the title of Honorary Doctor of the
Armenian National Academy of Sciences is a great honor for him as a
representative of a young science.
Professor Knuth is the authors of numerous works. He is on a visit
to Armenia at the invitation of the RA Academy of Sciences, Yerevan
State University and State Engineering University of Armenia.