ARMENIA: “PARTICIPATING IS THE FIRST STEP”
ScubaWeb, Italy
April 26 2006
This is the first participation in the French Olympique Week for
Armenia. The youngest “ISAF” nation, Armenia was affiliated in 1995.
In Hyères 3 boats are representing this new independent country
(independence in 1991): two Lasers and a 470 Men helmed by Michel
Zakarian, Olympic Sailing Team Manager and technical director. French
from Armenian origins, Zakarian is sailing since 1974. Since 1999 he
has set his goal on developing sailing in Armenia. “The affiliation
at ISAF was a first step. The Armenian President gave 2000 sq m of
land on the shore of Lake Cevan to build the Sailing centre. We have
2 main objectives, developing a sailing team who can represent Armenia
at International competitions and also to develop sailing as a sport in
Armenia. There are only 3 main Olympic sports: Wrestling, Weightlifting
and Boxing. Lots of work needs to be done and can not be achieved
without international help. We need to find a partner to build our
centre, find second hand equipment…There is still a lot to achieve
but for us the important step is to be there and to participate.”
–Boundary_(ID_NOW78GPLX2VKj4VSIehh Hg)–

US AND AZERI PRESIDENTS TO SPEAK OF NK PROBLEM AND IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM – NOVRUZ MAMEDOV, PRESIDENT’S ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL
Author: R. Abdullayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 26 2006
The main themes of meetings between the Presidents of Azerbaijan
and the USA will be Nagorno-Karabakh problem and Iranian nuclear
program, Trend reports with reference to the interview Novruz Mamedov,
head of foreign relations with President’s Administration, gave to
Turkish Zaman.
“In the course of the meeting the sides will speak on four main
themes: bilateral relations, power engineering, regional security and
international terrorism. However, the top issues of the day will be
Armenian-Azeri conflict and Iranian nuclear program”, – Mamedov said.
Mamedov said official Baku is suggesting the nuclear matter relieve
within UN and IAEA. “Azerbaijan has problems enough in the region to
interrupt Iran’s internal affairs”, – Azeri official said, adding
official Baku is always speaking in support of peaceful resolution
of Iran conflict.
Alongside, he said despite Azerbaijan’s policy of mutual respect and
good-neighbor relations, Iran is adhering to pro-Armenian positions
in some respect
Mamedov also opined on Washington’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh
problem. “The US usually react immediately to problems in other
countries. We would love such sensitivity to take place in respect
of Azerbaijan”, – he stated.

AZERI AIDE HOPES FOR US PRESSURE ON ARMENIA
ANS TV, Baku
26 Apr 06
[Presenter] We hope and expect that the USA will exert pressure
on Armenia in the Nagornyy Karabakh issue, the head of the
public-political department of the Azerbaijani presidential
administration, Ali Hasanov, has said.
[Ali Hasanov] We have hopes. You know that the USA is a co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group dealing with the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. We not
only hope, but also expect the USA and the other co-chairs to increase
its pressure on the Armenian authorities, support the intensification
of peace talks on the basis of international law and persuade them
[Armenia] to take a constructive position. In any case, we expect
and hope for this.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE: UNFINISHED BUT ALREADY IN GAZPROM’S SIGHTS
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
April 26 2006
The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanian is not
ruling out the sale of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline to Russia,
he stated in Yerevan on April 20.
Although he added that, “talking of the fate of the gas pipeline is
ridiculous because it has yet to be constructed.” Oskanian thinks
that it would be more logical if there is a discussion about who
will invest in the construction of this state asset as they could
then become the owner the newspaper Rezonansi reports.
The Armenian Minister of Energy Armen Movsisian stated that the
construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline has not been finished
yet and accordingly it is not a corporate enterprise of which shares
can be sold.
However the Armenian Ex-Premier Vazgen Manukian once mentioned that
a 45 kilometer part of the pipeline had already been sold, although
Armenian governmental representatives rejecting the claim that they
are planning to sell the pipeline to Russian Gazprom.
On April 6, 2006 Gazprom published information about a 25 year-term
agreement, which had been drawn up and signed between Armenia
and Gazprom. According to one of the articles of the agreement,
the Armenian side takes responsibility for the sale of the 40
kilometer-long segment of the Iran-Armenia pipeline, which is currently
under construction as well as the 5th energy unit of Hrazdan Thermal
Power Station to the joint company ArmRosgasprom, Regnum reports.
Later, however, Gazprom spread a new round of information in which
nothing was mentioned about the gas pipeline.
The total length of the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia pipeline
is 141 kilometers. The price of the project totals some USD 120
million and the pipeline’s construction should be completed by 2007.

AZERI OFFICIAL SAYS IRAN’S THREATS TO ATTACK MAJOR OIL PIPELINE “NOT SERIOUS”
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
25 Apr 06
[Presenter] Iran still believes that US special services are using
Azerbaijani territories to carry out operations against Iran. Baku
regards Iran’s concerns as groundless and not serious.
[Correspondent] If the USA uses Azerbaijani territory to carry
out military action against Iran, Iran will launch strikes on the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline [BTC] and destroy it, the secretary
of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, has
said. Tehran is seriously worried that the US special services are
currently using Azerbaijani territory against Iran, he said. Baku
regards the statement by the Iranian security chief as not serious.
[Novruz Mammadov, captioned as head of foreign relations department
at the presidential administration] It will not attack and it cannot
attack. There is no need to say more on this. These statements are
not serious and do not need to be commented on.
[Correspondent] Despite Iran’s threats, Kazakhstan is also going to
join the BTC. The president of the State Oil Company [of Azerbaijan;
SOCAR], Rovnaq Abdullayev, has said that an intergovernmental
commission is currently working on this issue and that this issue
will also be on the agenda of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev’s
Washington meetings. The SOCAR president also commented on threats
to the BTC.
[Rovnaq Abdullayev] There is no need for any additional talks on the
BTC. The BTC is to be completed by the end of May and the first oil
will be loaded on tankers.
[Correspondent] Novruz Mammadov said that in any case, Azerbaijan’s
position is of great importance to Washington in the US policy on
Iran. From this viewpoint, serious discussions will be held during
Ilham Aliyev’s trip to the USA. In return, Azerbaijan will ask
Washington to demonstrate firmness in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
[Novruz Mammadov] The United States, as a mediator, should finally
demonstrate that it is earnestly interested in the settlement of
this conflict and wants to take important steps to that effect. We
expect, and I believe, that the United States must take a step in
that direction. This will bring great dividends to the USA’s authority
and will also finally establish stability and security in the region.
[Passage omitted: communications projects to be discussed in
Washington; list of US officials scheduled to meet Ilham Aliyev]

ABOLITION OF ROAD TAX AIMED AT PROMOTING BUSINESS TIES WITH ARMENIA
By Christina Tashkevich
The Messenger, Georgia
April 26 2006
Georgian and Armenian ministers agree that their countries economic
potential remains unrealized.
Armenian-bound vehicles will soon no longer be required to pay an
entry tax at the border.
All types of transport entering Armenia from Georgia will no longer
have to pay a tax, the countries agreed.
Previously, owners of public and cargo vehicles needed to pay between
USD 200-280, while owners of other cars USD 18-20 to pass from Georgian
territory to Armenia.
The Minister of Economic Development Irakli Chogovadze and the Armenian
Minister of Transport Andranik Manukian signed an agreement Tuesday
abolishing this border tax dubbing it an “impulse” for business
development.
Manukian said that the Armenian government decided to abolish the tax
after Georgia abolished its taxes on transport entering its territory
from every country it borders starting in January 2006.
Minister Chogovadze noted Tuesday that all barriers which exist
for businesses should be eliminated, calling the road tax one such
barrier. “Everything that hinders business is bad, and the elimination
of these barriers will be an impulse for businesses,” he said.
Manukian added that transport communications contribute to the
development of business and the country’s overall economy. “Everyone
was eagerly awaiting this decision and such agreements always lead
to better things,” he said Tuesday.
The agreement will be enforced after the parliaments of both countries
ratify it.
Minister Chogovadze noted that the two countries have a great potential
for economic relations, much of which stands unrealized.
The development of Georgian-Armenian relations will be further
intensified after representatives from the two countries participate
in a business forum this June, Minister Chogovadze said.

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA VALDAS ADAMKUS IN PARLIAMENT
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 26 2006
On April 25 in the National Assembly the delegation headed by Valdas
Adamkus, President of the Republic of Lithuania being in Armenia on an
official visit, met Tigran Torosyan, NA Vice President, Chairpersons
of the Standing Committees, representatives of factions-grouping. The
meeting attended Davit Harutyunyan, Minister of Justice and the
ambassadors of two countries.
Welcoming the guests Tigran Torosyan, NA Vice President, expressed
conviction that the visit will boost the high level relationship
existing between two countries and thanked the Lithuanian Parliament
on the occasion of the adoption of the resolution on the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. Both sides highlighted the cooperation
of the Baltic three republics and South Caucasus three republics
with 3+3 format, as well as the cooperation of the parliaments and
parliamentary groups of two countries, emphasized the necessity of
the activeness of bilateral relations. Mr. Torosyan touched upon the
importance of the Lithuanian experience for Armenia in the processes
of Euro integration, especially within the framework of the European
New Neighbourhood programme and highly estimated the experience of
Lithuania in the aspect of integration into Europe and cooperation
with international different formats. It was considered necessary to
activate the partnership in the sphere of economy.
Valdas Adamkus, President of the Republic of Lithuania, considering
excellent the present level of the relationship of two countries,
highlighted the development of the relations between the parliaments,
at the same time considering necessary the deepening of international
partnership, especially in the European structures. Soon a
parliamentary friendship group with Armenia will be established in the
Lithuanian Parliament. It was noted that as a new member country of
the European Union, Lithuania is interested in the policy pursued by EU
neighbour countries, the situation in the South Caucasus region. It was
noted that within the framework EU-New Neighbourhood the cooperation
would be of more practical nature. The activation of the partnership in
the spheres of economy, science, education and culture was highlighted.
At the end of the meeting Valdas Admakus, President of the Republic
of Lithuania, wrote down in the book of honourable guests.

VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATED IN CIS COUNTRIES AND EUROPE
Regnum, Russia
April 26 2006
On April 24, event in memory of the 91st anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide took place in the yard of the Protection of the Virgin
Church in Kiev near memorial stone, which is evidence of Armenian
Church’s existence here in 15th century. Priest of Ukrainian Eparchy
of Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) Ter-Hovhannes recited the memorial
liturgy. Events took place in Odessa too.
A mourning ceremony took place in Minsk, at which Patriarch of
Byelorussia Philaret, Armenian ambassador, representatives of Armenian
community at Saint Alexander Nevsky Church were present. The gathered
persons honored the memory of innocently died victims, keeping minute
of silence. Head of AAC Russian and New Nakhichevan Eparchy Bishop
Ezras Nersisyan recited the liturgy in memory of 1.5 millions of
innocently murdered Armenians. Protest action was held near Turkish
Embassy in Moscow, as well as various events in different places,
including film demonstrations, concert, etc.
About 150 representatives of Armenian non-governmental organizations
held peaceful meeting near building of Turkish embassy in Tbilisi;
a REGNUM correspondent was informed at Armenian Foreign Ministry.
Mourning actions also took place in Akhaltsikhe, Akhalkalaki,
Ninotsminde, and Batumi. Adjarian Republican TV-Channel broadcasted
Ararat film of Atom Egoyan. Similar actions were also conducted in
Romania, Strasbourg, London, Poland, and Iran.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE OUTSIDER: HAKOB AND ARMENIAN ILLUMINATION
Sam Fogg
Indepth Arts News
Absolutearts.com
April 26 2006
London, UK United Kingdom
Following the success of the first selling exhibition of Armenian art
staged by the gallery in 2004, Sam Fogg is delighted to present an
exhibition of a major Armenian manuscript which will be accompanied by
a groundbreaking publication. Entitled The Outsider: Hakob and Armenian
Illumination, the exhibition will display the Gospels illuminated
by Hakob Jughayets’i, the most celebrated Armenian illuminator of
the 16th century, at Sam Fogg, 15d Clifford Street, London W1, from
Tuesday 25 April to Tuesday 16 May 2006. The manuscript once belonged
to the celebrated collector and diplomat Jean Pozzi (1884-1967).
The Pozzi Gospels, completed by Hakob Jughayets’i in the winter
of 1586, includes an extraordinary series of portraits, narrative
miniatures and marginal figures. The manuscript contains narrative
cycles drawn from the Old Testament and the Gospels, the evangelists
and paired images of Christ and the Virgin. In the colophon, Hakob
explains that he copied and illuminated the manuscript under the
protection of a church in the city of Keghi (modern Kigi, fifty
miles south-west of Erzerum). At the time he was itinerant and,
when passing through Erzerum on his way to Istanbul, Hakob records
that he had met a priest, Astuatsatur, who invited him to travel back
to Keghi. With a humility born of convention as much as conviction,
Hakob describes himself as ‘the most useless of the servants of God’
and the ‘false-living deacon of Jugha’. He remarks that the book
was completed at ‘a bitter time’, again a familiar expression found
in many colophons. In this instance, however, he could be referring
to the war that raged between the Safavid and Ottoman empires across
Armenia during the 1580s, or to his precarious personal circumstances
and the harshness of winter. Hakob’s sparkling, vibrant palette,
expressive wide-eyed figures, and iconographic inventiveness are at
their most distinctive in this early phase of his career.
>From antiquity, Armenian history can be seen in terms of periods of
independence interleaved with longer spells under the dominion of
neighbouring powers. Throughout these centuries, Armenian cultural
traditions proved both resilient and distinctive. If Armenia is
one of the least understood regions of the Christian Orient, late
medieval and early modern Armenia remains one of the least studied
periods. Hakob’s illuminated manuscripts reveal that Armenian art
cannot be explained simply as a fusion of artistic influences from
its powerful neighbours and conquerors but needs to be recognised as
a separate tradition and assessed on its own terms.
The study of this manuscript for this exhibition has resulted in a
groundbreaking publication on Hakob’s life and career. Researched and
written by Dr Timothy Greenwood and Dr Edda Vardanyan, and published
by Paul Holberton, Hakob’s Gospels: The Life and Work of an Armenian
Artist of the Sixteenth Century is the first monograph to trace
Hakob’s development in Armenia in the 1580s to his later works in
Safavid Persia, at Isfahan, in 1607 and 1610. In the Pozzi Gospels,
completed in 1586, Hakob is experimenting with subjects and styles.
Through comparison with Gospels dated 1585 and 1587, this Gospel
book seems to mark an important moment of transition, when he moved
away from the influence of his teacher, bishop Zak’aria Gnuneants’,
and began to develop his own repertoire, drawing on images of the
divine from the Far East and on western European traditions.
Using the nine manuscripts written and illuminated by Hakob,
all of which include informative colophons, Dr Tim Greenwood
and Dr Edda Vardanyan construct Hakob’s biography, explore his
artistic development, and evaluate his career within the context of
late 16th-century Armenian politics, culture and devotion. Richly
illustrated with reproductions of miniatures produced at every stage
of his career, this study reveals the singular artistic vision of
Hakob himself and the dynamism of contemporary Armenian illumination.
In addition to this splendid manuscript, the exhibition will also
present a selection of Armenian manuscripts and bookbindings,
woodcarvings and icons, dating from the 12th to the 18th centuries,
all of which will be for sale.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BUSH DECLARES ARMENIAN MASSACRE ‘TRAGEDY’
ISN, Switzerland
April 26 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 26 April 2006: 02.50 CET) – In a White
House announcement for the 91st anniversary of the 1915 massacre
of Armenians under Ottoman rule, US President George W. Bush has
described the event as a “tragedy” rather than “genocide”.
The Armenian diaspora in the US, which had demanded that Washington
declare the event a “genocide”, expressed severe disappointment over
Bush’s message.
More than one million Armenians died in massacres, camps, and death
marches through the Syrian Desert during 1915 when they were forced
to leave their homes. Turkey refutes these allegations and advocates
the deaths were caused by difficult road and weather conditions during
the migration.
Armenians say at least 1 million of their ethnic kin died between
1915-17 as a result of a deliberate policy of extermination. Ankara
claims the death toll is grossly inflated and that 300’000 Armenians
died during these years.