50 MILLION FOR THIS YEAR’S ‘GOLDEN APRICOT’
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
08/06/2006
The Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs has allocated 50 million AMD
for the “Golden Apricot” International Film Festival. This sum is more
than that of last year by 50 percent and two years ago the festival
got only 3 million. Deputy culture minister, Karine Khodiakian,
says that such events are important insofar as they enable us to go
beyond our national boundaries to see what others have and compare
local productions with foreign ones.
Foundation of Filmmakers Without Borders international organization
will open doors for new events within the frameworks the “Golden
Apricot”. Susana Harutyunian, art director of “Golden Apricot”, said
yesterday that a two-day discussion this year will draw film workers
from 20 states.
Organizers note that to hold such festivals one needs 300 thousand
USD. The festival is important not only for presenting Armenian film
industry to our neighbors and communicating with foreign filmmakers but
also for creation of a film library of movies shown at the festival.

WE SHALL WIN PEACE ONE DAY
A1+
[06:14 pm] 07 June, 2006
“First the Armenian side agreed to the offer of the CE according to
which the Armenian armed forces were to leave the Azeri territories
and peace-keeping forces were to be allocated there. They agreed
first, but then changed their mind. I think it was a good offer,”
Asaf Hajiev, an independent Azeri deputy and the head of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Committee said during an interview with
Armenian journalists.
Asaf Hajiev is in Armenia in order to participate in the 27th plenary
session of the BSEC. By the way, this time all the delegates of
the member-countries of the organization have arrived in Armenia
including those of Turkey and Azerbaijan. “The Karabakh conflict has
been created not because of the Armenian nation, but because of the
Armenian politicians. These are two different things”, Asaf Hajiev
said and tried to prove that the Armenians have occupied Azeri lands
and not vice versa.
Hajiev tried to substantiate the borders of Azerbaijan by the UN
data, “The UN clearly mentions the borders of its member-countries,
including Armenia and Azerbaijan”. Mr. Hajiev notes that they respect
the decisions of other countries, “If Serbia and Montenegro have
decided to separate, we accept their decision. But if Armenia thinks
Karabakh is its part, I think this is absurd”.
Asked by the journalist if the 1000-year-old church of Shushi is
absurd too, he answered, “The church is not a country yet”.
As for the Bucharest meeting of the Presidents, the delegate mentioned,
“I don’t have any information, but I hope that the Presidents will
come to an agreement and we shall win peace. We must believe in the
possibility of the peaceful settlement of the conflict”.
As for economic cooperation, according to the Azerbaijani delegate is
it meaningless to speak about it before the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. “We cannot choose our neighbors. If the conflict is settled,
there will be cooperation between the two countries. Today it is a
fact that Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war. Could you imagine Germany
offering Russian economic cooperation right after World War II? ”
By the way, Asaf Hajiev was the only delegate who congratulated Tigran
Torosyan on being elected NA President.

WE WILL HAVE ABOUT 12 THOUSAND SCHOOL-LEAVERS
A1+
[12:28 pm] 07 June, 2006
About 12 thousand pupils of the comprehensive schools in Armenia are
to take the school-leaving exams this year.
The exam period as established by the RA Ministry of Education and
Science is June 12-28. According to Jemma Avetisyan, chief specialist
of the Shirak region educational administration, this year the
school-leavers will take exams in seven subjects.
TV Company “Tsayg”, Gyumri

AIRPORT “ZVARTNOTS” WILL WORK ROUND-THE-CLOCK
A1+
[07:29 pm] 07 June, 2006
Since July 2 the runway of airport “Zvartnots” will work
round-the-clock. Because of the reconstruction work on the runway all
the flights used to be carried out in the evening. The management of
the airport informed today that 27.000 tons of asphalt has been used
in order to change the asphalt layer of the runway.
Director of “International Airport ‘Armenia'” CJSC Juan Pablo Gechijyan
himself briefed the journalists on the course of the works carried
out in the airport.
“The opening of the departure room of the new complex will take place
in September of the current year, and the waiting room will be opened
in about a year,” he informed.
Juan Pablo Gechijyan refused to say how much money had been invested
into the construction of the new complex and reminded, “According to
the agreement we are not supposed to make large investments. The only
thing we have to do is to have an airport meeting all the international
standards”. According to him, the new complex will be able to serve
2 million people annually instead of 1.2 million.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

L’OSCE CHERCHE UNE SOLUTION POUR NARGORNO-KARABAKH
Xinhua News Agency – French
6 juin 2006 mardi 12:31 AM EST
Le Ministre belge des Affaires etrangères et President en exercice de
l’Organisation pour la securite et la cooperation en Europe (OSCE),
Karel De Gucht, a eu, en marge de la Conference de la Mer Noire
a Bucarest, differents entretiens avec les parties principales du
conflit du Nagorno- Karabakh.
Selon le ministère belge des Affaires etrangères mardi, M. De
Gucht a preside dimanche dernier la reunion precedant la rencontre
bilaterale entre le President de l’Azerbaïdjan, M. Aliëv, et le
President Armenien, M. Kotsjarian, a laquelle assistaient egalement les
co-presidents du groupe de Minsk, c’est-a-dire les Ambassadeurs Jouri
Merzlyakov (Russie), Steven Mann (USA) et Bernard Fassier (France),
ainsi que l’Envoye personnel du President de l’OSCE l’Ambassadeur
Andrzej Kasprzyck.
“J’invite les parties a resoudre les points de divergence restant et a
arriver a un compromis”, a declare M. De Gucht lors de cette reunion,
indiquant que le developpement de toute la region du Sud du Caucase
ne pourrait se faire que de cette manière.
“Conclure la Paix demande du leadership et du courage, c’est ce que
la communaute internationale attend de votre part”, a dit lundi M. De
Gucht lors de la rencontre bilaterale avec chacun des deux Presidents.
“Personnellement, en tant que President de l’OSCE, je reste pret a
m’impliquer totalement dans l’accompagnement vers une issue favorable
et a aider a mobiliser la communaute internationale a soutenir un
accord de paix”, a-t-il ajoute.
“L’Armenie et l’Azerbaidjan doivent avoir conscience que la balle se
trouve dans leur camp et que l’attention de la commaute internationale
risque de diminuer si aucune perspective de solution ne se degage”,
a-t-il martele.
–Boundary_(ID_nlXRQcawmv8Enj6xSdQ3oQ)–

ECONOMIC COOPERATION WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS
A1+
[08:27 pm] 07 June, 2006
“The economic cooperation and the development of the communicative
means between the countries of the region will form an atmosphere
of trust which will contribute to the solution of the problems in
the region”, NA President Tigran Torosyan mentioned today in Yerevan
opening the 27th plenary session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Summit.
Delegations of the legislative bodies of 11 member-countries of
the BSEC (except those from Serbia and Montenegro) as well as
representatives of international organizations participate in the
works of the session. Tigran Torosyan noted that during the past
six months of the presidency of Armenia steps have been taken towards
stimulating economic cooperation, the juridical ground of the structure
has been strengthened, and different committees of the organization
have convened session discussing issues about combating economic
crimes and enhancing dialogues between the countries.
By the way, at the end of the session the representatives of the
Azeri Parliament will take up the presidency over the summit for the
coming six months. The next plenary session of the BSEC will take
place in Azerbaijan.
It is noteworthy that the RA Parliament has allotted special bodyguards
to the Azeri and Turkish delegates, although the guests felt quite
safe about which they informed the journalists.
The BSEC Parliamentary Assembly will continue its work tomorrow.

SERGE SARGSYAN, “AZERBAIJAN MISSES ITS CHANCE”
A1+
[08:33 pm] 07 June, 2006
During the opening of the monument to Tigran Petrosyan RA Defense
Minister Serge Sargsyan referred to the results of the Bucharest
meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, “I have not been
present at the negotiations but the President of the country has
informed me about them. In my opinion the Azeris are missing their
chance of settling the conflict peacefully”.
The Defense Minister also informed that there is no tension on the
frontier and voiced hope that no war will be launched.

THE RESIDENTS OF GYUMRI CANNOT GET HYPOTHEC LOANS
A1+
[08:42 pm] 07 June, 2006
The volumes of money transfer into Armenia surpass the annual budget
of the country forming about 1 billion USD. Nevertheless, the money
transfers received by the residents of the country are not mentioned
in any documents and cannot be basis for getting hypothec loans.
The concept of hypothec loans is a new one in Armenia and although
there are a number of homeless people in Gyumri, not many of them
are willing to buy a house by hypothec loan. The reason is that in
order to get the loan the citizens must have a monthly income of at
least 500 USD, prove it with documents and be able to pay a monthly
sum of 300 USD to the bank.
TV Company “Tsayg”, Gyumri

THEY KILL EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE RUSSIANS
A1+
[09:00 pm] 07 June, 2006
“The manifestations of fascism appeared in Russia after the defeat of
the Soviet Union”, said NA Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan referring
to manifestations of race discrimination in Russia.
“Russia suffered a defeat in the cold war. The ideological defeat
was that communism proved to be ideologically empty; the Soviet Union
collapsed and Russia lost territories which later became its enemy.
The economic defeat was that the whole economy of the Soviet Union
collapsed, and the fact that Russia continues to survive is conditioned
by the natural resources and not by the development of the economy”,
Vahan Hovhannisyan said.
According to him, the skinheads who speak about the Aryan spirit and
the purity of the blood know nothing about fascism. “If for example
Mussolini or Franco who were the founders of fascism appeared in the
Russian Underground, the skinheads could beat them too as they do not
differ from the Armenians in the color of their skin. So the basis of
such violations is not ideological; it is simply the frustration of
the society expressed through such horrible acts”. Vahan Hovhannisyan
thinks that Russia does not combat against these phenomena properly. As
for the attitude of the Armenian authorities, he is not aware of it.
In an interview to “A1+” deputy of the Russian State Duma Alexander
Dzasokhov noted that he treats the Armenians living both in Armenia
and out of it with deep respect. “I have many Armenian friends. Every
death is a tragedy, but it does not refer to Armenians more than to
other nations. The Armenians living Russia are part of our history. We
also have many Armenian professionals in the Law enforcement agency.
We must join our efforts in order to prevent suchlike cases in
future.”
According to Alexander Dzasokhov, today the Russian authorities resort
to every possible measure in their combat against the skinheads. “This
tendency is not only against the Armenians. It happens to everyone,
and a great number of Russian fall victim to the skinheads too. So
let’s fights against this phenomenon together.”

PAN-ARMENIAN FUN – 7 DAYS, 7 NIGHTS
Panorama.am
17:28 07/06/06
Pan-Armenian traditional festival “One Nation, One Culture” will launch
in the republic on June 23. The symbols of the festival – Narek and
Nare, already are distributing invitation letters in the streets of
Yerevan. They also provide information about the festival. “We should
think about how to strengthen ties with Diaspora instead of thinking
what Diaspora should do for us,” Vigen SARGSYAN, president adviser
told a press conference today.