SITTING OF AZERI-TURKISH ORGANIZATIONS TO BE HELD IN ANTALIA
ArmRadio.am
06.06.2006 11:12
Azeri-Turkish organizations launching activity in different countries
of the world will hold a sitting in Antalia today. 200 people from
30countries are expected to participate in the sitting, “Noyyan Tapan”
informs referring to TRT TV Channel.
Participants of the event will discuss the joint measures to prevent
dissemination of the Armenian policy of the “fictitious” genocide
carried out in the Osman Empire.

ARMENIAN RUGBY TEAM – WINNER OF GROUP B OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
ArmRadio.am
06.06.2006 12:55
The rugby team of Armenia scored 18:3 against the Lithuanian team
and became the winner of Group B of the European Championship. Now
it has to hold a play-off meeting with the team that occupied the
last place in Group A.
The Armenian rugby team comprises mostly professional rugby players
from France.

THOUSANDS WELCOME THE OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS
ArmRadio.am
06.06.2006 11:40
Armenian chess players, who achieved the Olympic gold in Turin,
arrived in Yerevan this night. The event was turned into a real
nationwide celebration.
Despite the late hour, thousands of people gathered at the Liberty
Square of Yerevan to welcome members of our chess team.
Olympic Champions Vladimir Hakobyan, Gabriel Sargsyan, Artashes
Minasyan, Smbat Lputyan and Karen Asryan entered the Liberty Square
accompanied by Chairman of the National Assembly, Prime Minister,
Defense Minister, Mayor of Yerevan and other officials.
“In team tournaments there is nothing higher than this cup, and
we hope we’ ll keep the Olympic Cup for as long as possible,” said
Artashed Minasyan in his address to the people.
Lifting the Armenian tricolor, Karen Asryan said, “There was no doubt
that we would win. The Defense Minister was accompanying us, and we
had no right to fail to come up to the expectations of people.” Gabriel
Sargsyan was very excited and said he did not expect such reception.
Head of RA Chess Federation, Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan
congratulated everyone with the victory of Armenian sports, Armenian
mind. “The chess players managed to fulfill the hopes of the people,
and managed to bring the faith of the nation to victory in Turin. I
sincerely assure you that your support from Yerevan was most essential
for the guys. If not your support, they would hardly reach the Olympic
peak,” noted Serge Sargsyan, adding that this is the first serious
victory and other victories are still ahead.

INTERNAL NETWORKS OF 1 665 MULTI-APARTMENT BUILDINGS IN YEREVAN HAVE BEEN RECONSTRUCTED
ArmRadio.am
06.06.2006 13:25
The Social Development Fund of Japan has provided a US$1 million grant
for improvement of water supply systems of multi-apartment buildings
in Yerevan.
Internal networks of 1 665 multi-apartment buildings have been
reconstructed under the program launched in 2003. By August the number
will reach 1 750.
About 2 600 water meters have been installed in houses of the needy.
Due to the program accomplished with the immediate participation
of condominiums, every family will save 1 250 drams monthly. Every
building will save 113 cubic meters of water in the average.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROMANIA: BLACK SEA FORUM DISCUSSES “FROZEN CONFLICTS” IN ARMENIA, MOLDOVA
Rompres news agency, Bucharest
5 Jun 06
Bucharest, 5 June: The Black Sea Forum for Partnership and Dialogue
organized in Bucharest was an opportunity for Armenian and Azeri
Presidents Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev to resume dialogue
regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Romanian President Traian Basescu specified during the Forum
discussions that the heads of the two Caucasian states have taken
advantage of their presence at the event to resume negotiations on
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
According to the Romanian chief of state, Presidents Aliyev and
Kocharian had a round of talks on Sunday 4 June and top-level
negotiations will continue with a new round scheduled for after the
end of the summit in Bucharest.
President Kocharian stated at the summit that the Caucasian states
are divided by ethnic conflicts and the Forum organized by Romania
“offers the favourable setting” for the solving of these conflicts.
“We are willing to continue the dialogue with Azerbaijan in order
to have the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh settled, and with Turkey,
with a view to establishing relations free of any preconditions,”
said the head of the Armenian state.
On the other hand, President Aliyev hailed the initiative of the
launch of the Black Sea Forum, because it offers the possibility for
a common approach of the “continuous threat of the frozen conflicts
in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Dniester Region,
that all have the same causes and the same effect, the infringement
of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic
of Moldova”.
Aliyev underscored that a discussion regarding the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan is out of question, that the authorities in
Baku cannot tolerate or acknowledge illegal entities on the national
territory and called on the international community not to legitimate
these breakaway regimes.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili too underscored that the
Black Sea region includes areas with lasting oppressive regimes that
infringe on human rights every day by forbidding people to speak
their mother tongue and freely use their culture, tradition and
religion. Saakashvili called the separatist regimes in the region
that have survived here for more than a decade “the democracies of
the cannibals” – built on crimes and territory violation of sovereign
states in the early ’90s – and asked the international community not to
accept the legalization thereof. The Georgian president underscored
that his country would continue negotiations with the Russian
Federation for the withdrawal of the troops from Georgia’s national
territory, but insisted that the talks be carried on equal footing.
President of the Republic of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, voiced
discontent that the statement adopted by the summit of the Forum in
Bucharest “mentions only in passing the failure to settle the frozen
conflicts” and that the subject is not approached “directly and
unambiguously”. “The separatism of Dniester Region, which challenges
the Republic of Moldova, is induced and supported from outside. We can
no longer keep silent because we are convinced that only by publicly
and straightforwardly asserting this can we get closer to the quick
settlement of this conflict,” said President Voronin.
The final statement adopted in Bucharest by the state representatives
of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, the Republic of
Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Turkey points out that the “unsettled
conflicts in certain states in the Black Sea region are a challenge
to regional security and stability”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘MARATHON’ TALKS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
By Christopher Condon
FT
June 6 2006 03:00
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan held two days of talks over
the disputed territory ofNagorno-Karabakh in what one diplomat called
“a marathon” of meetings.
Robert Kocharian, Armenia’s president, and Ilham Aliyev, president
of Azerbaijan, met at the Polish embassy in Bucharest on Sunday and
yesterday on the fringes of the Black Sea Forum, hosted by Romania.
US, Russian and French diplomats attended.
The talks were a coup for Traian Basescu, Romania’s president. Mr
Basescu had pushed for the event as a way of putting his country on
to the political map.
Brussels is keen to foster stability in the region now that Romania
and Bulgaria are set to join the European Union in January. “The
Black Sea and the EU are about to meet each other,” said a western
diplomat. “There is an apparent sudden recognition in the last six
months that the EU is moving into a region about which it has known
and cared little.”

WHY SHOULD AGHVAN HOVSEPYAN BE DISMISSED?
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
06 June 06
There is a good old tradition in Armenia: whatever they do in Russia
is good, and the same should be done here. This tradition is so
good that it has been shifted to a government level. The reason is
clear: since the Russian tsar was an object cult and the image of
salvation for the Armenian people, the Armenian “tsars” think that
their people would like them to imitate this cult. And I am waiting
with fear that after the removal of the Attorney General of Russia
Robert Kocharyan may decide to dismiss our Attorney General. This may
have dramatic consequences, however. In Armenia the Attorney General
is a political post (otherwise why should Aghvan Hovsepyan set up a
political party and announce about it publicly), and the dismissal of
the Attorney General may lead to another political shake-up. Already
a great number of people are relying on the political party named
“Unification for Armenia”.
And even if law enforcement did not suffer much from the removal of
the Attorney General, politics would surely do. It is not right
to create an artificial demand for party members, for it may
lead to an artificial growth of prices and will simply dissolve
the market. It will lead to an artificial monopolization on the
political market, which will seem very effective at first but
will go on to pose a threat, since it may be unable to supply the
demand for politicization of the society. The problem is not merely
politicization, however. Moreover, politics must be considered in the
end. In the beginning we should think about millions of trees, hundreds
of thousands of dancers, letters, unity and other meta-national
things. What will happen to the organization of our public life if
the head of the Office of Attorney General NGO is replaced?
The society wants guarantees that the new Attorney General will
also like trees, dances, letters and so on. Then the old one can be
changed. However, considering that besides a political society we
are also building a society of law, we have to explain why Aghvan
Hovsepyan should be dismissed. Several days ago he was shown on
different channels, and it reassured me about our nature and culture,
because the face of the Attorney General was calm and he goes on with
his work confidently. We may say, of course, that it is not his job,
that his job is to reveal crimes, that his duty is to struggle for
lawfulness and uproot corruption. But have you ever heard Aghvan
Hovsepyan say that these are not his duties? No, these are his duties
but let the one who does his job in this country cast the first tree on
him. If nobody, public officials are meant, does their job, why should
the Attorney General act as a white crow and fulfill his duties. And
it is almost certain that the other officials do not mind their own
business, otherwise Aghvan Hovsepyan would have bidden farewell to
his office long ago.
In the meantime, it is unacceptable to raise the issue of dismissal of
Aghvan Hovsepyan. Moreover, it is necessary to thank him, for unlike
other officials who do not do their duties Aghvan Hovsepyan does not
idle about and plants trees, holds dances, and looks for other ways
of bringing the nation together. The generations that will come will
read about the dance around the mountain with envy. They will feel
jealous of their grandfathers, who danced hand in hand, they will
also feel jealous of Mount Aragats, which saw that dance.
Furniture makers will make 3 million prayers to God to give longevity
to the Attorney General to plant more trees, because the demand for
furniture grows along the two-digit economic growth. They will even
be ready to transfer shares to the Attorney General, considering the
trees planted by him as a capital investment. It is beyond doubt
that the Attorney General is busy doing useful and patriotic work
in every aspect, and it is also beyond doubt that Aghvan Hovsepyan
does what environmentalists and intelligentsia should be doing. And
we should be grateful that the Attorney General is doing someone
else’s job. It would even be worthwhile to erect his statue during
his life-time anywhere he would like if Aghvan Hovsepyan told who
could do the job of the Attorney General. If he told, his public
activities would be complete and deserving praise. However, since
he declines to tell, even the best work remains unfinished, as it
usually happens in Armenia. Therefore, I feel reassured that the
Attorney General will not be deposed, for even the top leadership in
Armenia is used to working badly, and the Attorney General will go on
“uniting the society for the sake of Armenia.”
Whereas Ustinov was not so wise as to realize that he should have
occupied himself with others’ job, or Putin was not romantic enough
and dismissed the Attorney General, who did not work well. But what
if they dismiss those who do their work badly?

GHUKASYAN IS IN A HURRY
Lragir.am
06 June 06
While Kocharyan and Aliyev were talking about Karabakh in Bucharest
on June 5, NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan held a meeting of the NKR
Constitutional Task Force. It was reported during this meeting that
the draft of the Constitution is ready, though a month ago only 2
out of 8 chapters were said to be ready.
Nevertheless, Arkady Ghukasyan highly appreciated the work done on
the NKR Constitution and was pleased to say that the draft has already
received positive evaluations of experts.
Attorney General Armen Zalinyan, the head of the Task Force, presented
a report on the activities of the Task Force, then the political
forces, government officials and parliamentarians included in the
task force expressed their opinions on the draft.
According to the press service of the NKR President, Arkady Ghukasyan
decided to introduce the draft to the NKR National Assembly. At the
same time, the head of state instructed the Task Force to go on to
study actively the proposals on the draft constitution.

NO PROGRESS WAS REPORTED IN BUCHAREST
Lragir.am
06 June 06
The recurrent meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
finished in Bucharest. On June 4 the presidents met and talked for
over 4 hours, while on June 5 their meeting lasted for 40 minutes. No
details of the meeting are reported. It is possible that there were
no details at all. After the meeting Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan merely stated June 5 that no progress was reported, and
the foreign ministers were instructed to look for new approaches
to reach agreement. After finding one the presidents will meet
again. And Stephan Mann told that the OSCE Co-Chairs will meet to
discuss the outcome of the meeting of the presidents and decide on
further activities.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ISAGULYAN TOLD MORE
Lragir.am
06 June 06
The May 20 press conference of Garnik Isagulyan, the adviser to the
president of Armenia, at the Azdak Club remained unnoticed against
the background of outrageous home political developments in Armenia.
Whereas Garnik Isagulyan made a rather significant statement that
President Robert Kocharyan would not run for a third time. Isagulyan
had also denied that the president would try to become prime
minister. Garnik Isagulyan had announced that “in the course of time
it would become clear that these analyses are not true.”
However, the adviser had made another important statement on the
future political career of Robert Kocharyan. Isagulyan announced
that after leaving office he would go on to have great influence on
the Armenian political thought, with a higher status than the post
of prime minister. Isagulyan added that he did not mean a political
post. Besides, the adviser to the president of Armenia announced that
the next preferable presidential candidate is Serge Sargsyan as the
best-prepared figure in the political sphere of Armenia.
Some statements by Garnik Isagulyan are said not to have been
approved by President Robert Kocharyan, and he reprimanded Garnik
Isagulyan. Garnik Isagulyan is said to have broken the initial
arrangement to state only that he would not run a third time. Our
source informed that Robert Kocharyan had authorized his adviser
to announce that he would not run a third time to put an end to the
uncertainty on his further actions in the political sphere. However,
Garnik Isagulyan has, in fact, announced more than he had arranged
with the president of Armenia. This was the cause of irritation of
Robert Kocharyan.