SABAH: RUSSIA BACKS TURKEY’S BID FOR NON-PERMANENT MEMBER IN UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Focus News, Bulgaria
May 31 2006
Moscow/Ankara. Russian Foreign Minister voiced support for Turkey’s
bid to join the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in
2009-2010. He announced that in an interview, which he gave in Moscow
and which was published by the Turkish newspaper Sabah. Lavrov is on
an official visit to Turkey today.
The Russian Foreign Minister said the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
should not remain closed and isolated. He added that Iran should not
be left isolated. According to him, the Presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan should meet again to seek a solution to the conflict in
Nagorny Karabakh.

RUSSIA PULLS OUT AMMUNITION, SELF-PROPELLED CANNONS
Civil Georgia, Georgia
May 31 2006
Ten trucks loaded with ammunition departed from the Russian military
base in Akhalkalaki and headed towards the Russian military base in
Gyumri, Armenia on May 31, the Georgian Ministry of Defense reported.
A trainload of 15 self-propelled cannon systems, also belonging to
the Akhalkalaki military base, departed on May 30 for the Russian
Federation.
According to the Georgian Ministry of Defense, the next stage of
the pull out of the Russian bases will be carried out on June 1,
when a trainload of military equipment will depart for Russia from
the Batumi military base.

ONLY 255 OR 25% OF 1010 OLD PEOPLE LIVING AT OLD PEOPLE’S HOMES OF ARMENIA HAS CHILDREN
Noyan Tapan
May 30 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. At present 4 state houses of old and
disabled people function in Armenia: 2 in Yerevan, one in Gyumri and in
Vardenis and 2 non-state ones in Lori and Kotayk. In total, 1010 old
people live at these homes. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed
by Anahit Gevorgian, Head of the Department on Old People’s Problems
of the Board on Problems of Disabled and Old People of RA Ministry of
Labor and Social Issues, 604 of the old people are women. A.Gevorgian
mentioned that no queues are formed for being admitted to homes of
old and disabled people in the recent years and the number of old
people living there has become stable. According to her, formerly
those applying to these homes were waiting for several years, while
now these issues are solved within a month and the number of these
people is not large, either. A.Gevorgian also said that in difference
to 1995-2000 when almost 70% of the old people living at old people’s
homes had children, today only 25% of them have children.

TRADE IS APPARANT IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE
A1+
[06:41 pm] 30 May, 2006
“The internal developments in Armenia have been determined by the
Karabakh conflict since 1988,” announced Aram Sargsyan, chairman
of the Armenian Democratic party today. He doesn’t expect any new
changes from the Aliyev – Kocharyan meeting as the expectations may
be only negative. According to him, Kocharyan will have to resist the
USA pressure and in case Bush succeeds to persuade Aliyev to use the
territory of Azerbaijan as a bridgehead against Iran, the Karabakh
conflict will be settled in Azeris favour.
“This is not the case when I shall laugh at Kocharyan’s
mistakes. Generally I am not delighted by the President’s mistakes,”
noted Aram Sargsyan. By the way, he also mentioned that though people
got tired of the Karabakh residents the Armenian society will support
the same Karabakh conflict once more and will demand the resignation
of the authorities in case the conflict is settled not in favour
of Armenians.
NA deputy Aram Sargsyan referred to the recent internal developments
and announced that they testify to the fact that the political,
economic and social crisis in the country is more profound than it
once seemed.
Aram Sargsyan respects the OYP decision to quit the Coalition but he
mentioned with regret that Arthur Baghdasaryan’s resignation and his
debate with the National Unity didn’t let the Parliament know about
“NA Speaker’s scandals with Robert Kocharyan which Arthur Baghdasaryan
announced himself.” Aram Sargsyan also noted that other representatives
of the Coalition didn’t comment on the OYP resignation.
According to Aram Sargsyan we shall face a severe phase of political
developments. The further political developments will be more
interesting starting from the September of 2007 when the parties will
convene sessions, party alliances will become known, and we shall
know which party cooperates with which one. Aram Sargsyan would
like parties to be united on ideological bases; and to be divided
into right and left alliances, but, “During the elections we shall
have business with such people who look down on others’ ideas and
suggestions who enter the political sphere to preserve their property,
thus the system won’t be changed.”
“The main fault of this system is that business in not independent in
it,” said Aram Sargsyan recalling Andranik Margaryan’s announcement
that “businessman may not countervail the authorities.” In Sargsyan’s
words though people are disappointed their attitude is the same. There
is a vast mass of people who are faithful to their principles, aren’t
sold and will vote guided by their heart remorse.
Aram Sargsyan claims that many people were eager to see “Justice”
bloc dissolved but their expectations blew up as the members of the
bloc are people who united on the ideological basis and who strive
to establish constitutional order in the country. And the bloc will
exist until it fulfills its objective.
NA new Speaker’s election has no political significance in his
words. “Armenia is a developing country. The Coalition doesn’t exist,
it has turned into a trade, and no political matters are solved in it,”
claims Sargsyan.

COMPTE RENDU DE L’ENTRETIEN ENTRE M. JACQUES CHIRAC ET M. ILHAM ALIEV
NEWS Press
30 mai 2006
Presidence de la Republique
Le President de la Republique a recu pour un entretien M. Ilham ALIEV,
President de la Republique d’Azerbaïdjan, venu a Paris a l’occasion de
l’Assemblee parlementaire de l’OTAN. Le President ALIEV a rencontre
des representants du MEDEF et il dejeune avec le President du Senat,
M. Christian PONCELET. Il a egalement inaugure la nouvelle ambassade
d’Azerbaïdjan a Paris.
Le President de la Republique et le President ALIEV se sont felicites
de l’excellence des relations bilaterales, qui se developpent très
rapidement. Les echanges commerciaux ont connu un triplement de leur
volume en 2005, pour atteindre 491 millions d’euros, et les entreprises
francaises se montrent de plus en plus interessees a s’implanter en
Azerbaïdjan, dans tous les secteurs.
Le President de la republique et le President ALIEV ont eu un echange
de vues sur la situation regionale, notamment en Iran, ainsi que sur
la question du Haut Karabagh, la France ayant accueilli a Rambouillet,
les 10 et 11 fevrier derniers, les 3 co-presidents du Groupe de Minsk
de l’OSCE et les Presidents d’Armenie et d’Azerbaïdjan.
Le President de la Republique a fortement reaffirme les principes
de la declaration commune des co-presidents du groupe de Minsk,
a l’occasion de leur recent sejour dans la region. En particulier,
le President de la Republique a rappele qu’il n’y a pas d’alternative
a un règlement pacifique et negocie. Il a souligne l’importance de la
paix pour l’Azerbaïdjan, l’Armenie et la region dans son ensemble. Il
a confirme la confiance de la France, telle qu’elle s’est manifestee
a Rambouillet et dans les deux capitales lors des contacts du Groupe
de Minsk, pour parvenir a ce règlement.
–Boundary_(ID_inevPQpBJ8nIIjiPF8M+zA) —

WORLD NO-TOBACCO DAY
A1+
[02:18 pm] 31 May, 2006
“Tobacco is deadly in any form – directly or indirectly”. With this
motto all the member countries of the World Health Organization
celebrated the World No-Tobacco Day – May 31.
The WHO calls on all the individuals and organizations join the combat
against tobacco. At present, according to Alexander Bazarchyan, the
coordinator of the tobacco control program of the Ministry of Health,
the number of smokers does not tend to increase in Armenia.
“If six years ago 63% of men and 1.2% of women smoked, now the
percentage of smoking men has decreased by 5-6%. As for women,
if they used to conceal the fact that they smoke, not they do it
more manifestly. In the capital 9% of 55-64-year old women and 5%
of the 25-30-year-old women smoke. In the regions their number is
much lower,” Alexander Bazarchyan says and adds that the children
make their first serious attempts of smoking at the age of 13-15.
The combat against tobacco started in 1960s in Great Britain and
the USA.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FLIGHT RECORDERS DECODING TO TAKE 1.5-2 MONTHS
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.05.2006 14:18 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The decoding of the flight recorders of
Airbus-320will take 1.5-2 months, Russian Minister of Transport Igor
Levitin told reporters on Wednesday.
In his words, some 300 technical parameters should be
examined. Armenian specialists will also be engaged in the process
since the pilots spoke in Armenia.
According to the Minister, to the initial decoding results do not
determine the cause of the crash, reported RIA Novosti. To remind,
on the night of May 3 Airbus-320 of Armavia national carrier crashed
in the Black Sea 6 km away from Adler airport killing all of 113
people aboard, including 6 children and 8 crewmembers. Among them
were 26 Russian citizens, one Ukrainian and one Georgian citizen,
while the rest of the passengers were Armenian citizens.

ARMENIA NOT TO ATTEND CIS DMS’ MEETING IN BAKU BECAUSE OF LACK OF SECURITY GUARANTEE
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
May 30 2006
YEREVAN, May 30. /ARKA/. Armenia is not to attend CIS defense
ministerial meeting in Baku because of lack of security guarantee,
Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyran Shahsuvaryan told ARKA
News Agency on Tuesday.
“Taking into account the fact that CIS Defense Ministerial Council
has failed to get security guarantee for Armenian delegation members,
Armenian Defense Ministry decided to miss the CIS meeting scheduled
for May 31”, the ministry’s statement says.
Azerbaijani authorities’ refusal to ensure Armenian delegation members
is a convincing evidence of Azerbaijani sides’ incapacity to comply
with its commitments, the statement says.
The ministry thinks CIS Defense Ministerial Council, in his turn,
ought to create equal conditions for all CIS member countries.
“We expect official reaction from CIS Defense Ministerial Council to
what happened”, the statement said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO ELECT A NEW CHAIRMAN TOMORROW
ArmRadio.am
31.05.2006 16:44
A special sitting was held today at the National Assembly. The agenda
included the issues of electing NA Chairman and Heads of two Standing
Committees.
The suggestion of candidacies and elections will be held
tomorrow. Chairman of the sitting, NA Vice-Speaker Tigran Torosyan
told the journalists that it is the person presiding over the sitting
that decides the order of the questions discussed and he found it
appropriate to hold the elections for the vacant positions on the
1st of June.
Today the Deputies adopted 12 draft laws and ratified eight
international agreements.

AZERBAIJANI PM RECEIVES CIS DMS’ BOARD DELEGATION
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 31 2006
Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister Arthur Rasizadeh today received the
delegation of the Board of Defense Ministers of the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS).
The meeting brought together representatives of the Defense Ministries
of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Russia and Ukraine as well as representatives of the CIS Executive
Committee and Defense Ministers Board Secretariat. The Cabinet of
Ministers told APA that in the short meeting, the Minister talked
about the socio-political situation in Azerbaijan. He also introduced
Azerbaijan’s stance on the Nagorno Garabagh conflict and stressed
that Armenia is taking an unconstructive stance regarding this issue.
Mr.Rasizadeh answered the questions given by the visitors later on.