CONCENTRATION OF RESPONSIBILITY ON PRESIDENTS INEXPEDIENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2006 13:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Concentration of responsibility fully lies on
Presidents and this is not correct, as the public opinion of both
parties is not ready for mutual and balanced concessions. Whatever
the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan sign, they will be accused
in betrayal”, Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE MG for settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict in 1992-1996, Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov
stated in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. “It is necessary to
prepare the public opinion and the MPs role comes out here. Teamwork
would be correct to share the responsibility and prepare the societies
for compromise. I should mention that not everyone understands that
the Bishkek agreement on cease-fire is only a political document
without any legal basis,” he said.

VLADIMIR KAZIMIROV: NON-APPLIANCE OF FORCE IMPORTANT IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2006 13:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Heydar Aliyev was a realist. When he raised the
issue of Karabakh, he meant only 7 regions without NK. Return of
the regions was a priority to him. For his son an agreement with
Armenians is more dangerous. To avoid it he Ilham Aliyev keeps on
including Nagorno Karabakh in the notion of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan,” Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE MG for settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict in 1992-1996, Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov
stated in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.
Vladimir Kazimirov reminded that all principles fixed in the UN
Declaration of 1948 and confirmed by the Helsinki Agreement are of
equal value – this also refers to people’s right to self-determination
and inviolability of borders. In conflict situations a peaceful
agreement is much more important that force.
“Moreover, these principles should be developed. The Helsinki
Agreement summed up the outcomes of the WWII and outlined the norms
of relations between the states. With the existence of various state
systems and nuclear weapons any territorial tremor could lead to
large-scale hostilities. The 1990-ies brought tectonic changes and
force majeur. Collapse of great power like the USSR undermined the
magic of the Helsinki formulas,” he remarked.
The Russian diplomat underscored that Heydar Aliyev’s successors
excite the militaristic campaign in Azerbaijan and this cripples the
moral basis of the society, especially of the young generation.
“President Ilham Aliyev himself accelerates the armament race. It’s a
pity that the OSCE watches this calmly. If the organization proceeded
to the settlement of the conflict it should counteract anything that
impedes its peaceful mission,” the former Co-Chair of the OSCE MG said.

CONFLICTS CANNOT BE SETTLED WITHOUT REGARD OF THEIR PECULIARITIES
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2006 13:55 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There are two polar viewpoints in politics. The
first says that there is a common concept for the settlement of all the
conflicts, the other says that each conflict is unique. Both disregard
of peculiarities of each conflict and denial of common points are
inadmissible, Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE MG for settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict in 1992-1996, Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov
stated in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. In his opinion, the
truth lies in the middle, as usual.
“There are solutions that can partially be used both here and
there. There is a common point of Kosovo and Karabakh conflicts,
i.e. collapse of a unified state, in this case the USSR and Yugoslavia;
the desire of autonomies to live on their own. However, there are
many different points between them as well, which cannot be left out
when passing any agreements.
Expression of will often prevails over the notion of territorial
integrity,” Kazimirov said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA FINISHES EIGHT AT EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Armenpress
May 22 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS: Finland’s rock band Lordi has won the
2006 Eurovision song contest with their heavy metal rendition Hard
Rock Hallelujah. It is the first time Finland has won the contest
in 40 years of trying. The country had never been placed higher than
sixth in the competition before.
The Scandinavian masked quintet bagged 292 points from telephone
voters in 38 countries. Second came Russian heartthrob Dima Bilan,
who received 248 points, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina group Mata
Hari with 229 points.
First-timer Armenia with the song called Without your Love finished
eighth with 129 points. Armenia and Russia exchanged maximum score
of 12 points. Armenia was also generously supported by fans from
Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Germany,
Spain and Turkey that gave a surprise 10 scores.
The Eurovision vote resembled a `regional cooperation’ rather
displaying the solidarity among neighboring countries which voted for
one another. For instance, the Balkan states, Scandinavia, Northern
Europe, the Baltic States and the three Slavonic states ` exchanged’
the highest points.

ARMENIAN GDP GROWS 9.7% IN FOUR MONTHS OF 2006
Armenpress
May 22 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS: In the first four months of this year
Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 9.7 percent from a year
ago to almost 395 billion Drams. The GDP growth rate in April was 26.6
percent against March, Armenia’s National Statistical Committee said.
The committee said according to preliminary data, almost 188 billion
Drams worth industrial goods, not counting indirect taxes, were
manufactured in this period of time, 3 percent down from figures of
the first four months of 2005, but the industrial growth in April of
2006 was 12 percent higher against March.
Armenian power generating facilities produced in this period of time
2.144 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, down 11 percent from a
year ago.
The Statistical Committee also said population’s incomes in
January-April of this year amounted to 431.4 billion drams and their
expenditures rose to 443.2 billion drams, of which 356.1 billion were
spent on purchase of goods and payments for services.
Compared with figures from a year ago incomes and expenditures grew
respectively 17 and 20 percent.
By the end of April the army of officially registered unemployed man
and women made 91,000 people, 12 percent down from a year ago. The
committee also said the average wage was 58,000 drams, 21 percent
higher from a year ago. Wages in public sector made 41,000 drams
and 71,000 drams in private companies, the growth against 2005 was
respectively 23 and 20 percent.

ORINATS YERKIR WENT “TO BUILD ITS DESIRED ARMENIA”
Panorama.am
13:12 22/05/06
The regular session of the National Assembly started with the planned
event – NA Vice Chairman Tigran TOROSYAN announced the resignation of
NA Chairman Arthur Baghdasaryan. Following the announcement, Arthur
Baghdasaryan thanked his coalition friends and “all 131 deputies”
for three years of joint activity.
He recalled the past and said that “… those three years were time
of progress. We tried to raise the image of the parliament during
that time.”
Recalling all the good things, Arthur Baghdasaryan also said that
there were disagreements between the authorities and Orinats Yerkir
which deepened over time. “We have tried to protest every law against
the interests of people and such cases were many,” he said. He also
stressed that OY aims to promote relations with European Union and
judging from his words also with NATO. “Increased cooperation with
NATO is a right approach for our future,” he said.
Baghdasaryan expressed readiness to criticize every bad action “be
that from the president or someone else.”
Mher SHAHGELDYAN, NA Defense, Security Issues permanent committee
head and Gagk MKHEYAN, NA Social, Health and Nature Protection
Issues permanent committee head also resigned together with Arthur
Baghdasaryan.
At the moment, NA has proceeded to its regular works under the
chairmanship of Tigran Torosyan.

Driver Plows Into Crowd at Mich. Carnival
Associated Press May 21, 2006
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — A van driver plowed into an inflatable “Moon
Walk” attraction at a church carnival, injuring at least eight people,
according to police and news reports.
The man drove his van into a crowd of people in the parking lot of
Alex Manoogian School in the suburban Detroit town of Southfield at
about 2 p.m., police said. The lot was the site of a fair put on by
St. John’s Armenian Church.
“We tried our best to stop him,” said Josep Torossian, principal of
the high school division at the charter school. “He wouldn’t listen to
me.”
The man fled, but police traced the van to a home in Troy, where he
was arrested. He was to be arraigned Monday in Southfield, police said
in a news release.
At least six children and two adults were treated at nearby Providence
Hospital, the Detroit News reported.
ld/nation/wire/sns-ap-church-carnival-crash,1,2425 236.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

ANDRE, 8st to EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Jean Eckian
May 21, 2006
Retransmitted in 24 countries of Europe, the Eurovision Song Contest
exists since May 24, 1956. For its first participation, in front of
150 million people, Armenia, represented by the singer ANDRE with his
song “With your Love” was classified in 8th position.
In France, during the presentation of the Armenian singer, the
presenter star of French TV (France 3), Michel DRUCKER said: “In 1915,
1 million and half of Armenians perished in the first genocide of the
twenty century by the Turks. Will be needed nevertheless, a day, that
Turkey recognizes this genocide “

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: <; FELLOWSH IP OF ORIENTAL ORTHODOX SPIRITUAL LEADERS ISSUE JOINT COMMUNIQUE On Tuesday, May 16, 2006, the spiritual leaders of the Oriental Orthodox Churches met to discuss various issues of concern. Included in the discussion were the `Da Vinci Code' and the `Gospel of Judas'. The fellowship was hosted by H.G. Bishop Joseph Al-Zehlaoui of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, and with the participation of H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, H.E. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, H.G. Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and H.E. Archbishop Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Also in attendance were Fr. Michael Najim of St. Nicholas Cathedral and Fr. Abdallah Zaidan of Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon Cathedral. At the conclusion of the fellowship, it was decided that a joint communique be issued to the faithful regarding the `Da Vinci Code' and the `Gospel of Judas'. The following is the text of the communique. `We, as Orthodox Bishops caution our faithful about the movie `Da Vinci Code', which falsifies the reality of our Lord Jesus Christ. Based on fiction and falsehood, this movie tries to discredit the fundamentals of our Christian Orthodox faith and attack the authenticity of the New Testament. Also, we caution our faithful about the `Gospel of Judas'. This `gospel', better entitled the Judas Document is neither `good news' (the meaning of `gospel') nor was it written by Judas Iscariot, nor is it even particularly `new'. This ancient manuscript was roundly condemned and refuted by the early Church Fathers. In the midst of the media's relentless avalanche of anti-Christian propaganda concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, we are confident that you are standing firm in your Orthodox faith. Battling for our Apostolic Faith, which bears the Truth of who Jesus Christ is, we must remain undismayed by attacks that the media launches against the accuracy and veracity of the four Gospels.'

PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenia Signed Protocol on Liquidation of Death Penalty under Any
Circumstances
20.05.2006 14:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During his stay in Strasbourg Armenian FM Vartan
Oskanian yesterday signed the 13th Protocol of the Human Rights
Convention on liquidation of death penalty under any circumstances,
the Press Service of the Armenian MFA told PanARMENIAN.Net. Within
the framework of his visit to Strasbourg the Armenian FM met with EU
Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg.