BAGHDAD ON THE BOSPORUS
By Dana Milbank
The Washington Post
Thursday, March 30, 2006; A21
Howard Kaloogian, vying for the Republican nomination in the race
to succeed felonious former representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham
(R-Calif.), just returned from a trip to Baghdad and posted on his
Web site a photo showing a busy urban street scene, which he said
proved that Baghdad is “much more calm and stable” than people think.
But something didn’t look right to readers of the liberal Web site
Daily Kos, who noted that women in the photo were wearing Western
clothing, a couple was holding hands, and signs are in the Roman
alphabet.
Soon after this discovery yesterday, the photo disappeared from
the Kaloogian Web site and was replaced by a notice: “We originally
posted a photograph not of Baghdad, Iraq but from Istanbul, Turkey,
where our delegation traveled on the way home to the United States. We
apologize for this mistake.”
The photo was replaced by a long-distance shot of a Baghdad street
empty of pedestrians. Late yesterday the whole display disappeared.
/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032902277.html?n av=rss_politics/fedpage

ZOMBYING OF THE AZERBAIJANI PUBLIC AT THE TOP LEVEL PURSUES QUITE
SPECIFIC GOALS: POLITICAL ANALYST
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 30. ARMINFO. “Ilham Aliyev’s speech is nothing but
a vaccine ruining the immune system of the Azerbaijani people. The
zombying of the Azerbaijani public at the top level pursues quite
specific goals,” David Babayan, Karabakh political expert says
commenting on the so-called “Genocide of Azerbaijanis” marked on
March 31 in Azerbaijan.
The analyst says that the Azerbaijani president presents Armenians
as the only enemy of Azerbaijan in the world. Such a policy
affects the Karabakh conflict’s settlement, which is moved from the
Karabakh-Azerbaijan to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, hereby having
a negative influence on the stability in the South Caucasus, on the
whole. No constructive steps or compromises can be expected from a
country whose leader propagandizes anti-Armenism. Moreover, in his
speech, Ilham Aliyev openly claims also Zangezour, D. Babayan says.
The expert believes that creating the image of an enemy, makes the
Azerbaijani public manageable and radical. In fact, this radicalism
will easily turn into terrorism. The barbarian destruction of the
khachkars in Julfa is nothing but a cultural terrorism, D. Babayan
believes. If the president says that Armenian occurred in Nakhijevan in
the 19th century, they cannot be Armenian Christian cultural monuments
of the 9th century, D. Babayan says.
He says by such policy, the Azerbaijani authorities give their
national minorities to understand that any demand for observation
of their rights will be considered a solidarity with Armenians and
enmity to the Azerbaijani people. The given approach is nothing but
a forced mechanism to form the Azerbaijani people. The Azerbaijani
(Turkic) elite tries to forcefully assimilate Lezgins, Talishes, Tats
and other peoples into a single Turkic ethnos. It should be noted
that the ethnonym “Azerbaijanis” originate only in 1936 and then the
Soviet authorities took the course of forming the united Azerbaijani
people of all the Islamic peoples of Azerbaijan, D. Babayan said. The
analyst says the unhealthy craving for historical falsifications is
the state policy of Azerbaijan now.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER DOES NOT THINK THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE US CONGRESS
UNFAVORABLE FOR TURKEY
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMINFO. Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, who is currently on a visit to the USA, stated at the
Assembly of Turkish Associations of America on Wednesday that he
did not think the atmosphere at the US Congress negative for Turkey,
Turkish press reports.
Premier Erdogan informed that Turkish-American relations, the
increase in the turnover of Iraq and Afghanistan were discussed in
Washington. Besides, the world-wide campaign for recognition of the
Armenian Genocide was also in the focus of attention. Despite the date
April 24 marked by Armenians as commemoration of the genocide victims,
the US Congress still supports Turkey, the premier said.

A BOOK ABOUT ARMENIAN MOUFFLONS AND PASANS TO BE PUBLISHED IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, MARCH 29. ARMINFO. An album and a film about Armenian
moufflons and pasans will be made by Armenian scientists, said the
WWF representative in Armenia Karen Manvelian.
According to Mr. Manvelian, in 6 months a group of scientists will
collect the necessary information about those animals registered in
the World Red Book. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)
provides financing of $17 thousand for the program, realized by the
Wild Nature and Cultural Values Protection Beneficiary Foundation.
Mr. Manvelian assured that the money is enough for issuing a 300-page
illustrated album and a 5-10 minute DVD.

ARMENIAN STUDENTS WILL ATTEND THAI SCHOOL OF REGENTS
YEREVAN, MARCH 30. ARMINFO. Armenian children of well-off parents
got the opportunity of attending the Thai Regents’ School. Today in
Yerevan was signed an agreement between the Armenian Ministry for
Education and the founder of the school Virachai Techavijit.
Deputy Minister for Education Norayr Gukasian informed that in the
frameworks of that agreement form the next year 4 Armenian students
will attend the Regents’ School. The education fee is $13-14 thousand
but the Armenian students are to pay only 10% of the sum.
In January 2006 thirteen students from Armenia passed the first stage
of the test. 4 students who will pass the test conversation with Mr.
Techavijit will enter the school. Mr. Techavijit said that 500
students from 20 counrtries of the world study in the Bangkok branch
of the school and 780 students from 38 countries in the Pataya town
branch. The graduates of the school have opportunity to study in the
Oxford, Cambridge and Stanford Universities.
Virachai Techavijit informed that the education term at the Regents’
School equals 13 years. Children enter the school from the age of 2.
87% of the school’s students are English. Mr. Techavijit added that
if the number of Armenian students grows, a teacher of Armenian
language can be invited to the school. He said that Hayk Harutiunian,
a student from Armenia has already graduated from the Regents’ School
and entered the Manchester University.

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA TO EXCHANGE STUDENTS
YEREVAN, MARCH 30.ARMINFO. “We suggested the Armenian side to create
conditions for the education of the Armenian students in Moscow. The
number of the Armenian students will depend on the number of the
Russian students that will study in Yerevan,” professor Mikhail Meyer,
head of the Institute for the Asian and the African States at the
Moscow State University, said this today.
He said that the Russian side is especially interested in studying
the Old Armenian(Grabar), as this language is a key to a number of
valuable historical archives in Matenadaran. Besides, Moscow finds it
necessary to prepare specialists of the Armenian studies. Mr. Meyer
added that the Armenian language is already taught at his institute.
“President Putin emphasized that the Armenian-Russian relations do
not keep in line with the level of strategic partnership and the
Russians don’t know Armenia well,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STATE COMMITTEE FOR PROTECTIOIN OF ECONOMICAL COMPETITION DECLINED
THE CLAIM OF ARMENTEL
Yerevan, March 31. ArmInfo. The State Commission for Protection of
Economical Competition declined the claim of ArmenTel protesting
against sanctions.
The matter is that ArmenTel held an action by which its consumers
were to pay only AMD 2 for a minute of telephone conversation and
nevertheless, K-Telecom company was still to pay for retranslation
AMD 14,04 and 19,93 in rush hours.
Press secretary of the Commission Karine Udumian told the ArmInfo
reporter that ArmenTel protested against the claim of K-Telecom and
demanded it to be declined. The Commission stated that it is empowered
to take measures about violation of economical competition.
ArmenTel also claimed that its actions could not push competitor
K-Telecom company out of the market and that the decision of the
Commission was unrightful as K-Telecom suffered no serious loss. The
Commission replied that its commitment is to control the actions of
the companies and not the consequences of those actions. ArmenTel
also demanded the penalty to be reduced to 1% of the incomes from
the city network instead of 1% of the total incomes. The Commission
stated that the penalty is determined by the law and the Commission
is not empowered to alter it.

OPPONENTS OF NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS TRIED TO
MAKE A SCANDAL OF ARMENIA’S PARTICIPATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM
IN ANKARA
Yerevan, March 31. ArmInfo. The Participation of the Councilor to
the Armenian Defense Minister Hayk Kotanjian in an international
anti-terrorism symposium in Ankara was spoiled with an attempt of
making scandal:
Press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry Seyran Shahsuvarian
reported to ArmInfo that the attempt was connected with the presence
of representation of Armenian military forces at the symposium. Hayk
Kotanjian, having returned to Yerevan, says that on the second day of
the symposium he was surrounded by reporters. Previously it had been
reported that Mr. Kotanjian protested against mentioning the ASALA
(Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia) organization and
left the hall of conference, so the reporters asked him to comment
the fact. Mr. Kotanjian told the reporters that such statements are
false and insisted that the matter should be made clear with the
organizers of eth symposium. Mr. Kotanjian notes that the provocation
was welcomed by the representatives of the Turkish Army Command;
nevertheless the representative of turkey apologized about the
incident and disinformation. Hayk Kotanjian thinks that the scandal
was made by some opponents of normalization of Armenian- Turkish
relations. According to Mr. Kotanjian, the Turkish side promised to
take measures against the provocateurs and the next day a number of
Turkish newspapers published the denial of the false information.
Mr. Kotanjian also says that only one phrase in the report of the
head of the Turkish Army Command referred to ASALA: ‘Many of our
diplomats were killed by ASALA terrorists’.

U.S. Catholic bishops say 783 new claims of abuse reported in 2005
By RACHEL ZOLL
AP Worldstream; Mar 31, 2006
U.S. Roman Catholic leaders received 783 new claims of sex abuse by
clergy in 2005, with most of the allegations involving cases that
are decades old.
New figures released Thursday by U.S. bishops, bring the total number
of accusations against Catholic clergy to more than 12,000 since 1950.
While researchers who analyzed 50 years of data on molestation claims
concluded the number of new cases is declining, the church is still
paying a heavy price for predatory clergy.
The new figures show last year’s cost of clergy abuse claims were
nearly $467 million (A386 million), the largest ever for abuse-related
expenses for a single year, according to Teresa Kettelkamp, director
of the bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection.
The abuse problem was already known to have cost dioceses more than
$1 billion (A830 million) since 1950, including some expenses paid
last year.
The latest statistics were released as part of the third audit U.S.
bishops commissioned to restore trust in their leadership after
abuse allegations soared in 2002. Auditors found that 88.5 percent
of dioceses had put in place full safeguards for children required
by the bishops’ reforms.
However, advocates for victims called the audit inadequate, since 104
of the 195 American dioceses conducted a “self-audit.” In previous
years, teams from the Gavin Group, a private firm led by former FBI
agent William Gavin, had conducted onsite audits in all participating
dioceses.
Speaking at a news conference, Gavin and a key church official agreed
with the critics that the new report didn’t capture the full picture.
They pointed to the recent failure of the Archdiocese of Chicago
to remove an accused priest from church work for four months until
he was criminally charged. The archdiocese was found to be in full
compliance in the 2005 audit, but an outside investigator hired by
Chicago Cardinal Francis George to look into the priest’s case found
a string of stunning lapses by archdiocesan staff that left children
at risk.
The failures had an impact beyond Chicago because George played a key
role in shaping the bishops’ new discipline plan that permanently bars
guilty priests from church work. George also is the vice president
of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“To find that this happened in Chicago was a great sorrow and
disappointment to all of us,” said Patricia Ewers, chairwoman of
the National Review Board, the bishops’ lay watchdog panel. “If
people do not live up to their responsibilities, do not communicate
effectively, then you can have the kind of terrible consequences you
have in Chicago.”
Ewers said the Chicago case provided strong evidence that the bishops
need to expand the scope of their audits and measure whether child
protection programs are working. Gavin supported the idea, which will
be brought before the nation’s bishops.
In a companion report, researchers from the John Jay College of
Criminal Justice, who the bishops had hired to tally abuse claims
nationwide from 1950-2002, released a new analysis of that data which
found the number of new abuse cases peaked in the 1970s and 1980s
and then began to decline.
In 2004, dioceses received more than 1,092 new abuse claims, in
addition to the 10,667 claims the American church received from
1950-2002. However, just like the claims in 2005, most of the
allegations involved incidents from decades ago.
“The decrease in sex abuse cases is real,” said Karen Terry, principal
investigator on the study.
The bishops’ abuse prevention policy requires dioceses to hire victim
assistance coordinators, form review boards to help evaluate abuse
claims, conduct background checks on staff and volunteers and teach
children to protect themselves from predators.
The biggest failure auditors found was that several dioceses don’t
have full safe environment training for children, and four dioceses
have not fully complied with the call for background checks. The four
dioceses are Burlington, Vermont; Portland, Maine; Salina, Kansas ;
and the Apostolic Exarchate for Armenian Catholics in New York.
Barbara Blaine, a found of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by
Priests, said none of the programs will work as long as no one is
monitoring the bishops _ who retain enormous discretion in overseeing
priests. Only the pope can discipline bishops.
Separately Thursday, the New Hampshire attorney general released an
independent audit her office conducted of sex abuse prevention in
the Manchester Diocese, finding that the church failed to make sure
that criminal background checks have been done on all employees and
volunteers who work with children.
The state audit was part of a 2002 agreement the diocese struck
with prosecutors to avoid criminal prosecution over failure to rein
in abusers.
___
On the Net:
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

‘CASTEL BEER’ BECAME 100% SHAREHOLDER OF ‘KOTAYK’ BEER FACTORY, ARMENIA
Yerevan, March 31. ArmInfo. French entrepreneur Pierre Castel,
founder of the ‘Castel Beer’ concern, bought 29% of the Yerevan
‘Kotayk’ beer factory from Parliamant deputy Gagik Tsarukian, owner of
‘Multi Group’, at the price of $4 million.
According to Christophe Leonian, director general of the Kotayk
factory, P.Castel now became the owner of 100% shares of the factory.
He denied the information that ‘Castel Beer’ intends to sell the
Kotayuk factory to another company.
According to the information of the National Statistics Service, in
2005 Armenian factories produced 10,7 million liters of beer, 21,7%
more than in 2004 (8,8 million liters). The experts say that the beer
market of Armenia is equally shared between the ‘Kotayk’ and ‘Yerevan
Beer’ factories. 10% is taken by the ‘Gyumri’ factory. ‘Kotayk’ was
founded in 1975-76 in cooperation with Czechoslovakia. Castel Beer
owns a number of beer factories in the CIS, particularly in Georgia.