MINISTERS EVADE QUERY ON ARMENIAN ‘BROTHERS’
Story by NATION Reporter
Publication Date: 03/31/2006
Daily Nation, Kenya
March 30 2006
A question on the presence of two foreigners at the centre of mercenary
allegations was not answered because of confusion on which ministry
is responsible.
The question, by Mr Joseph Kamotho (Mathioya, Narc), was deferred for
the second time in a week after it became apparent that no ministry
was willing to answer it.
The question on the controversy surrounding Armenians Artur Sargsyan
and Artur Margaryan first appeared on the Order Paper on Tuesday.
Mr Kamotho wants to know if the two businessmen are really investors as
they say, the kind of business they are in and why they were accorded
high security by the state. He also wants to know if the two have
any links to the Armenian government.
The question was first directed to the ministry of Foreign Affairs,
but could not be answered after assistant minister Danson Mungatana
said it should be referred to the minister for Internal Security in
the Office of the President. Mr Mungatana said he would consult with
OP to have the question answered.
But when the question came up yesterday, it had been redirected to
the ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons.
There was even more confusion when Mr Ananiah Mwaboza, an assistant
minister in the ministry, said he could not answer the question
because it should have been directed to the Office of the President.
Mr Mwaboza’s reply caused uproar, with several Opposition MPs rising
on points of order to demand that the question be answered.
Mr Gor Sungu (Kisumu Town East, Narc) said the Government was not
interested in answering the question and was taking Parliament for
a ride.
Dr Abdullahi Ali (Wajir North, Kanu) accused ministers of “taking
Parliament for a joke” and insisted that the question be answered.
Speaker Francis ole Kaparo said he was also amused by the answer given
by the assistant minister: “There are some issues that amuse, and this
is one of them. This question has been redirected from one ministry
to another. Why is that no minister wants to handle this issue?”
Mr Paul Muite (Kabete, Safina) said the leader of Government Business
should explain why no minister was prepared to answer the question.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua agreed
there was confusion. Ms Karua, who is the deputy leader of Government
Business, promised that the question would be answered on Tuesday.
She said: “I want to promise that the question will be answered on
Tuesday, even if it is me who will answer the question under the
doctrine of collective responsibility.”
Parliament does not sit Friday to Monday.

OSCE MONITORING DISRUPTED BY CEASEFIRE BREACH
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 30 2006
Baku, March 29, AssA-Irada
The OSCE monitoring on the Armenia-Azerbaijan frontline near the
Gapanli village of the western Terter District failed on Wednesday
after Armenia breached ceasefire, the Azeri Defense Ministry said.
The OSCE chairman’s special envoy Andzhei Kaspshik, as well as his
field assistants Imre Palatines and Alexander Samarski who arrived at
the site to conduct monitoring on the Armenian side of the frontline,
heard the sounds of shooting, a spokesman for the Azeri Defense
Ministry Ilgar Verdiyev told the press.
Kaspshik, who confirmed that the fire was opened by Armenians,
cancelled the procedure.

AZERBAIJAN’S HARSH RHETORIC INTIMIDATES ARMENIA
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 30 2006
Baku, March 29, AssA-Irada
The recent strongly-worded messages by Azerbaijani officials and
warnings to launch military action to settle the long-standing Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict have apparently intimidated the Armenian
military. This has caused a crisis and signs of panic in the Armenian
troops, which have set up a self-proclaimed republic in the Azeri
territories they occupy.
The Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh separatist leader Arkadi Gukasian has
lately been compelled to sign a decree to mobilize military men.
According to statistics, numerous instances of unauthorized leaves,
disobedience and even suicide were observed in 2005 in the Armenian
military units in the occupied territories of Gazakh, Terter, Beylagan,
Aghdam and Goranboy Districts. Armenians, who realize they are faced
with a predicament, have decided to mobilize additional troops.

NO PRESSURE ON AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA OVER GARABAGH: US OFFICIAL
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 30 2006
Baku, March 29, AssA-Irada
The United States is not pressuring either Azerbaijan or Armenia on
the issue of settling the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, the
Department of State Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs Daniel Fried has said.
“We deem acceptable an option that would suit all sides,” he told
“Armenia” TV channel.
Fried said his country is providing financial aid to Azerbaijan for
security purposes.
“However, these funds cannot be used against Armenia and will be
channeled to fighting terror.”
The American official added that Washington also attaches importance
to providing for Armenia’s safety, which requires the provision of
equal military assistance to both countries.

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: CRIMINALITY’S INTERNATIONALIZATION MAKES DEVELOPMENT OF INTERSTATE COOPERATION IN LEGAL SPHERE NECESSARY
Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The process of internalization of
criminality, thus, increase of the specific weight of international
elements in the affair of carrying out crimes in territories of two
or more states, objectively conditioned the necessity of establishment
and future development of the international and interstate cooperation
in the legal sphere. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian stated
about this, making the greeting speech at the March 29 sitting of
the Coordination Council of heads of bodies counteracting illegal
circulation of drugs of the member states of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO). “The role and meaning of the Coordination
Council of heads of bodies counteracting illegal circulation of drugs
of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
is great in the sphere of counter-drug struggle, what will certainly,
support working out and implementation of mutually agreed strategy,
new mechanisms of counteracting the illegal circulation of drugs,”
the Prime Minister mentioned. As Noyan Tapan was informed by
the RA Government’s Information and Public Relations Department,
Andranik Margarian emphasized that the illegal circulation of drugs,
as a particularly dangerous social event, got an all-embracing,
transnational character, became one of the most serious problems of the
mankind and is addressed to degradation of processes of stabilization
of political, social-economic stability of states, genofund of
nations. “It is not accidental that our countries’ heads pay special
attention to issue of stryggle against mentioned events the evidence
of what some operative-preventing events held already for the third
years are, the goal of what creation of a security zone directed to
preventing illegal penetration of drugs into the member stated of the
Collective Security Treaty is. Emphasizing that no country is able to
counteract the illegal circulation of drugs alone, the Prime Minister
attached great importance to organizing and holding such meetings
and events as the event being held in Yerevan is. The Prime Minister
expressed confidence that the sitting will be another step on the way
of more active and productive development of cooperation among bodies
engaged in issue of counteracting the illegal circulation of drugs of
the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. “I’s
sure that results of your work will support development of the mutual
cooperation existing among the corresponding bodies of the Collective
Security member states.” Andranik Margarian stated.

RICHARD HOVANNISIN DISCUSSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 30 2006
SALT LAKE CITY, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Turkish
government refuses to acknowledge the genocide committed against
the Armenians, said Richard Hovannisian, professor of Armenian
and near-eastern history at the University of California at Los
Angeles. According to Daily Utah Chronicle, Hovannisian commented
on the contemporary interpretations of the Armenian genocide at the
University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics on March 23.
Hovannisian’s talk focused on the scholarly debate over whether
the genocide was premeditated or a “crime of passion” that occurred
suddenly during the tense conditions of war. He expressed his opinion
that the elimination of the Armenians had been contemplated by
the Ottoman government before the outbreak of war, but that it was
wartime conditions that allowed it to turn a “final solution into
an accomplished fact.” The Ottoman Empire distrusted the Armenians,
in part because they were a tight-knit Christian ethnic group in
the middle of a mostly Muslim empire, Hovannisian said. “They were
an ethnic group seen as potentially troublesome to an authoritarian
state at war,” he said. No official government document specifically
outlining the Ottoman plan to eliminate Armenians has been found,
although there is overwhelming evidence that the massacres occurred,
he said. There may be a “smoking gun” somewhere in Turkish archives
proving that the Ottomans premeditated the Armenian genocide,
Hovannisian said, but the nation’s government does not provide
Western historians with access to those materials. He said there
are psychological reasons that Turkey refuses to admit the genocide
occurred. “They don’t want to believe that their grandparents could’ve
been murderers,” Hovannisian explained. “They also don’t want to
deal with the consequences of recognition, including contrition and
restitution.”

COMMEMORATIVE COINS DEDICATED TO CATHOLICOS SAHAK I PARTEV AND KING VRAMSHAPUH TO BE PUT IN CIRCULATION
Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. On the occasion of the 1600th
anniversary of the invention of the Armenian scripts, the Central
Bank of Armenia (CBA) puts in circulation silver commemorative coins
dedicated to Catholicos Sahak I Partev and King Vramshapuh from March
31, 2006. The state emblem of the Republic of Armenia is depicted
on the obverse of the coins with the inscription of the nominal
value below in two lines “100” and “DRAM”. All this is encircled,
with a striped edge around. The portraits of Sahak I Partev and
King Vramshapuh are on the right side of the coin’s reverse, and
the Armenian alphabet is depicted on the left side. There is a
two-line inscription “1600” and “AMYAK” (“ANNIVERSARY”) above the
pictures. Characteristics of the commemorative coins: Nominal Value:
100 drams Metal and Assay: Silver, 9250 Weight: 31.1 grams Diameter:
40.0 mm Quality: proof Number: 500 According to the CBA press service,
the sketches of the commemorative coins were drawn by painter Vardan
Vardanian. The coins dedicated to Sahak I Partev and King Vramshapuh
were coined at the mint of the Czech Republic.

LEVEL OF ARMENIAN-GREEK ECONOMIC COOPERATION IS FAR FROM BEING SATISFACTORY, ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SAYS
Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The current level of Armenian-Greek
economic cooperation is still far from being satisfactory and does not
reflect the potential existing between the two countries. The Armenian
President Robert Kocharian said this on March 30 when receiving the
Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece Evripidis Stylianidis. In this
connection Robert Kocharian underlined the importance of the role
of the Armenian-Greek intergovernmental commission on economic,
industrial, scientific and technical cooperation. E. Stylianidis,
who is in Armenia in order to participate in the fourth sitting as the
Greek co-chairman of the commission, expressed satisfaction over the
activities carried out by the intergovernmental commission during the
Yerevan sitting. He said that the commission strives to put in practice
the agreements reached during the RA President’s visit to Greece in
late 2005 and to outline new directions of cooperation. In his words,
the Greek side assesses the RA President’s visit as an excellent
one that gave a new quality to the bilateral relations. According to
the RA President’s press service, the interlocuters pointed out the
agriculture, tourism and energy sectors as priority directions of the
mutually beneficial cooperation. E. Stylianidis said that the Greek
side will try to encourage Greek businessmen to make investments and
set up joint ventures in Armenia.

ARMENIAN-SPANISH OFFICES OF TRADE AND COMMERCE TO BE SET UP
Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2006
VALENCUA, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The Speaker of the RA National
Assembly Artur Baghdasarian had a number of bilateral meetings during
the fifth conference of the World Alliance of Cities against Poverty
(WACAP) in Valencia on March 30. NT was informed about it from the
RA National Assembly PR Department.
Issues of establishing the regional contacts between Valencia and
Armenia were discussed during the meeting with the head of Valencia’s
government Francisco Kams. The sides reached an agreement on a visit
to be paid by the delegation of Valencia in the near future for the
purpose of examining the opportunities of cooperation. During the
meeting with Valencia Mayor Rita Barbera Nolla, issues related to
implementation of specific programs, as well as the issue of providing
some ambulance cars to Armenia were under discussion. A.
Baghdasarian also had a meeting with the Minister of Industry of
Valencia Justo Nieto, during which the sides reached an agreement
to open the joint offices of commerce and industry in Armenia and
Spain. The offices will carry out activities in two directions:
an increase in commodity turnover and the market studies, including
consumer market studies and advertising, as well as the establishment
of a joint fund for implementation of scientific and educational
programs. These activities will help develop the Armenian-Spanish
trade, economic, scientific and cultural relations, offer new
opportunities and promote job creation.

GOVAERMENT BLASTS RUSSIAN ART CRITIC FOR VANDALISM CLAIM
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 30 2006
The Azerbaijani government has condemned a Russian culture worker’s
recent statement concerning the alleged destruction of ancient graves
in Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan.
Mikhail Piotrovski of Armenian descent, who heads the Hermitage, one
of the largest museums in the world and is a correspondent member
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, went as far as describing the
alleged destruction of Armenian tombstone crosses in Julfa, Nakhchivan
Autonomous Republic, as a crime. In a statement, the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism said the utterances by Piotrovski and distortion
of historic facts showed that he is misinformed on the matter.
In 1960s, after an appeal by the Armenian Catalicos [clerical leader]
to then Soviet leadership, the tombstones in Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
and Julfa cemeteries were transferred to Armenia. Moreover, other
ancient tombstones dating back to the period of Caucasus Albania were
stolen from five Azerbaijani districts and also moved to Armenia. The
views of Armenian historians, who politicized the issue and distorted
the facts were reflected in the mentioned statements by the Russian
cultural figure, the Ministry indicated. The statement said further
that Armenian barbarians, ignoring the demands of UNESCO and other
international organizations, continue to pursue their policy of
aggression. It warned that Piotrovski’s views do not reflect those
of influential and unbiased Russian historians and scholars.
Piotrovski’s statement and his inclination to mix science with
politics comes as no surprise due to his origin. His mother is of
Armenian descent, while his father is an academician of the Armenian
Academy of Sciences.