V. Soghomonyan: Armenian and Azeri Leaders Not Scheduled to Meet in Saint Petersburg
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.07.2006 14:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of the Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev is not planned in Saint
Petersburg within the G8 summit framework, RA President’s Spokesman
Victor Soghomonyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
It should be noted that Ilham Aliyev also refuted the possibility
of the meeting. To remind, this year the Presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan met twice – in France and in Romania.

KARABAKH RECEIVED CHESS HEROES
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
07 July 2006
On the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin Armenia re-established itself as
a chess power. The men’s team got 36 out of 42 points: 10 victories,
3 draws, 0 defeats. President Arkady Ghukassian invited the Olympic
champions to NKR. On July 4 there was a meeting with the men’s team of
Armenia at the Home of Officers. The NKR government led by President
Ghukassian and the defense minister of Armenia, the president of
the Chess Federation of Armenia Serge Sargissian were present. The
hall applauded to the world chess champions Smbat Lputian, Vladimir
Hakobian, Karen Asrian, Gabriel Sargissian, Artashes Minassian and
coach Tigran Nalbandian. Levon Aronian and Arshak Petrossian could
not come to this meeting. The minister of education Kamo Atayan
opened the ceremony. “The victory of our chess players is not a sport
victory. It is the great victory of intellect and will, immense belief
and potential of our nation,” he said. NKR President Ghukassian, who
had congratulated the president of the Chess Federation immediately
after the tournament, now awarded the Medal of Gratitude and personally
congratulated the members of the chess team of Armenia. NKR Minister of
Defense Seyran Ohanian also congratulated the men’s team and awarded
the special medal of the Defense Army to the team and the minister
of defense of Armenia Serge Sargissian.
LAURA GRIGORIAN. 07-07-2006

NATIONAL STATISTICS SERVICE: BIRTH RATE DECLINED
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
07 July 2006
In the first half of 2006 983 children were born in NKR compared
with 1019 children in the first half of 2005. The death rate was 661
compared with 678 in 2005. The natural growth of the population in the
first half of 2006 was 322, declining by 19 or 5.6 percent compared
with the first half of 2005. In the same period 315 marriages were
registered compared with 281 of the previous year. The rate of divorce
is 59 against 55 of the previous year. By official records, in the
first half of 2006 426 people arrived in and 411 people left NKR.
AA. 07-07-2006

Russia’s Any Measure against Georgia Deals Blow to Armenia’s Interests
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.07.2006 14:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Any measure undertaken by Russia against Georgia
deals an unintentional blow to Armenia’s interests, Vice-speaker
of the Armenian National Assembly Vahan Hovhannisian told reporters
today when commenting on the closing of the Russian-Georgian border
by the Russian authorities. In his opinion, this is conditioned by
the Russian-Georgian relations, which “now tense, now improve”.
“Recently these relations tend to aggravate. However our Russian
counterparts should understand that any step against Georgia damages
Armenia’s interests. Thus they should be more supple and cautious,”
Hovhannisian underscored.
To remind, on June 8 night the Russian border guards closed the
Kazbegi-Verkhni Lars checkpoint over the start of construction
works at the border. This caused problems for traffic and a great
number of vehicles including those heading for Armenia stuck at the
Russian-Georgian border.

Kurds Tend to Occupy Serious Stand in Azerbaijan’s Economy
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.07.2006 14:41 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Discrepancies proceeding from regionalism in
the Azeri powerful structures are not a secret, Armenian political
scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter when
commenting on the recent arrests and prosecution of Azeri officials. In
his words, the process was launched by Heydar Aliyev, the first
secretary of the Communist Part Central Committee of Azerbaijan,
who flooded the ruling structures with natives of Nakhichevan. “In
his time Ayaz Mutalibov managed to reduce the number of Nakhichevanis
in the leadership.
However Aliyev coming to power again restored status quo. For his
part Aliyev junior strengthened the positions of Nakhichevanis in the
republic, especially in the middle administration sector. Meanwhile
the positions of “yerazes” protected by disgraced Rasul Ghuliyev were
still strong in Azerbaijan,” the political scientist said.
He also remarked that during the recent months the unified clans of
Pashayevs (the kin of first lady Mehriban Aliyeva) and Nakhichevanis
push the “yerazes” out of state posts. “As for the Kurds, they really
take serious positions in Azerbaijan’s economy. Almost all of them are
natives of Nakhichevan and are assimilated into the Turkic community,”
Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

Genocide Recognition Should Become Precondition for Turkey’s Accession to EU
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.07.2006 14:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Leading political European Parliament factions stand
for the introduction of the Armenian Genocide recognition issue into
the agenda of the EU-Turkey talks. The parliamentarians urge Brussels
to set acknowledgement the Armenian Genocide by Turkey and lifting of
the blockade of Armenia as a precondition for Turkey’s EU membership.
Finland, which accepted the EU presidency for the next 6 months,
threatened to break off the talks with Turkey. “The dialogue with
Turkey can be stopped any moment if Ankara fails to meet commitments
to the European Union,” Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said.
Turkey doesn’t recognize the sovereignty of Cyprus, which joined
the EU in May 2004 and doesn’t receive planes and ships from this
state. July 12 the European Parliament committee on foreign affairs
will consider Turkey’s progress. Besides, the Turkey is urged settle
the Kurdish issue and secure the rights of national minorities.
In October 2005 the EU Foreign Minister gave ok to Turkey’s EU
membership talks. However they specified that the process will not
be automatic and can be stopped any time. The European Parliament
urges Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, reported RIA Novosti.

THIRD GOLDEN APRIOCT FILM FESTIVAL KICKS OFF
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JULY 10, ARMENPRESS: The third Yerevan International Film
Festival Golden Apricot was officially opened today in Yerevan Moskva
Cinema and will run through 10-15 July.
The main theme of the festival is Crossroads of Cultures and
Civilizations. Directors and their films from around the world, borne
of different cultures and a variety of aesthetics have convened in
Yerevan , on the crossroads of yesterday’s and today’s cultures.
The films are presented in two international competition sections:
features and documentaries produced in 2004-2006. One Grand Prize
Golden Apricot and one Special Mention will be awarded in each
category.
The festival has a special pan-Armenian competitive section Armenian
Panorama for short, feature, documentary, and animation films produced
in 2004-2006 by filmmakers of Armenian descent.
The 3rd Yerevan International Film Festival will also feature
the following sections: Yerevan Premieres offering the best recent
art-house films, Retrospectives of the works of world famous directors,
and other sections and events.

RESIDENTS OF KOND COMMUNITY TO GET 50 M DRAMS
Lragir.am
10 July 06
The residents of Kond Community will get a recovery of 50 million
drams each, Vano Vardanyan, Deputy Mayor of Yerevan, said to news
reporters July 10, reports the news agency ARKA.
“Assessment of housing space in Kond is over. Currently the recovery
is being paid out,” said Vardanyan. He noted that the residents of
the pulled down houses in Kond were put up by their relatives, but
soon they will get recovery and will be able to buy apartments. Vano
Vardanyan said no complaints for the size of recovery have been lodged
with the City Hall so far.

DO NOT FORBID US TO TALK, ESPECIALLY THAT THERE IS NO TRUST
Lragir.am
10 July 06
In the framework of the program South Caucasian Integration,
Alternative Start initiated by the Caucasian Center for Peace Building
Efforts held an international seminar July 10 in Yerevan entitled
“European Integration As a Factor Favoring Karabakh Settlement”,
involving participants from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Abkhazia,
Nagorno Karabakh and South Ossetia. The seminar is held by the
Caucasian Center for Peace Building Efforts, the Analytical Center
on Globalization and Regional Cooperation and the Armenian office
of Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The main speakers were Alekper Aliyev
and Stepan Grigoryan, an Armenian political scientist.
According to Alekper Aliyev, the Karabakh conflict is a major
hindrance for the establishment of stability and peace in the South
Caucasus. And the conflict is not settled due to the lack of mutual
confidence. “Within 12 years that followed the armistice the parties
have been unable to reach agreement which would bring the prospect
of settlement closer. The internationally mediated negotiations did
not produce any results. The standpoints of Armenia and Azerbaijanis
are unchanged and in contrast, and no efforts are made to prepare
the publics of both countries for an agreement,” says Alekper Aliyev.
Another Azerbaijani reporter, Seymour Baijan taking part in the
seminar notices that our publics are like savages who cannot meet
without others’ help and discuss the problems that worry them.
“There is no trust, and we have to tolerate the presence of others
at the table of talks which did not prove effective.”
Alekper Aliyev offers ways out as well. It is necessary to stop
dissemination of hatred and open up the potential of mutual trust.
“There are supporters of dialogue in both countries. However, the
Azerbaijanis, who lost the war and are in distress, and the Armenians,
who won the war and are in euphoria, consider supporters of dialogue
to be foes.” In order to foster mutual trust, the government of
Nagorno Karabakh should not support resettlement of Armenians in the
areas where the Azerbaijani population used to be dominant. Besides,
it is necessary to bolster up tolerance and promote democracy in
both countries. Both countries are willing to become members of the
European Union. European integration cannot resolve the problem,
it may open up new opportunities and prospects of resolution.
“If we are not going to wage a war, let us talk. Let us talk to people,
who have authority and no obligations in front of Moscow, Paris or
Washington.” “What missiles will be used to prove to Armenians and
Azerbaijanis the historically inevitable neighborhood?” asks Alekper
Aliyev.
Stepan Grigoryan, political scientist, on the whole agrees with Alekper
Aliyev. He simply said that the importance of the South Caucasus has
grown over the past few years, the international approach has changed,
however our leaderships fail to understand this, “If they understood,
Iran-Armenia would have become a transit gas pipeline long ago.” “If
the leadership is not ready, the civil society should push them
towards a resolution. In Armenia the foes of democracy are against
European integration, and the foes of the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict are against democracy,” said Stepan Grigoryan.

JOURNALISTS ON POLITICAL QUEST
Lragir.am
10 July 06
The criminal-oligarchic efforts to keep journalists away are not a
novelty in Armenia. The reason is clear. The activity of the free
media in a criminal-clannish state is rather complicated. Upholding
public interest by the media constantly clashes with the interests
of one influential group or another. However, this is not the only
problem of the “writers’ cartel”. Recently other tendencies connected
with the activities of the media have started outlining. Certain news
reporters and even media are accused of waiting on criminal-clannish
groups. Only accusations against the Armenian TV companies mean
much. The status of the so-called opposition media is much more
interesting, for the tendency to wait on the interests of essentially
conservative criminal business and government structures is outlining
in their information policies.
The Armenian political reality is apparently restricting the boundaries
of freedom of reporting. Blackmail and bribes are levers, which make
reporters and even media to make up their mind. In that case, the
media, which are reluctant to transgress professional ethic, have
to become engaged in a “mortal” combat or yield to their fate. In
the second case, the public loses its last defenders, getting a
professional army of “misinformers” disguised as champions of the
“public interest” instead. It is said for such people: “Fear those
who kill the soul.”
Modern Armenia has been caught in a storm, where it is difficult
to recognize who is who in the environment of the mass media. It
is difficult but not impossible. We may even say that it is a time
when the “pack of wolves” is peeping from behind the “mask of a
lamb”. Besides, a disorder has occurred. Scribes, who have “yielded
to the fate”, make the public look askance at honest and consistent
reporters. Recently an incident was reported during a round-table
meeting at the Congress Hotel. A famous political scientist declined
to speak with cameras on, and accused reporters of venality in their
presence. He accused without making a distinction, which insulted many
of them and made them leave the hall. It was an unpleasant scene. But
the behavior of the mass media that evening and the next day showed
that the political scientist was not mistaken.
The evidence to this was the reporting on the round-table meeting.
Where is Armenia headed for? And are those people who “yielded to the
fate” thinking how their children are going to live in this country?
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress