SERGO YERITSIAN DOES NOT IMAGINE HIS FURTHER POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN OPPOSITION FIELD
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. “I do not imagine my further political
activity in the opposition field,” founder-member and Vice-Chairman
of the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party Sergo Yeritsian gave
such a commentary upon his leaving the Orinats Yerkir Party. In
response to Noyan Tapan correspondent’s question, whether he will
receive a new post in the future, Yeritsian said: “We will live
and we will see”. To recap, according to the information in press,
S.Yeritsian will receive the post of Adviser to RA President. Sergo
Yeritsian took the office of RA Minister of Education and Science
in the coalition government. At the end of the last week the Orinats
Yerkir Party officially declared about its leaving the coalition and
the party Chairman Artur Baghdasarian informed that he is going to
submit his resignation from the post of RA NA Speaker at the NA 4-day
session to start on May 22 and state officials representing OYP will
also resign. He declared that henceforth the Orinats Yerkir becomes
an opposition.

ROBOTIC DEVICE DEPLOYED TO FIND BLACK BOXES
The Moscow Times, Russia
May 17 2006
The federal government launched an operation Tuesday to recover the
flight recorders from an Armenian passenger plane that crashed in
the Black Sea, sending a robotic device with a hydraulic arm to the
sea floor in an attempt to bring up the “black boxes.”
Authorities hope the recorders will help determine the cause of the
May 3 crash of the Armavia Airbus A320, which plunged into the sea
in heavy rain and poor visibility as it approached the airport on
a flight from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to the resort city of
Sochi, killing all 113 people on board.
An official involved in the operation said the recovery device was
lowered from a ship and reached the sea floor, where the recorders
were believed to be lying about 5 meters apart at a depth of just
under 500 meters, Itar-Tass reported.
The RT-1000 apparatus has been used by geologists to lift natural
objects weighing up to 40 kilograms from the sea floor, but has
not been used at such depths, Itar-Tass quoted a Transport Ministry
official, Alexander Davydenko, as saying. He said authorities believed
the device could lift fragments weighing up to 12 kilograms and the
flight recorders, which weigh 7 kilograms, the report said.
The operation to retrieve the boxes could take three days, officials
said.
Prosecutors dismissed the possibility of terrorism, and officials
pointed to the rough weather or pilot error as the likely cause. But
Armavia officials suggest air traffic controllers should at least
share the blame.(AP)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN AIR FORCE COMMANDER BLAMES A-320 CRASH ON BAD WEATHER
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 16 2006
LYUBERTSY, Moscow Region, May 16 (Itar-Tass) — The A-320 liner of
the Armenian air carrier Armavia crashed near Sochi’s Adler airport
due to bad weather, the commander of Russia’s Air Force, General of
the Army Vladimir Mikhailov has said.
“The weather is to blame for what happened. When we get the voice and
data recorders, this version will be confirmed,” Mikhailov said. In
his opinion the pilot made the correct decision, when he steered the
plane back after the first unsuccessful attempt to land the plane.
“He should have returned (the plane to the airport of departure). He
should not have changed his mind. This often leads to grave
consequences,” Mikhailov said, adding that specialists at the research
and development institute No. 13 of the Defense Ministry were ready
to provide assistance in decoding and interpreting data yet to be
retrieved from the “back boxes.”
The crash of the A-320 plane of the Armavia airlines in the small
hours of May 3 near Sochi claimed the lives of all 113 passengers
and crew on board. The liner crashed into the Black Sea and fell apart.
Its fragments sank 6-7 kilometers away from the coastline.

NAVIGATOR SHIP WITH ROBOT BEGINS A-320 PLANE BLACK BOXES LIFTING
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 16 2006
KRASNODAR, May 16 (Itar-Tass) – The Navigator special ship with a
robot on board put out to the Black Sea early on Tuesday in order to
launch the operation to lift from the seabed the flight data recorders
of the crashed A-320 airliner of Armenia’s Armavia company.
The vessel was in the designated area at 06:20, Moscow time and the
crew began the operation, Itar-Tass was told by telephone from the
Navigator.
The robot was installed on the ship on Monday. It was brought to
Sochi by the Kapitan Beklemishev scientific-research ship from
Novorossiisk. Last week specialists tested the robot in the area of
the Tonky cape just opposite Gelendzhik. According to the head of the
special ship’s crew, specialist of the Yuzhmorgeologiya federal state
institution Igor Lagoida, the apparatus was designed for lifting
geological specimens form the seabed and examining underwater oil
and natural gas pipelines. It is for the first time to fulfil the
task of lifting a plane’s black boxes.
The robot consists of three parts, the largest is a container with
control equipment. The next segment with photo and television equipment
will go to the bottom of the sea and examine it. The third device is
a hydraulic elevating manipulator working in all directions. It will
lift on board containers and possibly pieces of the wrecked plane if
they have a weight less than 12 kilogrammes.
According to captain of the Navigator Ivan Bezborodov, “The vessel has
a system of dynamic positioning that allows it to stay in a circle 10
metres in radius, which will make it possible for the robotic device
to work normally in deep sea.
The operation is expected to take three days.
Accoridng to available information, the plane’s flight data recorders
are at a depth of 496 metres, the distance between the recorders is
some five metres.
The airbus A-320 of the Armavia company fell into the Black Sea on
the night of May 3 during landing approach at the Sochi airport. The
catastrophe claimed the lives of 113 people.

ARMENIA TO ASSIST WITH DEVELOPMENT OF CREDITING SYSTEM IN NKR
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
STEPANAKERT, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Under conditions that the Karabakh
conflict has not yet been settled, the competition between the sides
has moved to the economic sphere, and while operating here, one should
take into account not only economic results but also the political
sonority and psychological impact of development processes. This
idea was expressed during the May 13 meeting of the President of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arkady Ghukasian with the delegations of
the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Board and the Union of Armenian
Banks (UAB). A conversation took place with the participation of the
delegations headed by the CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsian and the UAB
Chairman Stepan Gishian, the NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian,
the NKR Minister of Finance and Economy Startak Tevosian and the
Chairman of Artsakhbank Board Kamo Nersisian. The conversation mainly
focused on the tactics of developing the crediting system in the NKR
and prospects of promoting the cooperation between the Armenian and
foreign partners in this sector. A. Ghukasian welcomed the initiative
of the Armenian banking circles to familiarize themselves with the
economy of Artsakh and to study the opportunities of cooperation. He
expressed the NKR authorities’ willingness to assist with this process.

PROFIT TAX REVENUES OF RA STATE BUDGET INCREASE BY 73% IN JANUARY-MARCH 2006 ON SAME MONTHS OF LAST YEAR
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. In the first quarter of 2006, the profit
tax revenues of the RA state budget increased by 73% on the same
months of last year and made about 11 bln 525.1 mln drams (about 25.6
mln USD). According to the RA National Statistical Service, in the
period under review the value added tax (VAT) revenues of the state
budget grew by 1.7% to about 31 bln 827.1 mln drams, while the excise
tax revenues – by 13.7% to 9 bln 44 mln drams. In January-March 2006,
the income tax revenues of the state budget increased by 46.4% and made
7 bln 589.7 mln drams, the fixed payments to the state budget – by 11%
to 3 bln 289.7 mln drams, and customs duties – by 4.7% to 3 bln 636.3
mln drams. The simplified tax revenues declined by 2.9% and made about
1 bln 753.1 mln drams. Other tax revenues of the RA state budget grew
by 36.4% in the period under review and amounted to 1,056 mln drams.

GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA READY TO BUY HOUSES IN JAVAKHK FOR ITS CITIZENS SUFFERED FROM NATURAL CALAMITIES
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 15 2006
AKHALKALAK, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to Zaza
Imedashvili, the head of the Emigration, Resettlement and Refugees
Department of the Refugees and Resettlement Ministry of Georgia, this
year the Government of Georgia allocated 1 mln 227 thousand lari (about
700 thousand U.S. dollars) to citizens of Georgia suffered from natural
calamities for buying flats. The Government considers mainly Western
Georgia and Ajaria as regions suffered from natural calamities. As the
“A-Info” agency informs quoting official data, it is envisaged to buy
about 220 houses in the regions of Tsalka, Akhalkalak, Ninotsminda
during the current year. Z.Imedashvili explains resettlement of
Georgians in the regions of Javakhk populated by Armenians with the
issue that houses are cheap there. In the opinion of representatives
of the Armenian Public Organizations Council of Samtskhe-Javakhk,
the main goal of this program of the Georgian Parliament is to change
the demographic picture of Javakhk to the detriment of Armenians.

RA STATE BUDGET REVENUES IN JANUARY-MARCH 2006 EXCEED BY 6% INDEX OF SAME MONTHS OF LAST YEAR
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-March 2006, the RA state
budget revenues and official transfers increased by 6% compared with
the same months of last year and made 82 bln 109.1 mln drams (about
182.4 mln USD). According to the RA National Statistical Service,
the state budget revenues grew by 9.6% to 81 bln 670.5 mln drams. In
the period under review, the current revenues of the state budget grew
by 6.8% to 79 bln 114.9 mln drams, while tax revenues – by 16.2% to
70 bln 888.1 mln drams. In the indicated period, the RA state budget
expenditures amounted to 79 bln 957.4 mln drams, the budget surplus –
to about 2.1 bln drams.

BRACKS REFUSES TO ACT ON MP’S ‘GENOCIDE’ SPEECH
The Age, Australia
May 16 2006
s-refuses-to-act-on-mps-genocide-speech/2006/05/16 /1147545305736.html
A Victorian MP’s parliamentary speech accusing Turkish people of
ignoring acts of genocide more than 80 years ago is a sign of free
speech at work, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks says.
Jenny Mikakos, the parliamentary secretary for justice, whose ethnic
background is Greek, has accused Turkey of ignoring the killing of
hundreds of thousands of ethnic Greeks between 1916 and 1923.
In a short speech to the Victorian upper house during the last session
of parliament, Ms Mikakos reportedly said: “On May 19, the Pontian
community in Victoria and around the world will commemorate the 87th
anniversary of the Pontian genocide that occurred in present-day
Turkey.
“Between 1916 and 1923, over 353,000 Pontic Greeks living in Asia
Minor and in Pontus, which is near the Black Sea, died as a result of
the 20th Century’s first but less-known genocide,” Fairfax reported
her as saying.
“Over a million Pontic Greeks were forced into exile. In the preceding
years, 1.5 million Armenians and 750,000 Assyrians in various parts
of Turkey also perished.”
Two Labor MPs of Turkish descent, Adem Somyurek and John Eren,
interjected but Ms Mikakos continued speaking.
“The Turkish government must begin the reconciliation process by
acknowledging these crimes against humanity. The suffering of the
victims of the Pontian genocide cannot and will not be forgotten,”
she said.
The comments, made under a system of 90-second free statements for
MPs established by the Bracks government, have outraged Turkish and
Jewish groups.
But Mr Bracks today said Ms Mikakos, one of two members for the safe
Jika Jika province in Melbourne’s north, was free to make the speech.
“Free speech is something that we uphold, and I understand that,
and the freedom to criticise someone who makes a statement is also
appropriate as well,” he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
“As to the interpretation of those events, that is a matter which,
really, other people can judge, but this is something she obviously
felt passionate about.
“It’s up to her. She is a member of parliament who can submit those
things to the parliament.
“But equally, people have the right to vigorously disagree with her
point of view.”
__________________________________________ ________ Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around

Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Contact: Maral Habeshian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
Bill Grants Legal Rights to Genocide Survivors and Heirs to Recover
Bank Deposits

California Senate Judiciary Committee Unanimously Passes SB 1524, but
Partners Bill with Controversial Legislation
SACRAMENTO, California – Legislation that would grant Armenian
Genocide victims and their heirs access to California courts to
recover bank deposits wrongfully withheld since the Armenian Genocide,
unanimously passed the California State Senate Judiciary Committee on
May 9.
The same committee, however, chaired by Senator Joe Dunn of Garden
Grove, also voted to accept a hostile amendment that attaches a highly
controversial and unrelated bill to the bi-partisan supported Armenian
Genocide Bill, which endangers its ability to be signed by the
Governor and become law.
The `Armenian Genocide Bank and Looted Assets Recovery Act” SB 1524,
authored by State Senators Jackie `Kanchelian’ Speier and Charles
`Chuck’ Poochigian, and sponsored by the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA), was presented for consideration in the Senate
Judiciary Committee, on May 9. The bill would allow victims and heirs
recovery – through California Courts – of assets looted from
commercial entities operating in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey during
the Armenian Genocide–which have been wrongfully withheld since the
Genocide.
Speaking in support of the bill, Katia Kermoyan-Khodanian spoke of the
dire need for this legislation and recounted the harrowing experience
of her relative Markar Kermoyan who had lost his bank deposits and
worldly assets during the Armenian Genocide without any recourse.
Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA – WR)
Chairman Steven Dadaian, spoke in support of the Bill, informing the
committee that California has a public policy interest in protecting
the rights of its almost 1,000,000 strong Armenian American community
by granting California courts jurisdiction over banks operating in the
Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide.
Dadaian also reminded the Committee that only five years ago the State
enacted the “Armenian Genocide Era Insurance Act” based on the same
public policy.
Lending the Greek community’s support was Steven Miles, Executive
Director of the American Hellenic Council, who spoke strongly of the
deep bond between Greeks and Armenians forged in the common
persecution and Genocide their communities faced in Turkey from
1915-1923.
Don Engstrom, from the Consumer Attorneys Association of California,
also expressed support for the legislation.
The hostile amendment, binds SB 1765 to SB 1524 that entitles lawsuits
to be filed for wrongfully repatriated Mexican Americans during the
1930s.
Speaking strongly in opposition to the binding of these two separate
and distinct Bills, the ANCA’s Steven Dadaian informed the Committee
that while his organization supports the correcting of all historic
wrongs, he nevertheless views the effort as an attempt to `hi-jack the
Armenian Bill with legislation that has trice been vetoed by
consecutive administrations. We encourage each bill to weighed on
their own merits separately. It is illogical and unfair to do
otherwise.’
Senator Senator Bill Morrow (Vice-Chair) voted against the hostile
amendment, while Senators Joseph Dunn (Chair), Dick Ackerman, Martha
Escutia, and Sheila Kuehl supported the move.