The New Anatolian, Turkey
June 30 2006
Incoming US ambassador to Yerevan doesn’t use word ‘genocide’
TNA with AP / Washington
U.S. senators failed to persuade the nominee for U.S. ambassador to
Yerevan to use word ‘genocide’ while describing events of 1915 at his
confirmation hearings Wednesday in the Senate.
“I have not received any kind of written instruction about this,”
Ambassador-designate Richard E. Hoagland said. “I simply have studied
the president’s policy. I’ve studied the background papers on the
policy. And my responsibility is to support the president.”
While declining to say the word “genocide,” Hoagland, who is
currently the ambassador to Tajikistan, said, “I fully agree that the
events that occurred in 1915 and following were of historic
proportions, as I said, well-documented, horrific, horrifying.”
He quoted Maryland democrat Senator Paul Sarbanes, who read a
statement about the situation, that “hundreds of valleys (were)
devastated, no family untouched. It was historic. It was a tragedy
and everyone fully agrees with that, sir.”
U.S. President George W. Bush, in a presidential message on the 91st
anniversary of April 24, called the events “a terrible chapter of
history” that “remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and for
all those who believe in freedom, tolerance and the dignity and value
of every human life.”
Bush is ordering home their current ambassador in Yerevan, John
Evans, two years into the normally three-year diplomatic term. In
announcing his recall last month, the White House gave no reason and
praised Evans for his service. Last Sunday was his second anniversary
in the Armenian capital. In February 2005 Evans told
Armenian-Americans, “The Armenian genocide was the first genocide of
the 20th century.”
Sixty members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice protesting that Evans was being
punished for his reference to “genocide.” In a separate letter,
Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts
demanded an explanation from Rice for Evans’ recall.
The events occurred during the expulsion of ethnic Armenians from
eastern Turkey into Syria in 1915 and 1916. Turkish officials have
traditionally maintained that 300,000 people died. Armenian
terrorists, mainly members of the Armenian Secret Army for the
Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), roamed through Europe and the U.S. in
the 1970s and 1980s and claimed more than 60 attacks against Turkish
targets. The army claimed the campaign killed 30 Turkish diplomats
and dependents.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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
Friday, June 30, 2006
Contact: Maral Habeshian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
Bill Opening California Courts to Recovery of Genocide Era Deposits
Headed to State Assembly after Passage in Senate and Committees
SACRAMENTO – The California State Assembly Judiciary Committee passed
legislation on June 27 that would grant legal rights to Armenian
Genocide survivors and their heirs to recover bank deposits wrongfully
withheld since the Armenian Genocide by giving California courts
jurisdiction over banks operating in the Ottoman Empire. The bill, SB
1524, the “Armenian Genocide Bank and Looted Assets Recovery Act,”
involves the recovery of funds from commercial entities operating in
the region at the time.
Testifying in support of SB 1524 at Tuesday’s hearing, Armenian
National Committee – Western Region (ANCA-WR) Board of Directors
member Souzi Zerounian-Khanzadian told committee members that the
reclamation of the assets can never serve as compensation for the
atrocities endured during the Armenian Genocide. “It is simply a
matter of justice exacted against those banks that took advantage of
the genocide to profiteer in the midst and aftermath of genocide. A
number of these banks continue to do business in California today
either directly or through subsidiaries, therefore we ask you to adopt
SB 1524 to help ensure this small measure of justice,”
Zerounian-Khanzadian stressed.
The bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee with a vote of 6-1
and is expected to go to the floor of the Assembly for vote on August
7, 2006 before going to the Governor. The State Senate has already
passed the bill, which is authored by Senators Jackie
Kanchelian-Speier and Charles “Chuck” Poochigian, and sponsored by
ANCA-WR.
The original Speier-Poochigian bill has been revised, however, due to
a hostile amendment that was introduced and accepted during its
hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9. That amendment
binds SB 1765, a bill entitling lawsuits to be filed for wrongfully
repatriated Mexican Americans during the 1930s, to SB 1524.
Commenting on the dissimilarities of the two bills,
Zerounian-Khanzadian said that while the ANCA firmly believes in
correcting all historic wrongs, the two distinct pieces of legislation
are unreasonably and unfairly joined in fate, making the passage of
one contingent on the other. “While these two pieces of legislation
are both very significant, they must nevertheless be judged on their
individual merits. They not only address acts that occurred
separately, they also involve different fiscal impacts on the state.”
With an almost 1,000,000 strong Armenian community, California has a
public policy interest in protecting the rights of its Armenian
American constituency, asserted Zerounian-Khanzadian. “Almost every
one of these individuals was impacted by the genocide. For many, their
very presence in California is a direct result of the Armenian
Genocide. They found a haven in California where they could rebuild
their lives after escaping utter turmoil. These survivors have
established their roots in and contributed to the growth of this great
state. These outstanding and ongoing grievances must be addressed.”

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
June 30 2006
Turkish Food Ban Reflects Political Concerns in Armenia
Turkish food has remained popular in Armenia despite the hostile
diplomatic relationship, but it has been banned ostensibly for health
reasons.
By Arpi Harutiunyan in Yerevan (CRS No. 346, 30-June-06)
`Don’t buy Turkish sunflower seeds,’ Nelly told her friend Armine as
they stood in a shop in Yerevan. `I’ve heard they cause sterility.’
`Are you serious? `The Turkish ones are so tasty,’ said Armine, still
wavering. In the end, she reconsidered, `All right, give me two packs
of Armenian seeds.’
Fears that Turkish food products could cause various illnesses and
disorders have grown into a wave of hysteria in Armenia that seems to
be as least politically driven as it is based on real health
concerns.
Officially at least, the sale of Turkish foodstuffs has been illegal
since May, when the Armenian trade and economic development ministry
imposed what it said would be a temporary ban on certifying food
products imported from Turkey.
Some Turkish-made grocery products can still be found in the shops
and markets, but officials say they have either been smuggled into
the country, or brought in legally as part of travellers’ normal
duty-free allowance.
At a political level, the relationship between Armenia and Turkey is
coldly hostile – their shared border is sealed and they have no
diplomatic relations. Ankara cut off all ties with Armenia because of
that country’s role in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan,
with which the Turks enjoy a good relationship based on their common
ethnic background.
Yet for the last 15 years, imported Turkish foodstuffs – transported
via Georgia – have continued to account for a sizeable chunk of
groceries sales in Armenia.
There seems to be little scientific reason to single Turkish
foodstuffs out now, since many of the problems – variable standards
and some cases of contamination – apply to domestic products and
other imports.
Officials in Armenia deny they are singling out Turkish products. But
government officials and consumers’ rights groups have mounted a
concerted campaign culminating in the certification ban and calls for
a boycott.
The state agency for state quality control concluded this year that
some Turkish goods `violated consumers’ rights’ and were at variance
with Armenian law.
Trade ministry spokesperson Anahit Khechoian said the move to bar
Turkish products was prompted mainly by customer complaints about
`suspicious foodstuffs of unknown origin’. But the ministry has also
offered another explanation – that the ban is to prevent the spread
of the deadly bird flu virus.
A non-government organisation called Protection of Consumers’ Rights
claimed to have found that five out of ten food imports they tested –
nine from Turkey and one from Iran – contained harmful ingredients.
In particular, the group said it discovered bacilli in some products
and unacceptable levels of yeast in others.
Biochemist Anahit Davtyan says bacteria get into foodstuffs made in
unhygienic conditions or stored at the wrong temperature, and can
cause dysentery and other infectious diseases including typhoid.
Abgar Yeghoyan, the head of Protection of Consumers’ Rights, made
dark hints that contamination could be introduced deliberately by
Armenia’s enemies.
`Food safety is one element of national security,’ he said. `Given
the region we live in and the laws we have, there’s no guarantee we
won’t be poisoned.’
The head of the trade ministry’s standards office, Robert Dayan,
suggested that the gap left by `questionable’ Turkish imports would
be filled by `high-quality Armenian goods’.
Some consumer advocates, though, say Armenian-made products need
closer inspection as well, since many lack proper labelling and have
quality problems.
`We’ve been talking incessantly about the foodstuff safety problem,
but the first thing we should worry about is the local produce,’ said
Armen Poghosyan, who leads the Consumers’ Association. `If I were to
assess the extent to which food safety is guaranteed on the Armenian
market, I’d say quite seriously that there are virtually no
guarantees.’
In one recent incident in early in June, bottles of an Armenian brand
of mineral water suddenly started exploding one after another in a
Yerevan shop. Customers and sales staff rushed out of the shop to
avoid the flying glass. In this case the problems was traced to
faulty bottle manufacture.
Poghosyan’s association says that a study conducted in November 2005
found that 64 per cent of locally-produced food items lacked proper
information about contents, nutritional value and expiry date.
Rather than deal with wider quality problems, officials may have
found it simpler to blame Turkish imports because of underlying
emotive issues about the country’s politics.
One indication of this was a recent scandal in which it was claimed
that a brand of Turkish chocolate on sale in the shops was actually
being made by a subsidiary based in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan
with which Armenia is still technically in a state of war.
To add insult to injury, an Armenian confectionary producer ran TV
advertisements warning that the offending chocolate bars contained
vegetable fats, rather than milk as stated on the label.
Arpi Harutiunyan is a reporter at Armenianow Weekly.

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
June 30, 2006 Friday 5:36 PM EET
Russia’s Gazprom to buy built section of Iran-Armenia pipe soon
MOSCOW
Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom plans to buy the section of the
Iran-Armenia pipeline that has already been built in the near future
and take part in completing its construction, Gazprom’s Deputy CEO
Alexander Ryazanov told reporters Friday.
The section it plans to buy is estimated to cost U.S. $30 million,
while the entire pipeline is estimated to cost $130 million, Ryazanov
said.
The government of Armenia is currently financing the construction of
the pipeline, Ryazanov said. Gazprom may swap its gas with Iran,
which is expected to supply gas to Armenia via the pipeline, Ryazanov
said.
The throughput capacity of the Iran-Armenia pipeline is expected to
amount to 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas per year. By transporting
gas via the Iran-Armenia pipeline Gazprom will be able to eliminate
its current risks from transporting gas to Armenia via Georgia.
Armenia’s natural gas monopoly ArmRosgazprom, in which Gazprom holds
45%, plans to complete 22.5 kilometers of the first 47-kilometer
section of the Iran-Armenia pipeline before August, the company’s
General Director Karen Karapetyan told reporters on May 22.
The Armenian government also holds 45% in ArmRosgazprom, while
Russian independent gas producer Itera holds 10% in the company.
Last year Gazprom exported 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas to
Armenia.
Starting from 2006, Gazprom hiked its gas price for Armenia to $110
per 1,000 cubic meters from $56 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Gazprom used to subsidize gas exports to former Soviet countries but
has recently hiked gas prices for Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan and
Georgia, and seeks to hike its prices for Russia’s long-time, still
subsidized, ally Belarus.

RIA Novosti, Russia
June 30, 2006
Russia says completes 60 criminal cases on WMD technologies
MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s main security service has
completed about 60 cases against Russians, foreigners and firms that
were interested in technologies for the production of weapons of mass
destruction, a senior official said Friday.
“We have completed about 60 cases against 30 Russians, foreign
citizens and firms that were interested in such information or tried
to obtain access to it,” said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the
Federal Security Service’s economic security strategic department.
In particular, Bortnikov said that during a joint Russian-U.S.
security operation, operatives arrested an Iranian-born U.S. citizen
attempting to receive sensitive information about the development of
nuclear weapons.
Also, a joint effort involving security services of Russia, Georgia,
Armenia and the U.S. led to the arrest of a Russian citizen who was
trying to smuggle 160 grams of enriched uranium out of Russia, the
official said.

Thai Press Reports, Thailand
June 30, 2006 Friday
ARMENIA PROPOSES DIRECT FLIGHT WITH THAILAND
Section: General News – On 29 June 2006, Mr. Artur Lazarian,
Honorary Consul of Thailand in Yerevan, Armenia paid a courtesy call
on Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Foreign Minister, on the occasion of
his visit to Thailand to discuss with Thai authorities concerned ways
and means to make use of the new building of the Royal Thai Consulate
in Yerevan which was recently opened. Mr. Greg Der-Kevorkian,
Honorary Consul of Armenia in Thailand, also attended the meeting.
During the talks, Mr. Lazarian discussed plans for the new building
of the Royal Thai Consulate in Yerevan which may include several
representative offices for Thai companies and spaces for use in
cultural activities. This, noted Dr. Kantathi, would fall under the
same line of the idea of establishing a Thai Center in various
capitals.
Another issue that was discussed between the two sides included the
Armenian proposal for direct flights linking Yerevan and Bangkok. At
the moment, flights originating from Yerevan have to make connections
either in Europe or the Middle East. Thus, with the increasing
numbers of Armenian tourists to Thailand, especially in winter time,
it would make a lot of sense to have the direct connection.
Regarding bilateral exchanges, Mr. Lazarian took the opportunity to
convey to Dr. Kantathi the invitation from the Armenian side for the
Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister to pay an official visit to
Armenia in the near future. Dr. Kantathi showed appreciation for the
invitation, reaffirming that the dates of both visits would be worked
out in due course, however also taking into account the current
political situation.
Dr. Kantathi reaffirmed Thai-Armenia close relations, recalling that
the ‘Thai town’ in Los Angeles, U.S.A. was located in Armenia village
while the former Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations
in New York was housed in an Armenian church.
Mr. Lazarian is on a 3 day-visit to Thailand. He is due to meet with
representatives of Thai Airways, the Thai Trade Representative as
well as officials from the Department of Export Promotion and Chamber
of Commerce the next day to discuss issues relating to the promotion
of trade and economic activities between Thailand and Armenia
further.
(Foreign Affairs Ministry: 29 June 2006)

Leicester Mercury, UK
June 29, 2006 Thursday
Gripping end to a traumatic day
Philharmonia Orchestra, with conductor Rafael Frühbeck De Burgos
That this concert took place at all demonstrates the generosity of
the region’s musicians.
They stepped in when the Philharmonia lorry containing instruments,
music and concert dress was impounded near to King’s Cross, in
London, following a nearby fire.
Armenian-born violinist Sergey Khachatryan was the soloist in
Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor.
A haunting, dark Nocturne, leads to an angular Scherzo, then to a
sometimes romantic Passacaglia, finishing with a challenging solo
cadenza and rondo finale in Burlesque style. Khachatryan transfixed
the listener with his total envelopment in the music.
Part of me wished the work had ended with that solo cadenza, leaving
the memory of such gifted playing.
Mahler’s Symphony No 1 was originally written as a tone poem
depicting the life of an abstract hero.
A slow movement is followed by a strong, recurring, melodic theme.
The interesting juxtaposition of the children’s theme Frère Jacques
used as a funeral march explodes into a brassy finale with the whole
orchestra rising to the final challenges of this complex and exciting
piece.
The trauma of the day was invisible in an exhilarating and gripping
performance throughout.

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 30, 2006 Friday 08:17 AM EST
State commission okays Russian Expo Arms 2006 in Nizhny Tagil
by Georgy Letov
YEKATERINBURG
A state commission gave a go-ahead on Friday to the Russian Expo Arms
2006 international exhibition of arms in Nizhny Tagil.
Already on Saturday, first exhibits will start arriving to the
territory of the exhibition center at the Nizhny Tagil Institute for
Metals Testing, spokesman for the regional ministry for energy,
industry and science Yevgeny Kharlamov told Tass.
According to the information department of the Nizhny Tagil
administration, over 24,000 square meters of open areas have been
prepared for the exhibition. Viewing stands will be able to
accommodate over 2,500 spectators. Over 400 enterprises of the
Russian military-industrial complex from 35 regions will present
about 2,500 exhibits.
Sixty-two units of military hardware will be used in a parade at the
unveiling of the exhibition. According to the regional minister for
international and foreign economic relations, 46 foreign delegations
will take part in the exhibition.
Official confirmations have come from the Czech Republic, Poland,
Germany, Switzerland, Venezuela, Sweden, Armenia, Tajikistan, Egypt,
Great Britain, Spain, Iran, Bulgaria, Mozambique and some other
states.
The most representative delegations will arrive from India, China and
Kyrgyzstan. Over 600 journalists from Russia, the USA, Japan,
Slovakia and South Korea will cover the event. The main events of the
exhibition will be shown on the Internet online.
The Itar-Tass, the Arms-Tass and the Rossiyskaya Gazeta are the
general sponsors of the exhibition, which will take place from July
11 to 15.

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General Newswire
June 29, 2006 Thursday 8:04 PM MSK
Baku angered by Swedish MPs’ visit to Karabakh
BAKU
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has instructed its embassy in Britain,
which is in charge of several countries, including Sweden, to check
whether reports alleging that Swedish MPs had visited Nagorno
Karabakh without Baku’s notification were true.
“Our embassy has been instructed to check these reports and issue a
note of protest if they are true,” Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman
Tair Tagizade told Interfax on Thursday.
Armenian media reported that a Swedish parliamentary delegation led
by Deputy Ulla Hofman had visited Nagorno Karabakh. The delegates
allegedly reached the territory from Armenia.
The delegation reportedly met with Nagorno Karabakh’s Parliamentary
Deputy Speaker Rudik Usnunch.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
June 30 2006
Armenia: Outrage at Newspaper Editor’s Arrest
Media rights groups say criminal charges against Arman Babajanian are
designed to neutralise a critical voice.
Diana Markosian in Yerevan (CRS No. 346, 30-June-06)
Journalists and media activists in Armenia are lining up in support
of newspaper editor Arman Babajanian, saying the criminal charge for
which he was arrested this week has only been filed because of his
paper’s criticism of the authorities.
Babajanian was detained at the offices of his Zhamanak-Yerevan paper
on June 26, and charged with forging documents four years ago to
allow him to escape army conscription. He is said to have made up a
certificate that fictitiously showed he had two children – a
circumstance which automatically results in exemption from military
service. Forgery carries a punishment of one to five years in prison.
An official report states that Babajanian made a confession in the
presence of a lawyer.
Babajanian was refused bail when he appeared in court on June 28, and
he is likely to spend the next two months in prison pending trial.
Grigorian said the court was wrong not to have taken his position and
his `frank confession’ into account in considering the bail request.
The lawyer now plans to appeal the refusal of bail. `If the court
upholds the decision, this will suggest there’s a political motive
behind what has happened,’ he said.
Babajanian’s colleagues on the paper and in other media have spoken
out in his support, accusing the authorities of prosecuting him
because of his work on Zhamanak-Yerevan.
`I insist that even if there’s some offence, the underlying cause is
the newspaper,’ said the paper’s deputy editor Liza Chagharian.
The newspaper only started publishing in Armenia on May 12 with a
print-run of 1,500, which although small is not unusual in this
country. But it has been going for four years, and continues to be
printed in the United States in Armenian and Russian with a
circulation of 9,000. Over that period, Zhamanak-Yerevan has carried
many critical articles about the government, although it has also
been hard on the opposition at times.
`The authorities dislike Zhamanak Yerevan, which is why orders were
issued to destroy it,’ Avetiq Ishkhanian, the chairman of Armenia’s
Helsinki Committee, told IWPR. `The law enforcement bodies took on
the task of devising a way to carry these orders out.’
The National Press Club released a statement describing Babajanian’s
arrest as a breach the constitutional right to freedom of speech, and
an attempt to force the media into a strait-jacket ahead of
elections.
The Yerevan Press Club and the Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech
wrote to the prosecutor general claiming that initial questioning of
Babajanian had been conducted improperly.
On June 27, a group of journalists, human rights campaigners and
opposition supporters held a rally outside the prosecution service’s
headquarters in Yerevan.
One of the participants, journalist Mesrop Harutiunian said dragging
a man off to the prosecutor’s office without giving him advance
notice or informing him of his rights was how the law worked in a
police state. `An army sergeant style of rule is being established in
Armenia,’ he said.
Human rights activist Avetik Ishkhanian believes Babajanian’s
detention is part of a wider campaign to bring the independent media
to heel.
`I don’t know whether the authorities will succeed to do this, but
I’m sure they won’t,’ he said. `But if they do succeed, they may turn
their hand to other newspapers, too.’
A recent report by the international media watchdog Freedom House
rates the press in Armenia as `not free’.
The media have repeatedly come under pressure in recent years. The
independent TV-channel À1+ was stripped of its license in 2002 and
has failed to win back its broadcasting rights ever since. This year
it was evicted from its premises.
There have also been a number of physical attacks on journalists,
including assaults last year on Anna Israelian of the Aravot
newspaper, Naira Mamikonian of Haikakan Zhamanak, and Diana
Markosian, the author of this article.
Armenia’s new human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, has so far
avoided any comment on the possible political ramifications of the
Babajanian case. `We will look at his crime [sic] to see whether the
draft evasion can be proved as a legal fact or not,’ he said. `Only
then will we be able to draw conclusions.’
Diana Markosian is a journalist with the À1+ television company.