THE AZERIS ARE BEING MISGUIDED: IT’S NECESSARY TO SHOW THEM THE RIGHT WAY
Yerkir/am
March 17, 2006
“I don’t think Armenia is making militaristic statements. On the
contrary, we are not responding properly to the militaristic rhetoric
and atmosphere that prevails in Azerbaijan today. The Azeri population
is being misguided purposefully.
They are made to think that Armenia is so weak, and our spirit is so
much broken that as soon as Azerbaijan starts military operations it
will immediately succeed in returning the territories they have lost,”
representative of ARF’ s Supreme Body Armen Rustamian stated commenting
on the recent statements made in Armenia after the Armenian president’s
statement. Continuing the rhetoric of Azerbaijan’s militaristic
statements Rustamian reminds our society that by these territories
Azerbaijan means not only the territory around Karabagh and the areas
that are currently under Armenia’s de facto control.
Azerbaijan turns out to have greater ambitions: it is planning
to invade a larger area, including Zangezur and other Armenian
territories.
“This is the atmosphere that prevails in Azerbaijan and we have
to respond to it properly. The statements we make are a means of
preventing war and not instigating it. We have to differentiate between
the statements made by Azerbaijan, statements that are directly calling
for a war. The message we want to send is that we are ready for a war,
so let’s us not be misguided and let’s not start another war,” head of
the National Assembly permanent committee on foreign relations stated.
At the same time he reminded that if today Azerbaijan is speaking
about losing 20% of its territories, there can be no guarantees
that it will not lose 40% of its territories if another war breaks
out. Rustamian believes this should be made clear since this is the
most important tool for countering Azerbaijan’s ambitions. There are
no other preventive measures that could be used against Azerbaijan.
“There are no peacekeeping forces, and by the way, the ceasefire was
signed without the assistance of the international community. The
ceasefire was established only due to the fact that the war was a
self defense of the Karabagh population, and the Azeri aggression
was stopped,” Rustamian said.
Commenting on the progress of the peace talks, Rustamian said he
believes that if the position Azerbaijan has adopted persists, the
prospects for the settlement of the conflict will be very vague. What
measures should be undertaken to ensure that we do not face a deadlock
in the future?
Rustamian believes in order to raise the efficiency of the negotiation
process it is necessary to understand the two important issues around
which mutual concessions must be made. These are the issues of security
and political status.
In addition to this, it is very important to understand that the peace
talks cannot be considered efficient as long as Nagorno Karabagh does
not participate in the negotiation process since there are issues
that are the sole prerogatives of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic.
Nagorno Karabagh Republic is a party of the conflict, and being
such, it must also be a party of the negotiations. Who has more to
do to improve this situation? “I think Azerbaijan has more to do in
this respect. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs should assess the situation
correctly and diagnose properly why the peace talks are not progressing
in an efficient manner. Each of the parties of the conflict should
be assigned with such tasks that would ensure the efficiency of the
negotiation process,” Rustamian stated.
What prospects can there be if the negotiation process faces a
deadlock? A deadlock would mean that the settlement is postponed with
all the unfavorable consequences deriving from such a development. This
will damage the prospects for regional cooperation.
Rustamian believes Armenia has long faced this situation and has been
trying to find a way out. Armenia manages to develop economically even
under the circumstances of a blockade. In the future, Armenia has
to strengthen its internal resources and strengthen the country to
make it clear for Azerbaijan that there can be no military solution
to the conflict. “Azerbaijan must understand that if the conflict
settlement is postponed the international community will recognize
Nagorno Karabagh’s de facto status.
Time will not favor any of the parties. At some period such a delay
could benefit one party, at another period the other party. And
the shifts in this balance will depend on the measures each of the
countries involved will undertake,” Rustamian said.

NEW MAGAZINE LUNCHED
Yerkir/am
March 17, 2006
The launch of the new magazine in the beginning of this year with a
little unusual name Narcissus would have gone unnoticed among the many
new publications if it wasn’t for its claim to present the literary
map and its interesting contents as well as its unique structure.
It also unites the traditional arts with the new names in the
literature.
>>From the very first issues of the magazine it is noticeable that
the magazine contains everything said above.
Thanks to the initiator of the magazine is Sona Van, the
editor-in-chief Vahan Vardanian and the editorial board, the magazine
is the type that will interest the readers. The idea was born outside
the country, in Los Angeles, where two individuals, Sona Van and Nubar
Janoyan, were ready to travel to the Homeland to add something new
to the number of existing initiatives. The prominent poet and doctor
did something that was needed and timely.

LIBRARY: CROSSROADS OF CULTURES
Yerkir/am
March 17, 2006
Organized by the Armenian Library Association, the National Library
Week will be held in April under the motto “Library: Crossroads
of Cultures.”
Along with Armenian libraries, this year, a number of Diaspora
libraries will also participate in the event.
During the week, meetings will be held with prominent artists as well
as state officials. Book fairs will also be organized. A competition
of essays titled “My Book,” and “My Library” will be announced in
the schools of Armenia.
The organizers will help the libraries to restore the lost literature
at the libraries. Monetary and publishing incentives are also planned.
Several scientific and publishing houses will also attend the event.
The Armenian Library Association and the initiative group of the
National Library Week have called on all interested organizations and
individuals to support and assist the event to form a more civilized
and educated society.

THE FATE OF NORTH AVENUE RESIDENTS TO BE DECIDED AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
Lragir/am
20 March 06
This was stated by the ombudsman of Armenia Armen Harutiunyan who has
already appealed to the Constitutional Court for this issue. Armen
Harutiunyan said it is necessary to do everything possible to achieve
a balance between the interests of the government and the residents
of North Avenue. “On the request of the inhabitants of North Avenue
I appealed to the Constitutional Court; only there can the question
get an objective resolution,” stated the ombudsman.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ESTABLISHING A POLITICAL PARTY IS HARD WORK
Lragir/am
20 March 06
If political parties are established in Armenia, which will operate
in political competition, our attitude towards them is normal,
announced Mher Shahgeldyan, Chairman of the Committee of Defense,
Internal Affairs and Security. He said this in answer to the question
about the establishment of Artashes Tumanyan’s political party and
his unexpected resignation. Mher Shahgeldyan declined to comment on
Artashes Tumanyan’s step. The member of parliament representing the
largest political force in Armenia stated from their experience that
setting up a political party is a complicated and hard work.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IN KARABAKH EVERY NINTH HAS A CELL PHONE
Lragir/am
20 March 06
The NKR minister of territorial management and development of
infrastructures Armo Tsaturyan stated that soon the fixed-line network
in Stepanakert will be digitalized.
In total 4.5 million dollars is required for the development of
fixed-line telephone in NKR. Another investment of 2-2.5 million
dollars is foreseen in cellular network. Last year the investments of
Karabakh telecom totaled 60 million drams. The number of cellular base
stations grew from 14 to 17. This year another 7 base stations will
be installed. In 2005 the number of subscribers of Karabakh Telecom
totaled 15600. The population in Karabakh is 139.5 thousand by the
initial data of the census. Hence, every ninth person in Karabakh
has a mobile phone.

TURKISH DENIALISTS RALLY IN FRANCE
ArmRadio
20.03.2006
Saturday Turks had organized a rally in Lyon, France to deny the
Armenian Genocide. The reason was the project of erecting a monument
dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in the Central Square of Lyon. Hilda
Tchoboian, Head of the European Armenian Federation, told “Radiolur”
correspondent that they knew about the rally beforehand. They had
applied the Governor not to authorize the rally initiated by Turks.
The rally denying the Armenian Genocide was accompanied with disorders.
Today French Armenians and the French themselves will again meet the
Governor. They anticipate that the latter will express his concern
over the authorization of the rally.

EU TO PROVIDE ARMENIA WITH 2 MILLION EUROS TO REPAIR RAILWAYS
ArmRadio
20.03.2006
The European Union will provide Armenia with 2 million euros under a
TRACECA program to repair the Yerevan-Tbilisi railway route, Gagik
Grigorian, the national TRACECA coordinator and head of foreign
relations at the Transport and Communications Ministry, told Interfax.
Armenian specialists estimate that about 200 million euros will be
used to prepare a feasibility study and 1.8 million euros to repair the
most damaged tracks. The timeframe for the project will be determined
after the feasibility study.

REGULAR MISINFORMATION SPREAD BY AZERI MEDIA
ArmRadio
20.03.2006
Reports of the Azeri media on firing Azerbaijani positions by military
units of Nagorno-Karabakh on March 14-19 are misinformation and
do not correspond to reality, Press Service of the NKR Ministry of
Defense informed.
The Press Service mentioned that it is the Azeri side that periodically
violates the cease-fire regime.
It should be noted also that a number of Azerbaijani media had spread
a report about the breach of the cease-fire on March 18 and 19, in
the result of which two Azerbaijani servicemen were killed. However,
no names were mentioned, no official statement was issued by the
Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DIRECTOR OF THE STATE HERMITAGE TO PAY A VISIT TO YEREVAN
ArmRadio
20.03.2006
Correspondent-member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of
the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovski will arrive in Yerevan on March
21, the development fund of the “Caucasus Institute for Democracy”
told ARMINFO Agency.
In the framework of the visit, Piotrovski will deliver a lecture for
the students of the Russian-Armenian University. A similar lecture
and a meeting with the faculty of the Yerevan State University are
scheduled March 23. Visits to Matenadaran, National Art Gallery and the
Institute of History are also expected. Mikhail Piotrovski will meet
RA President Robert Kocharyan, RA Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs
Gevorg Gevorgyan and the Russian Ambassador to Armenia Nikolay Pavlov.