The Greens Union of Armenia
Dr. Hagop Sanasarian, president
Mamikoniants St. 47-13,
Yerevan, Armenia
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: (374-10) 257-634
US contact: Dr. Anne Shirinian, 732-462-9089
Green Regarding Uranium Mining at Nor Getik
By The Greens Union of Armenia
May, 2006
The Greens Union of Armenia is deeply concerned regarding Global Gold
Corporation’s plan to mine uranium, copper and other metals at Nor
Getik, 18 km away from Lake Sevan (within the watershed of the lake),
and to transport the raw material to the City of Hrazdan for the
extraction of the uranium and other metals. Among the consequences of
the proposed plan will be that Yerevan city will be squeezed between
two threats of possible environmental catastrophes – from the west
there is the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) together with its storage of
radioactive waste and from the north-east, there will be Hrazdan city
with its storage of the uranium processing waste (although classified
as `low level radioactive’ waste, nevertheless it represents a grave
environmental health hazard). The processing of uranium, in
particular, will produce radioactive dust and wastewater. The latter
will be dumped into the River Hrazdan, which provides large amounts of
irrigation water. Thus, through dust and water, the fields and
inhabited lands along the River Hrazdan will become contaminated with
radioactive elements. In addition, during disasters, which occur
frequently in this region, such as earthquakes, landslides, flooding,
possible bombardment during wartime, the waste materials stored in
both Hrazdan and at NPP present a significant threat to the survival
of the people of Armenia, and also may become targets of terrorist
attacks.
The mining of uranium will begin its destruction at Nor Getik by
contaminating the waters and the beautiful valley of the River Getik –
a paradise, where many refugees from Azerbaijan have found shelter.
The River Getik flows into the River Aghestev, which means that all
the contaminants will also flow into the River Aghestev, which passes
through the center of the town of Ijevan. Villages in the valley of
the River Getik would need to be abandoned if radioactive dust
contaminates the air or irrigation water becomes radioactive.
Then follows the contamination of the River Hrazdan and the
destruction of the town of Hrazdan, known as a resort town – many
sanatoriums and health spas, children’s and students’ homes are
located there. The Soviets paid special attention to this area
allocating funding to limit industrial pollution in Hrazdan. Note
that the River Hrazdan flows out of Lake Sevan, then passes through
many towns, such as Hrazdan, Charentsavan, Abovian, Yerevan, Masis,
Ararat, and through many villages, and finally flows into the River
Arax. The water of Hrazdan River feeds the irrigation networks of
Ararat valley and of all the lands along the river. Thus,
contamination of the water of Hrazdan river is unacceptable.
Before the raw material reaches Hrazdan city via rail transport, it
will be stored in a storage area, right on the shore of Lake Sevan,
because the rail line is built along the shoreline, just as the main
road. This means that even if the raw material is transported via
trucks, and not stored on the shore, the trucks still have to drive on
a road, which runs along the shore. This represents a direct threat
of contamination for the water of Lake Sevan in case of a rail or a
truck accident.
Finally, the Government of Armenia must not only adopt public
transparency and accounting regarding the activities of various mining
companies in Armenia, but also a way, a mechanism, by which the
Armenian public can participate in the decision-making process
regarding the ownership and the exploitation of Armenia’s natural
resources. At the moment, our government seems to be buckling under
great external pressures, however, if the public at large is allowed
to be informed and to participate in important decisions (for example,
regarding the issue of ownership of strategic objects, such as
Armenia’s hydropower stations), then the general will of the public
will resist these external pressures and save our nation’s treasures
(i.e., water and land) from usurpation and excessive exploitation.
Also, without any doubt, if given a choice, the public will chose
development of alternative sources of energy, such as wind, hydropower
and solar (all of which are abundant in Armenia), instead of promoting
the interests of the nuclear industry by proposing a new expensive
nuclear power plant for a small earthquake-prone impoverished country.
Information on contamination caused by uranium mining and extraction:
Waste rock is produced during open pit mining when overburden is
removed, and during underground mining when driving tunnels through
non-ore zones. Piles of so-called waste rock often contain elevated
concentrations of radioisotopes compared to normal rock. Other waste
piles consist of ore with too low a grade for processing. All these
piles threaten people and the environment due to their release of
radon gas and seepage water containing radioactive and toxic
materials. In addition, to keep water out of the mine during
operation, large amounts of contaminated water are pumped out and
released to rivers and lakes. When the pumps are shut down after
closure of the mine, there is a risk of groundwater contamination from
the rising water level.
Ore mined in open pit or underground mines is crushed and leached in a
uranium mill. A uranium mill is a chemical plant designed to extract
uranium from ore. In most cases, sulfuric acid is used as the
leaching agent, but alkaline leaching is also used. The leaching agent
not only extracts uranium from the ore, but also several other
constituents like molybdenum, vanadium, selenium, iron, lead and
arsenic, thus, the uranium must be separated out of the leaching
solution. The final product from the mill, commonly referred to as
“yellow cake” (U3O8 with impurities), is packed and shipped in casks.
In the end, large amounts of radioactively contaminated scrap are
produced, which have to be disposed in a safe manner. Uranium mill
tailings are normally disposed of (dumped) as a sludge in special
ponds or piles, where they are abandoned. The amount of sludge
produced is nearly the same as that of the ore milled. At a grade of
0.1% uranium, 99.9% of the material is left over as scrap/tailing.
Apart from the portion of the uranium removed, the sludge contains all
the constituents of the ore. Because long lived decay products such as
thorium-230 and radium-226 are not removed, the sludge contains 85% of
the initial radioactivity of the ore. Due to technical limitations,
all of the uranium present in the ore cannot be extracted. Therefore,
the sludge also contains 5% to 10% of the uranium initially present in
the ore.
In addition, the sludge contains heavy metals and other contaminants
such as arsenic, as well as chemical reagents used during the milling
process. Moreover, the constituents inside the tailings pile are in a
geochemical disequilibrium that results in various reactions causing
additional hazards to the environment. For example, in dry areas,
salts containing contaminants can migrate to the surface of the pile,
where they are subject to erosion. If the ore contains the mineral
pyrite (FeS2), then sulfuric acid forms inside the deposit when
accessed by precipitation and oxygen. This acid causes a continuous
automatic leaching of contaminants. After hundreds of thousands of
years, the radioactivity of the tailings and thus its radon emanation
will have decreased so that it is only limited by the residual uranium
contents. (end)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
Glendale, CA 91206
Tel: 818-243-6222
Fax: 818-243-7222
Contact: Sarkis Kotanjian
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
May 10, 2006
Armenia Fund Donates $25,000 to Armavia Victims’ Families
Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund and its worldwide affiliates donated
$25,000 to the account set up to assist the families of the recent
airliner crash that occurred in the Black Sea on May 2, 2006. The amount
was approved during the Fund’s Board of Trustees meeting which took
place on May 5, 2006 in Yerevan. The government of Armenia has set up an
international account for the families of the victims of flight 967. The
airliner crash is the worst aviation disaster in the history of Armenia,
prompting the President to declare May 5 and 6 as official days of
mourning in the republic.
Armenia Fund’s U.S. Western Region leadership was on hand during and
after the disaster in Yerevan. `Armenia Fund stands ready to further
provide financial and moral assistance to the victims of this tragic
incident. Armenia Fund will make every effort to help our nation recover
from this disaster,” stated Maria Mehranian at a press conference
following the Board of Trustees meeting.
Individuals or organizations interested in assisting the victims’
families through monetary means may donate to Armenia Fund and specify
it as `Armavia Victims’ Account’. Armenia Fund will safely transfer the
entire amount to the international account. Tax-deductible Donations
could be sent to Armenia Fund, Inc. 111 N. Jackson St. Ste. 205,
Glendale, CA 91206 or by making a secure online donation at
(Please specify `Armavia Victims’ Account). Armenia
Fund, Inc. is a reliable entity that draws years of experience in
facilitating humanitarian aid to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
International leaders and officials also sent their condolences. U.S.
Congressman Adam Schiff, representing the 29th District, pledged full
U.S. support for the investigation of the crash. `I have been in contact
with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is the
transportation investigative arm of the U.S. government and is widely
recognized as the preeminent agency in the world at investigating the
cause of aircraft accidents. The
NTSB has informed me that they stand ready to assist Armenian and
Russian authorities in investigating the disaster and that either your
government or the Russian government can request assistance through the
United States Embassy in Yerevan or Moscow’, stated Schiff in a letter
to President Kocharian.
Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Armenia Fund, Inc. is the U.S. Western Region affiliate of `Hayastan’
All-Armenian Fund. Tax ID# 95-4485698
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sunday, May 07, 2006
************************************
As a boy my ambition was to be a writer, but my idea of a writer then was as different from what I do today as a virgin is from a bordello madam.
*
I don’t mind admitting that I have been a source of disappointment to a great many people. But I have been a source of greater disappointment to myself.
*
The slaughter of millions of innocent civilians is a serious matter that should not be forgotten. But it is equally wrong to make of it a collective obsession if only because our credibility is not enhanced if we project the image of monomaniacs.
*
Choose yourself as god’s chosen and run the risk of being slaughtered by someone who decides to choose himself to be chosen by a superior god.
*
“I know better” is an enemy of “I could be wrong.”
*
The Internet is the quintessential democratic medium. It allows imbeciles and hooligans as much space as Nobel-Prize winners.
#
Monday, May 08, 2006
**************************************
WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING
*************************************
We are a people like any other people, and most of our problems have been self-inflicted. Because I have been saying this I have become an outcast. Nothing new in that. All in a day’s work. Thus it was in the past and thus shall it be in the future.
*
To those who object and say, “In what way was the Earthquake self-inflicted?” May I remind them of the maxim that is common knowledge among architects and contractors around the world: “Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do.”
*
And I remember, shortly after the Earthquake, when asked why the construction of buildings in Armenia, a well-know earthquake zone, was not closely supervised, a Moscow official with an Armenian last name stated on the evening TV news: “We don’t consider that our responsibility.”
*
My mother is fond of quoting an Armenian saying that goes something like this: “Even if responsibility of blunders were made of very expensive fur, no one would want to wear it.”
#
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
***************************************
REVOLUTIONARIES
*********************************
Somewhere in Dostoevsky’s THE POSSESSED (sometimes also translated as THE DEVILS) a character says that when the revolution is fully achieved, “Cicero will have his tongue cut out, Copernicus will have his eyes put out, and Shakespeare will be stoned.”
*
Like politicians everywhere, revolutionaries too speak with a forked tongue: what they say is not always what they mean, and it is not at all unusual for them to say the exact opposite of what they mean. So that when they speak of freedom, they may mean the freedom to kill, when they speak of equality, they may mean suppressing excellence, and when they speak of fraternity they may have fratricide in mind.
*
If revolution were a religion, Cain and Torquemada would be two of its major role models and saints. In the eyes of some “useful idiots,” Stalin and Mao continue to be revolutionary saints.
*
“Wrong words are hard to take back,” reads a headline in our paper today. So are wrong actions and policies, but they can be easily justified by revisionists, and there is a revisionist as well as a useful idiot in all of us.
*
There is also a bourgeois. Like the revolutionary, the bourgeois may cling to ideas that have lost their validity, and both the bourgeois and the revolutionary may qualify as dupes or useful idiots of ideas that are eminently corruptible to the point of becoming their own contradictions.
#
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
****************************************
ON THE RADIO
************************
People from all walks of life were being asked about their phobias. Some said death and dying, others old age and illness. An author said writer’s block. On the whole predictable stuff except for the woman who said: “I am fifty years old and I’m afraid I’ll never have sex again.”
*
MY FAVORITE PUNCH LINE
******************************************
When an old Indian predicted a bad winter, they wanted to know how he could tell, and he replied: “White man makes big wood pile.”
*
SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE
*****************************************
Experience may teach us to avoid mistakes that we have made, but not all mistakes, of which there are an infinite number.
#

RAPPEL DE L’AMBASSADEUR TURC: UNE DECISION QUI RELEVE D’ANKARA, SELON PARIS
Agence France Presse
9 mai 2006 mardi 12:00 PM GMT
Paris a souligne mardi que le rappel pour consultations de
l’ambassadeur de Turquie en France, en raison d’une proposition de
loi prônant des poursuites contre toute personne niant l’existence
du genocide armenien, “relevait des autorites turques elles-memes”.
“C’est une decision qui relève des autorites turques elles-memes et je
n’ai pas de commentaire particulier a faire”, a declare le porte-parole
adjoint du ministère des Affaires etrangères, Denis Simonneau.
M. Simonneau a egalement souligne que “les autorites turques
elles-memes ont indique que l’ambassadeur devrait regagner Paris
très prochainement”.
Interroge sur les consequences pour les relations franco-turques si
le texte de loi etait adopte, le porte-parole M. Simonneau a declare:
“pour le moment difficile a dire. Le fait est que nous suivons la
situation et les reactions des autorites turques avec grand interet”.
La Turquie a annonce lundi le rappel en consultations de ses
ambassadeurs en France et au Canada, en raison de desaccords sur
la portee des massacres commis contre les Armeniens du temps de
l’Empire ottoman.
Ankara avait averti la France la semaine dernière que les relations
bilaterales pourraient etre gravement affectees si l’Assemblee
nationale francaise votait cette loi.
Les autorites turques s’etaient egalement declarees “consternees”
par des propos du Premier ministre canadien Stephen Harper saluant
la commemoration du genocide armenien, reconnu par des resolutions
du Parlement canadien.
Le ministère canadien des Affaires etrangères avait reagi lundi
en estimant que “ces consultations (de l’ambassadeur turc) sont
une affaire interieure turque” et en refusant a se “livrer a des
speculations sur leur nature”.
Les Armeniens estiment que jusqu’a 1,5 million des leurs ont peri
dans un genocide orchestre par l’Empire ottoman entre 1915 et 1917.
Ankara soutient que 300.000 Armeniens et au moins autant de Turcs ont
ete tues au cours de troubles suscites par des soulèvements d’Armeniens
et leur ralliement aux armees russes en guerre contre l’Empire ottoman,
et lors des deportations qui ont suivi.
–Boundary_(ID_hUUBnGxAl0FRjSsCo8dGiA)–

TURKISH PARLIAMENT DELEGATION TO TRAVEL TO FRANCE OVER ARMENIAN BILL
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 9 2006
ANKARA – Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on Sunday that
a Turkish delegation of four parliamentarians is planning to travel
to France today. Speaking to reporters, Arinc, currently paying an
official visit to Sweden, stated that France’s Parliament is set to
debate a bill concerning the so-called Armenian ‘genocide’ on May 18,
adding that the Turkish parliamentarians will hold a series of talks
with their France counterparts to convince them not to pass the bill.
Regarding the issue, Arinc also sent a message to France Parliament
Speaker Jean-Louis Debre last month.
Turkey does not accept the Armenian accusations about the 1915
Events. Both sides accuse each other of committing genocide. Turkish
historians argue that more than 520,000 Muslim Ottomans were massacred
by the Armenian gangs. Thosands of Armenians were also killed in the
communal clashes during the First Worl War.
France on the other hand does not recognise the Algerian genocide.
The Algerians blame French Government as ‘denier’. However the French
politicians are very keen on recognising the Armenian allegations
as truth.

FESTIVE EVENTS ON OCCASION OF 61th ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY IN GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR HELD IN HAKHTANAK PARK
Noyan Tapan
May 09 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 9, festive events on the occasion
of the 61th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War
were held in the Hakhtanak (Victory) Yerevan park. RA President Robert
Kocharian, members of RA government, diplomats accredited in Armenia,
representatives of the Russian military unit in the country, veterans
of the Second World War took part in the events. They laid a wreath to
the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier. Then a military parade was held,
which was followed by a festive concert. There also will be fireworks
in the Hakhtanak park in the evening. May is a month of victories for
the Armenian people. In May the Armenians won in the Avarayr battle,
in Bash-Aparan, in Shushi. The anniversary of liberation of Shushi
is also marked on May 9.

KAREKIN II: WE MARK VICTORY HOLIDAY WITH GLORIOUS EVIDENCES OF PATRIOTISM AND SPIRITISM OF HEROES’ EVERLASTING MEMORY
Noyan Tapan
Armneians Today
May 09 2006
ETCHMIADZIN, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Noyan Tapan was
submitted on May 8 by the Information Services of the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin the congratulating message of Karekin II Catholicos
of All Armenians on the occasion of the Victory Holiday and the day
of liberation of Shoushi. It is said in the message: “We send Our
Patriarchal blessing from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and
congratulate all our people on the occasion of the Victory Holiday
and the day of liberation of Shoushi. We mark the Victory Holiday
and the liberation of Shoushi with glorious evidences of patriotism
and self-devotion and spiritism of heroes’ everlasting memory,
remembering with praying all devoted people who had struggled with
striving and will for a peaceful life. Efforts of defenders of the
Fatherland in the name of hopes for a new life and implementation of
national dreams were crowned with victories in the Great Patriotic
War and Artsakh freedom-fighting ! by blessing of our Surb Church. We
pray for peace of souls of all victims died gloriously and ask the
God to keep the world in peace and by His most plentiful blessing,
establish love and brotherhood among peoples.”

REQUIEM FOR PLANE CRASH VICTIMS HELD IN CHURCHES OF VIRAHAYOTS DIOCESE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 09 2006
TBILISI, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A requiem to the
memory of the Yerevan-Sochi plane crash victims was held on May 6 in
the Tbilisi Surb Gevorg and Surb Etchmiadzin, Batumi Surb Prkich,
Akhalkalak Surb Khach, Akhaltsikhe Surb Grigor Lousavorich (Saint
Gregory the Illuminator), Ninotsminda Surb Sargis churches of the
Virahayots Diocese. Representatives of the authorities, community
and public organizations were present. Before the mourning ceremony,
Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanian visited the Embassy of the Republic of
Armenia to Georgia, writing his message of condolence in the Mourning
Book. The requiem was presided at the Tbilisi Surb Gevorg primacy
church by the primate. Those present prayed for memory and peace
of the victims’ souls. At the end of the ceremony, His Holiness
Vazgen expressed his condolence to the victims’ families, Karekin
II Catholicos of All Armenians, heading bodies of the Republic of
Armenian, all Armenians. His Holiness spo! ke with gratitude about
the Georgian Orthodox church, other sister shurches of Georgia, the
authorities of Georgia, employees of the Georgian Ombudsman’s Office
having sympathy for the Georgian Armenians during these days. He
expressed his gratitude to Ghazi Akhound Ali Aliyev, the authorized
representative of Muslims of Caucasus who personally visited the
primacy and expressed his sympathy to the Armenian people. During
the mourning ceremony, RA Ambassador to Georgia Hrach Silvanian with
his wife, Embassy Consul Artur Sargsian were in the church. Armenian
deputies of the Georgian Parliament, members of the Armenian community
administration, Leila Jejelava, the Coordinator of the Religious
Council attached to the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church,
Beka Mindiashvili, the Director of the Tolerance Center attached to the
Georgian Ombudsman’s Office, Sergo Vardosanidze, the Pro-Rector of the
Tbilisi Pedagogical University and others were in the church. President
of Georgia M! ikheil Saakashvili visisted the RA Embassy on May 5. In
his message of condolence left in the mourning book the President of
the country wrote: “I got to know about the tragedy in Sochi with
deep pain. Our thoughts and prayings are with the Armenian people
and families of the victims.” Prime Minister of Georgia Zourab
Noghaideli, State Minister Giorgi Khaindrava, Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Georgia Meran Antadze, representatives of foreign
embassies accredited in Georgia, of Georgian intellectuals as well
left their messages of condolence in the mourning book. According
to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by the Press Services
of the Virahayots Diocese, 1 citizen of Georgia and 6 citizens from
Javakhk by origin were among the 113 victims died in consequence
of the air tragedy. Two of them were from the village of Ghulalis,
the region of Ninotsminda. On this occasion, 113 trees were planted
in the village on the initiative of region head Mels Bdoyan.

DAVID NALBANDIAN IS AGAIN THIRD IN LIST OF ATP RATE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 09 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Argentinian tennis
player David Nalbandian who is of Armenian origin, is after last
successful performances again on the 3rd horizontal line with 2845
points in the May 8 rate list of the Association of Professional
Tennis (ATP). According to Radio Liberty, Spanish Rafael Nadal is on
the second place, having 4135 points. And Swiss Roger Federer, having
7160 points, is considered the best tennis player. David Nalbandian
for the first time appeared on April 20 of this year at the third
place of the rate list of the Association of Professional Tennis.

MEMORIAL DEDICATED TO VICTIMS OF A-320 CRASHED PLANE TO BE ERECTED IN YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan
May 09 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. A memorial dedicated to the victims
of the Yerevan-Sochi crashed plane will be erected in Yerevan. RA
Minister of Territorial Government Hovik Abrahamian informed about
it on May 9. According to him, the issue of determining a place for
the memorial will be discussed at Yerevan Mayor’s Office soon.
H.Abrahamian said that RA government has already allocated 1.5 mln
drams (about 3.3 thousand USD) to each of the families of those who
died in the accident. According to the Minister, after the end of
the insurance process the government will also discuss the issue
of allocating additional sums. According to H.Abrahamian, a bank
account has been also opened and businessmen and other citizens can
transfer sums to this account. The amount of the transferred sum
will be clarified in the future and this sum will be also given to
the families of the victims.