NUMBER OF TAXI SERVICES BURGEONING UP
Armenpress
Jun 20 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS; The number of companies offering regular
taxi services has burgeoned out from 724 last year to 1,068 as of May
1. On average each of these companies has 5 cars. Armenian taxation
service said 282 of these companies with 2,500 cars were in Yerevan
and the rest were across the country.
These companies are paying fixed taxes-6,800 drams per one car in
Yerevan and 5,600 drams per one car outside Yerevan a month. This
year they have already paid 103 million drams in taxes.
Robert Kocharian, a deputy head of the taxation service, predicted no
rise in the number of these companies, but he admitted that part of
the cars may avoid taxation. He said the service is going to improve
supervision over this services and detect illegal operations. He also
said there is no document regulating the work of taxis, neither the
list of mandatory requirements is developed.

JASON HIGHLAND: NEW US CO-CHAIR OF THE OSCE MINSK GROUP WELL FAMILIAR WITH THE REGION
ArmRadio.am
20.06.2006 14:24
The new US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group is well familiar with the
region, , acting Commissioner on US in Azerbaijan Jason Highland said,
“Trend” Agency informs.
He expressed c0onfidence that Mattew Bryza’s knowledge and experience
will have a positive impact on the activity of the Minsk Group.
“We are very glad that Mattew Bryza will represent the US in the
Minsk Group. He is a talented diplomat in this sphere,” Highland said.
Turning to the activity of the former US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group Steven Mann, he noted that Mann carried out his activity with
dignity.

REPORT OF THE AGO GROUP TO BE PRESENTED AT THE SITTING OF THE COE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
ArmRadio.am
20.06.2006 15:03
On June 21 the report developed based on the results of the Ago
Group’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan will be heard at the sitting
of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the level of
Permanent Representatives, ” Trend” Agency informs, referring to the
Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.
An oral report will be delivered by Head of the Ago Group delegation,
German diplomat Ronal Wegener.

ISSUES OF TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION IN THE FOCUS OF RA PRESIDENT’S ATTENTION
ArmRadio.am
20.06.2006 15:44
Issues related to the current works and reforms in the sphere of
territorial administration were discussed during today’s working
meeting of President Robert Kocharyan and Minister of Territorial
Administration Hovik Abrahamyan.
First and foremost, reference was made to the necessity of resolving
the problems with drinking and irrigation water that emerged in the
result of rise of the air temperature.
The Minister presented the positions of the Government and NGOs on
the Law on Yerevan. He received instructions from President Kocharyan
to organize an enlarged discussion featuring political forces, NGOs
and the government.
The issue of transferring the social services under the liabilities
of city communities was discussed.
The interlocutors dwelt on the suggestion of State Cadastre Committee
to raise the cadastre price of land. It was decided that the
corresponding structures should submit arguments regarding the issue.

PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF HUMAN ORGANS SALE
Armenpress
Jun 20 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS: Sona Truzian, a spokeswoman for the
office of Armenia’s prosecutor general, denied media allegations
about disappearance of a patient from the mental house in Vardenis,
Gegharkunik province and sale of human organs allegedly cut off from
the bodies of its dead residents.
She said an investigation launched to check these rumors found no
supporting evidence. She said investigators exhumed 11 bodies and
none missed a body or an organ. Ms. Truzian said the inquiry was
going on yet.
The allegations were made public by an independent parliament member,
Emma Khudabashian, who was quoted by local newspapers as saying that
a group of residents of Vardenis asked her in a letter to urge fast
investigation into allegations that the mental house’s management
was involved in the sale of human organs for transplants.

22 SETTLEMENTS WILL BE RENAMED
A1+
[12:42 pm] 20 June, 2006
NA affirmed the new names of 19 rural settlements in Syunik marz. The
issue of renaming these settlements was put on the agenda for a long
time. The above mentioned settlements got rid of the former foreign
names according to the law.
The change of the names of 19 settlements among 22 ones has
been affirmed so far. The question of three others is still
being discussed. These are the villages Aghbulagh, Musallam and
Okhtar. Three settlements of the marz are included in the list of
the rural communities in the framework of the law.
The settlement Verin Giratar is involved in Lernadzor community,
whereas Pirlu and Qyurut – in Geghi. The historical background
was taken into consideration while choosing the new names of the
settlements. The foreign names will be finally deleted from the map
of the region.
TV Company “Sosi,” Kapan

THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE SHIRAK RESIDENTS WILL BE PRESENTED IN A SEPARATE FESTIVAL
A1+
[12:45 pm] 20 June, 2006
The second festival-conference titled “Armenian Professional Art
and Festival” started in the Gyumri department of the Yerevan State
Conservatory.
The festival is aimed at refreshing memories and emphasizing
the importance of the cultural heritage of the Shirak and Gyumri
composers once more. The festival also has a theoretical part where
the musicians and artists are to present their scientific observations
and conclusions.
It gives the students a good opportunity to present their scientific
observations to the specialists’ evaluation.
TV Company “Tsayg,” Gyumri

PAPER WILLS WITH THE EXPECTATION OF STONE HOUSES
A1+
[03:25 pm] 20 June, 2006
Today is the World Refugee Day. According to the representatives
of the Yerevan department of “Cringo” Network more than 1.5 million
refugees and displaced people because of the conflicts existing in
the Caucasian region look forward to reliable and favorable solution
to their matter; either local integration or return to their homeland.
“Cringo” wants to put the issue of providing the above mentioned people
with houses on the agenda as a fundamental issue of human rights,”
pointed out Seyran Martirosyan, member of the coordinating council.
About 235 000 refugees settled in Armenia, 70 – 75 thousand adopted
Armenian citizenship and 60 – 70 thousand live abroad.
NGOs of “Cringo” Network will initiate a campaign all over the Caucasus
on June 12 – 20. Seyran Martirosyan claims that one of their first
steps will be the screening and demonstrating the housing conditions
of the refugees and displaced people in three cities – Yerevan,
Tbilisi and Baku. They sent a message to all interested persons and
circles of society reflecting the general picture and analysis of
the refugees and displaced people in the corresponding regions of
North and South Caucasus. Besides, 3000 symbolic hoses were made by
children and distributed in all regions which attracted everybody’s
attention. “This action is aimed at reminding the decision makers
that a large percent of refugees and displaced people in the Caucasus
live in collective settlements and are deprived of their fundamental
right to have a shelter.” Though many people suffer from poverty in
the Caucasus there are special issues relating to displaced people
who are the most vulnerable layer of the society. One of them is the
issue of dwelling places,” noted Seyran Martirosyan.
By the way, they underlined the fact that on the one hand the prices
of houses are going up rapidly in the market, and on the other houses
are fewer nowadays.
Thus the solution of the disputed issue lingers.

HEAD OF ARMENIAN CHURCH TO VISIT ISTANBUL
AP Worldstream
Jun 20, 2006
The head of the Armenian Orthodox Church is to begin a weeklong visit
to the Armenian community of Istanbul on Tuesday, where he will also
meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Karekin II, whose official title is Catholicos of All Armenians, has
issued statements saying Turks committed genocide against Armenians
around the time of World War I. Turkish nationalist protests during
his visit are likely.
Turkey has no relations with Armenia, and vehemently denies that Turks
committed genocide, saying Armenians who lived under the Ottoman
Empire were killed in internal fighting among ethnic groups as the
empire collapsed.
Armenia prides itself on being the first nation in the world to
officially adopt Christianity, while Turkey is 99 percent Muslim.

COMMISSION: ARMENIAN PLANE INTACT, ENGINES WORKING BEFORE CRASHING INTO BLACK SEA
AP Worldstream
Jun 19, 2006
The Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea last month
killing all 113 people aboard was intact, had its engines operating
normally and had enough fuel to land, a Russian commission said Monday.
The Armavia Airbus A-320 was under manual control of its pilots up to
the moment of the May 3 pre-dawn catastrophe near the Russian port of
Sochi, the Transport Ministry commission investigating the disaster
said in a statement.
The commission, which based its conclusions after analyzing the plane’s
“black box” flight recorders, did not attribute blame for the crash.
Prosecutors have dismissed the possibility that terrorists brought
the plane down, and officials point to rough weather or pilot error
as the likely cause. Armavia officials have suggested that air traffic
controllers were at least partly to blame, giving the pilots improper
instructions.
The commission said it planned further analysis of the recorders and
computer modeling to determine a cause.
The flight was en route to Sochi from the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress