INTERNATIONAL FORUM IN BRUSSELS
AZG Armenian Daily
03/05/2006
Raffi Hovhannisian, first foreign minister of Armenia, presented
the Republic of Armenia at an international forum in Brussels on
April 28-30.
“Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era” forum is an annual
high-level meeting of the most influential American and European
political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing
challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. Heads of
state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the
member states, US Senators, and Parliamentarians participated among
the 200 participants.
The head of Heritage Party urged in his speech the leaders of the
states to evenly apply the standards of democracy, human rights
protection and genocide prevention to all nations regardless their
place in the world.

HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II VISITS SPECIAL-CARE ORPHANAGE IN NOR KHARBERD
AZG Armenian Daily
03/05/2006
On the afternoon of Sunday, April 9, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, visited the special-care
orphanage in the city of Nor Kharberd. His Holiness brought his
Pontifical blessings and fatherly love to the 240 mentally and
physically handicapped children residing in the orphanage who do not
have the opportunity to attend church services on a regular basis.
Upon his arrival in Nor Kharberd, His Holiness was greeted by
Minister of Labor and Social Services Aghvan Vartanian; the Dean of
the orphanage, Mr.
Haroutiun Balasanian; and the dedicated staff of the center. They
accompanied His Holiness as he first visited the bedrooms of those
children who could not be moved due to medical reasons. The Catholicos
offered a prayer and gave his blessing to all of the children as he
presented each one with a small cross.
On the occasion of the visit of the Pontiff of All Armenians, a special
program had been prepared by the children of the Armenian Church Youth
Center of Nor Nork, operating under the auspices of the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin and the AGBU. The dean of the orphanage welcomed the
Catholicos and his accompanying clergymen, stating that their visit and
blessings would help the children withstand their physical ailments and
emotional pain with greater courage. In appreciation for the musical
and dance program presented by the Youth Center, the children of the
orphanage also presented a program filled with songs and music.
His Holiness addressed his message of blessing to the children and
stated, “We wanted to visit the Nor Kharberd Orphanage because we
know that our dear children living here do not have the opportunity
to come and visit our churches and participate in our services. We
came to bring with us our love for you and our blessings from Holy
Etchmiadzin and to tell you, our boys and girls, that we love you,
we are grateful and proud of you.”
His Holiness also addressed his message of appreciation to the dean
and the staff of the center, noting, “We all know that the message
of Christ is the message of love. We know that God created the world
through His love and that guided by that same love, He sent His Only
Begotten Son to save the world. As St.
Paul says, ‘Love never fails’, and as we know from our faith – Love
conquers all.”, stated His Holiness, asking for God to strengthen the
staff and volunteers of the orphanage, granting them unending love
and patience, so that they may transmit the warmth of their spirits to
the children and lighten the burdens placed upon these innocent souls.
At the conclusion of the visit, His Holiness offered a service
for blessing children prepared especially for this day. Prior to
His Holiness’ departure, the children of the Nor Nork Youth Center
distributed presents which they had prepared for the children of the
Nor Kharberd Orphanage.

“HOT LINE” CREATED
A1+
[12:15 pm] 03 May, 2006
There is still no clear-cut information about the crash of the airplane
A-320. “Armavia” airlines to which the plane belongs has opened a
“hot line”.
Calling (+37-410) 28-63-56 people can get information about the
passengers of the plane. As we were informed by the service, they
still have no information about those saved.
The working group of the civic aviation chief administration has left
for Sochi to learn the details of the crash.

NA SPEAKER CONDOLES
A1+
[12:26 pm] 03 May, 2006
RA AN Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan has sent a condoling message to
the families and relatives of the crew and passengers of the plane
which crashed the previous night.
“I’m shocked by the grievous news about the crash of the Armenian
plane flying from Yerevan to Adler.
On behalf of the National Assembly I condole with the families and
relatives of the crew and passengers of the plane. I am convinced
that we will do everything possible to reveal the reason of the crash.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN RESCUERS LEFT FOR SOCHI
A1+
[12:31 pm] 03 May, 2006
At 11 AM a group of Armenian rescuers left for Sochi, the place of
the air crash of the plane A -320. As the Emergency Administration
informed, the delegation is headed by General-Major Edik Barsegyan,
the head of the RA Rescue Mission, and Sergey Azaryan, the head of
the Administration of protection of population.
The group consists of 10 rescuers. Let us remind you that the
representatives of the RF Emergency Administration arrived at the
place of accident at 07:00 AM.

MAY 5 – A MOURNING DAY IN RUSSIA
A1+
[01:03 pm] 03 May, 2006
RF President Vladimir Putin has condoled with RA President Robert
Kocharyan on the crash of the Armenian airplane flying from Yerevan
to Adler. He announced that it is the tragedy of the Armenian and
Russian nations.
In Russia too, like Armenia, May 5 has been announced a mourning
day. Let us remind you that 26 of the passengers of the plane were
citizens of Russia.

18 BODIES OF PASSENGERS OF ARMAVIA’S CRASHED PLANE FOUND IN BLACK SEA
Yerevan, May 3. ArmInfo. 18 bodies of passengers of the crashed A-320
plane of the Armavia company (Armenia) have been found in the Black
Sea, report Russian sources. Also found are debris, fragments of
bodies, baggage. The plane fell 300 meters deep into the sea.
It was produced by Airbus Industry, the biggest European concern,
in 1987 for short and medium distance flight. It flew for the first
time Feb 22 1987.
The search is underway. The plane was making a crash landing. It
flew from Yerevan to Sochi and got lost from radars 02:15 AM. The
prosecutor’s office of Sochi has instituted criminal proceedings in
the case “violation of the rules of aircraft exploitation.”

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT EXTENDS HIS CONDOLENCES TO RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF THOSE KILLED IN TODAY’S AIR CRASH
Yerevan, May 3. ArmInfo. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan extended
his deep condolences to the relatives and friends of the passengers
and the pilots of the Armavia’s plane that crashed today night while
flying from Yerevan to Sochi.
“I was deeply grieved to learn about the night crash. I extend my
deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of the passengers and
the pilots. I assure that all the aggrieved families will be provided
with support and our authorities will do their best to find out the
reasons of the crash,” says Kocharyan.

“GRAND” INSURANCE COMPANY WILL PAY COMPENSATION TO “ARMAVIA” AIR COMPANY
Panorama.am
16:06 03/05/06
“Grand” Insurance Company is ready to pay the compensation to air
companies “Armavia” in accordance to the Insurance agreement clause
on third party liability – the managing director of “Grand” Artak
Antonyan said to Panorama reporter. In his words the air-craft A-320
was insured also by CASCO (insurance of vehicles against total loss
or partial damage, resulting from fire, theft, malicious acts of
third parties, natural disasters, road accidents, etc).
Presently the amount of the insurance indemnity is being
defined. Antonyan reported that “Grand “reached preliminary agreement
with re-insuring company about compensation payment.

THE MAIN HYPOTHESIS IS BAD WEATHER
A1+
[12:50 pm] 03 May, 2006
Artyom Movsisyan, the head of the Chief Administration of Civic
Aviation announced that the plane A-320 has been examined fully and
completely and the version of its being out of order is excluded. The
state of the plane had also been checked before the flight.
The connection with the plane was lost six minutes before the supposed
landing in the Sochi airport, at about 02:15 AM. As it was revealed,
the plane crushed five kilometers away from the seashore where 300
meters under the water the remains of the crashed plane have been
found.
Artyom Movsisyan has announced that the crew of the plane consisted of
professionals. The head of the Chief Administration of Civic Aviation
also excluded the version of the lack of fuel. According to him,
the plane had 10 tons of fuel whereas only 3.5 tons would suffice
for the flight from Yerevan to Adler.
“The preliminary hypothesis is about the weather”, he said. 77 of the
passengers of the plane were citizens of Armenia, 26 – of Russia, one
of Georgia, and one of Ukraine. The majority of them were Armenians
living in Russia.