ARMENIAN MPS RESPECTED THE MEMORY OF THE AIR CRASH VICTIMS WITH A MINUTE OF SILENCE
ArmRadio.am
03.05.2006 17:00
On the occasion of the crash of the airplane flying from Yerevan to
Sochi the National Assembly today interrupted its work with a minute
of silence.
At the initiative of NA Deputies, a commission comprising
representatives of all groups and factions has been created, which
will invite its first sitting today.

DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE MR JEAN-LOUIS LAURENS VISITS ARMENIA
Lragir.am
03 May 06
On 4 May, Director General of Political Affairs of the Council of
Europe Mr Jean-Louis Laurens will pay official visit to Armenia.
The visit is organised in the context of celebrating the fifth
anniversary of Armenia’s membership in the Council of Europe. On
this occasion Mr Laurens will address the “Armenia and the Council
of Europe: Five Years of Membership” conference, which will take
place in Yerevan, on 5 May. On the sidelines of the conference,
Mr Laurens will have meetings with RA Foreign Minister Mr Vardan
Oskanian, RA Parliament Speaker Mr Arthur Baghdasaryan, RA Human
Rights Defender Armen Harutyunyan and other high-ranking officials
as well as representatives of international organisations.
On 6 May, Mr Laurens will participate in the opening ceremony of the
Yerevan School of Political Studies (YSPS) academic year 2006 and
will deliver the first lecture for the new YSPS students.

UNITED STATES IS NOT LIKELY TO BUILD NEW NUCLEAR PLANT IN ARMENIA
Lragir.am
03 May 06
The head of the American party of the U.S.-Armenia Task Force on
Economic Cooperation Tom Adams stated this May 2 in Yerevan. The energy
security of Armenia and the question of closing the nuclear power plant
were discussed in the meeting in Yerevan. The minister of finance
and economy of Armenia Vardan Khachatryan said the Armenian party
presented our approach towards closing the nuclear plant of Armenia.
“The deputy minister of energy stated clearly that one of the
preferable options in our strategy is to launch the second nuclear
plant on the day when this generating unit closes down, and the
government is trying to raise funds for its construction,” says Vardan
Khachatryan. Official Yerevan says if the 44 megawatt generating unit
of the nuclear plant is closed down, a new 1000 megawatt generating
unit should be constructed.
“There was a broad discussion, and the American party made a very
correct observation, that closing the plant also requires funds,
and these funds should be raised beforehand because it is a big sum,
and we need to raise them first,” says Vardan Khachatryan, adding
that it is at the same time a small and a big problem. The head of
the U.S.-American delegation Tom Adams says closing down a nuclear
plant is an important question for the government of Armenia, as it
is essentially related to people. Tom Adams reminded the disaster in
Chernobyl. Armenia has to make an important decision in the upcoming
several years, and there are questions of safety and security, which
concern both Armenia and its neighbors, as well as huge economic and
macroeconomic consequences, says Tom Adams.
He stated that the standpoint of the United States on this issue
is the same; the United States will aid Armenia with research to
enable Armenia to make the right decision. However, Tom Adams says,
much more data is needed to make a final decision. U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia John Evans confirms this standpoint. According to him,
it is necessary to think on the future choice of energy capacity.
Ambassador Evans says today we must make a choice for tomorrow. John
Evans also urges to conduct a research to express an opinion on the
future of atomic energy in Armenia. The Americans, nevertheless,
do not endorse a new nuclear plant, and Tom Adams stated this. The
head of the American delegation to the U.S.-American Task Force on
Economic Cooperation stated that the United States believes there is
a better alternative to a second nuclear plant in Armenia. Tom Adams
says considering that Armenia is in a seismic zone it would be wiser
to find an alternative to a second nuclear plant. According to him,
the United States does not endorse the construction of a second nuclear
plant in Armenia, and no American company would build a second nuclear
plant in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WORLD WILL NOT IMPACT IRAN-ARMENIA COOPERATION
Lragir.am
03 May 06
The concerns about the nuclear program of Iran and possible
developments will not impact the U.S.-Armenia economic relations and
programs underway. This was stated by U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John
Evans May 2. The ambassador also made it clear that the U.S. approach
towards Iran will not impact the Iran-Armenia energy programs.
He said the United States understands the state of Armenia, which
needs to diversify its energy sector, and here gas is concerned as
well. John Evans said the American legislation provides for sanctions
against entities that would make big investments to the energy sector
in Iran, however, he said, this is not the case.

AMERICANS ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THE OWNER OF COMMUNICATION
Lragir.am
03 May 06
Would the United States make investments in the communication sector
of Armenia, considering that the Greek Company OTE is going to sell
the shares of Armentel, and a Russian company might buy them? In a
May 2 news conference the reporters asked this question to U.S.
Ambassador John Evans. The ambassador answered that the United States
is interested in the quality of communication, not more.
He said the only wish to Armenia is to have an efficient,
well-operated, cost-effective and justified communication system.
John Evans said it is utterly important because development of the
Internet is hindered by high costs and a high cost-price.

TERRORIST ATTACK WAS NOT CONFIRMED
Lragir.am
03 May 06
Igor Zhukov, the head of the North Caucasian Bureau of Transport and
Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation stated that the version
of a terrorist attack on the Armenian A-320 plane, which crashed
when flying to Sochi from Yerevan in the morning of May 3 was not
confirmed. “There are several versions, it was either caused by a
mistake of the pilot, or a technical problem, or maybe the ground
services made some mistake,” announced Zhukov May 3 to news reporters.
The spokesman of the Southern Regional Agency of the Ministry of
Emergencies of Russia Oleg Grekov announced that by midday the rescuers
have already found 38 dead bodies. It is known that out of the 105
passengers 28 were citizens of Russia, there was a national of Georgia,
and a citizen of Ukraine. The rest were citizens of Armenia. By
preliminary information all the passengers died. The rescuers work in
the place of the crash but the weather is getting worse. The speed of
the wind is 10-11 mps, with fog and rain, there might be a storm. All
the small ships are to leave the place o the crash.
The press secretary of the Department of Civil Aviation Gayane Davtyan
said there is unconfirmed information that the black box of the plane
has been found. At midday on May 3 the families of the passengers of
the crashed plane left for Sochi.

THERE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL VERSION OF THE CRASH OF A-320
Lragir.am
03 May 06
Sources, standing close to aviation, say the A-320 plane of Armavia,
which crashed near the Russian city of Adler, could have some
technical problems.
These aircrafts are automatic, the plane can land without a pilot.
However, the airport must have modern equipment. The airport of Sochi
did not have such equipment. According to our source, the dispatcher
informed our pilots that the weather was bad. In such cases the
commander of the plane decides whether to land or not. The pilots
decided to return to Yerevan, but some time later the same dispatcher
informed that the weather was improving, and the landing was possible.
On the other hand, several months ago the same plane had problems in
Paris. The airlines announced that the plane had problems, and the
flight was delayed for several hours. Problems occurred with the same
plane in Amsterdam, and Armavia had to send another plane for the
passengers, and this plane returned to Armenia empty. The aircraft
was inherited from Siberia Airlines. The entrance of these planes
to Europe is allowed on one condition: they must undergo a complete
technical examination once a month. And such technical examination
is done in Europe only.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OVER 200 MASS MEDIA IN ARMENIA
Lragir.am
03 May 06
There are over 200 mass media in Armenia, announced Member of
Parliament Hranush Hakobyan during the celebration of the Day of
Freedom of Press at the Armenian office of the UN. According to
her, if in the early 90s there was only one TV channel and several
newspapers in Armenia, today the situation has changed fundamentally.
According to Hranush Hakobyan, there are problems related with freedom
of press in Armenia, but these are secondary against the achievements
in freedom of speech over these years. “Fifteen years is too little
time to reach a level of culture that Europe has,” announced Hranush
Hakobyan, adding that Europe rose to this height after struggle that
lasted for a century.

ARF SUPREME BODY OF ARMENIA ISSUES CONDOLENCES OVER PLANE CRASH
Yerkir
03.05.2006 15:03
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Body of
Armenia offered its condolences to the family and relatives of the
victims killed in the crash of the Armenian airliner on Wednesday.
The message reads: “It was with a great pain that we learned of the
crash of the airliner flying from Yerevan to Sochi. We offer our
condolences to the family, relatives and friends of the victims.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY NOT TO OPEN SEMINARY AT CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHATE
Yerkir
03.05.2006 11:41
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Turkey is not going to open the seminary of
the Constantinople Patriarchate again, stated Turkish FM Abdullah
Gul. “Licensing the seminary providing religious education runs
counter to the principle of secular order of the Turkish Republic
and its Constitution,” he said.
The statement was made at a meeting of NATO FMs in Sofia. Gul reminded
that Turkish authorities earlier proposed that Constantinople Patriarch
Bartholomew to pass it to Istanbul University, but the latter refused.
Gul also said there are no limitations of religious liberty of
national minorities in Turkey. The EU, whom Turkey works to join as
a full member, and the US constantly criticize Turkey for violating
religious liberties and rights of national minorities, RIA Novosti
reports referring to the Hurriett.
We note that the Orthodox seminary, situated in Halki Island in the
Sea of Marmara, was closed in January 1971 based on the law banning
religious schools in Turkey. It was many times suggested to convey
the seminary to one of Istanbul universities, however this idea
was not realized since then due to constant differences between the
Constantinople Patriarchate and the Turkish Government.