AZERI, ROMANIAN DEFENCE MINISTERS SIGN COOPERATION ACCORDS
ANS TV, Baku
14 Mar 06
[Presenter] Defence Minister Safar Abiyev has discussed the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict with Romanian Minister of National Defence Teodor
Atanasiu who is visiting Azerbaijan. The sides discussed other issues
as well, including prospects for bilateral cooperation.
As a result of the meeting, Azerbaijan and Romania signed three
agreements, including an intergovernmental treaty on technical
cooperation, an agreement on the protection of confidential information
exchanged by the defence ministries of the two countries and an
agreement on military training. After the meeting, Safar Abiyev
briefed journalists on the details of the meeting.
[Safar Abiyev speaking at a press conference] We also exchanged views
on the political and military situation in the Caucasus and in the
Black Sea region. We told Teodor Atanasiu that Armenia has occupied
Azerbaijan’s land and that the country has accumulated a large number
of weapons and military hardware and that the military hardware is
later being transported to the occupied region of Azerbaijan.
[Video showed Teodor Atanasiu walking in front of Azerbaijani
servicemen, the ministers signing agreements]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KENYAN PAPER URGES GOVERNMENT TO COME CLEAN ON MERCENARY ISSUE
The Standard website, Nairobi
14 Mar 06
Text of editorial entitled “More questions than answers in mercenaries
saga” published by Kenyan newspaper The Standard website on 14 March.
There is clearly more than meets the eye in the drama surrounding
reports of mercenaries linked to the raid on this newspaper’s premises
and those of its sister TV station KTN.
Yesterday, two Armenians – whose pictures and personal information were
recently published in the press – presented themselves at the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport to claim they are wealthy businessmen
legitimately seeking investment opportunities in Kenya.
Claiming they are fabulously rich and deal in gold and diamonds, they
made serious allegations against Langata MP Raila Odinga, who has
spearheaded the campaign to unmask them, some of which hinge on the
security and stability of the state. They claimed to have met Raila
and Mwingi North MP Kalonzo Musyoka and that a request was put to them
to finance an anticipated no confidence vote in parliament against the
government at a cost of 3bn shillings. One of them, who says he is a
nephew of Armenia’s president and the country’s presidential candidate,
claims to have given Raila a 1.5m dollars (105m shillings) loan.
Raila has denied all the allegations, and challenged the pair to
produce evidence of their claims.
As we have said before, the allegation that mercenaries are operating
in Kenya is a serious security issue, which should be handled as such
by the government. But since the statement was made following the
raid on The Standard and KTN premises, all we have seen is a denial
by the director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) under
which falls the dreaded Kanga Squad that carried out the midnight raid.
It is instructive that the director has not told Kenyans who the
foreigners commanding the hooded policemen, who were captured by
the closed circuit television cameras, were. He also has not told
Kenyans whether these foreigners joined the raid in an official or
personal capacity, and who was paying for their dirty work. Yesterday
the Armenians denied any link to The Standard raid. However, they
confirmed taking residence at the house in Nairobi that Raila had
pointed to. The CID boss is yet to explain under what circumstances
his officers have been visiting the house.
It is also curious that they made their claims at a selectively
convened press conference at the airport’s VIP lounge that is reserved
for senior state officials and foreign dignitaries. The lounge is
well guarded and special passes are required to access it.
On what grounds were these men allowed to hold their press conference
in this government lounge? Which government official made special
arrangements for them to use this facility?
But even more important, why would a man claiming that the two MPs
were involved in such a criminal act as seeking foreign funds to
undermine the government be allowed to leave the country, without as
much as recording a statement with the police.
We strongly believe Kenyans are being taken for a ride here. The
government must come clean on this matter, once and for all.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANCA SHARES EXPERIENCE WITH CHRISTIAN ACTIVISTS
Yerkir
14.03.2006 15:33
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – As part of the Armenian National Committee of
America’s (ANCA) ongoing outreach to the broader genocide- prevention
community, Executive Director Aram Hamparian shared the Armenian
American advocacy experiences with participants in Ecumenical Advocacy
Days, an annual gathering of over a thousand Christian activists from
around the nation concerned about U.S. foreign policy in Africa and
the Middle East.
In his March 11th presentation on the Darfur Genocide, Hamparian
began by noting the profound gratitude of Armenians for the role that
Christian churches played in raising protests during the Armenian
Genocide, providing relief to its survivors, and in establishing
orphanages for the countless thousands of children left parentless
by this crime.
Stressing the special responsibility that Armenians bear as victims of
the 20th Century’s first genocide, Hamparian discussed the efforts by
the Armenian American community to bear witness to the horrific human
costs of genocide, to press for action to end the genocide in Darfur,
and, more broadly, to help generate the political will to ensure that
this crime is never again visited upon any other peoples – anywhere
in the world.
He then spent the remainder of his presentation outlining the
policy-based and practical political steps needed to build an effective
anti-genocide constituency at both the grassroots and national levels.

GALUST SAHAKYAN: SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT IS AN ALL-ARMENIAN ISSUE
Armradio
14.03.2006 16:38
Albert Bazeyan considers that the latest statement of the RA President
on the possibility of Armenia’s recognizing the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh is dangerous and untimely. According to Bazeyan,
Armenia will present itself as having a deconstructive position,
therefore the pressures will be directed toward Armenia, which Albert
Bazeyan considers illogical, since it is Azerbaijan that consistently
excludes any concessions.
“It is obvious that that there are no levers of agreement in the
negotiations process. These will never be found unless Nagorno-Karabakh
is presented as a subject of talks,” Bazeyan considers.
According to the Head of the Republican faction Galust Sahakyan, the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict is not the problem of Karabakh
Armenians only, it is an all-Armenian issue.
Galust Sahakyan considers that the party more powerful economically
will become the winner in this conflict. The recent violations of the
cease-fire regime escalated talks about the possible resumption of
the war. Galust Sahakyan does not consider such a threat is realistic,
since Azerbaijan should be interested in the maintenance of peace as
much as Armenia.

TREATIES OF MOSCOW AND KARS
Yerkir
14.03.2006 16:48
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – A conference organized by the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation’s (ARF) Nikol Aghbalian Student (NASU) Union on Tuesday,
adopted a resolution calling for the denunciation of the Moscow and
Kars Treaties of 1921.
In his opening remarks, Ishkhan Zakarian, NASU president, said the
Moscow Treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Turkey goes against
the international law and was signed without the participation of
the Armenian people whose fate it was to decide.
He reminded that the Union staged a rally in 1991 outside the Armenian
Supreme Council with a demand to denounce the 1921 Moscow Treaty but
because of the consequent developments no decision was made.
“We the student unions should study the issue and establish that
the treaty is not fair and state that it is not acceptable to us,
especially now that Azerbaijan is talking about territorial integrity
seeing Nakhijevan as its part,” Zakarian said. “We should remind our
neighbor that Nakhijevan was never a part of Azerbaijan and was put
under its control only due to the Moscow and Kars Treaties.”
Speaking at the conference, historian Ghazakhetsian said that the
minutes of the talks preceding the signing of the treaties indicate
there actually were no negotiations. It was a political bazaar, he
said, everything was already decided by the Politburo led by Lenin
and Stalin.
Lawyer Aslanian, in turn, said that under the international law the
treaties had no legal force from the very first day of its signing
and go against the fundamental norms of the international law.
At the end of the conference the participants adopted a resolution
calling on the Armenian Foreign Ministry to make a statement that
those treaties are unacceptable to Armenia. A copy of the resolution
was also sent to the National Assembly. The conference participants
expressed hope that the issue will be included in the NA agenda and
the treaties will be denounced soon.

SUSPECTED MERCENARY ACCUSES KENYAN POLICE OF HARASSMENT, CALLS PRESS CONFERENCE
KTN TV, Nairobi
14 Mar 06
[Presenter] A planned police raid on the Runda residence of one of
the Armenian nationals alleged to be mercenaries was called off early
today under unexplained circumstances.
An advance team of police officers from the Runda police post
was recalled from the posh house without explanation. An Armenian
national who is holed up at the house has accused the police of
harrassment. Arturo Margaryan has announced that he will call a press
conference later this afternoon. [Passage omitted]

U.S. TRAINS SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ON EMERGENCY SITUATIONS AND TERRORIST ATTACKS
AP Worldstream
Mar 14, 2006
U.S. Department of Defense launched Tuesday a training conference
with Southeastern European countries on how to respond emergency
situations and terrorist attacks, said Albanian Interior Ministry.
Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria were taking part at
the three-day conference organized by the Defense Department and the
Albanian Interior Ministry in Tirana. Serbia-Montenegro, Armenia and
Denmark were also participating as observers.
A joint exercise is shceduled to be held in Albania in May to practice
the procedures, according to a statement. In the exercise they will
improvise how to respond to flooding situations and terrorist acts
at a port.
The conference will discuss the organizational, technical and
practical elements of the exercise and the use of standards and
unified procedures on the use of the technique offered by the U.S.
Defense Department, said the statement.

VARTAN OSKANIAN AND NIKOLAY BORDYUZHA DISCUSS WAYS OF CSTO ACTIVITY IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY RAISING
Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The current situation in the territory
of th e Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and ways of
improvement of organization’s activity and raising of its efficiency
were discussed at RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s meeting
with CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha who is in Armenia on
a working visit.
The prospect of cooperation of CSTO with other international
organizations was also discussed. In this connection N.Bordyuzha
presented the results of his visit to Central Asia and UN Central
Headquarters.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by RA Foreign Ministry Press and
Information Department, the sides also touched upon issues regarding
the Collective Security Council sitting to be held in June in Minsk
and preparation of sittings of bodies subordinate to CSTO.

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN MARZES OF KOTAYK AND HEGHARKUNIK THIS YEAR
Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The medical employees of the primary
health care circle of the Armenian marzes of Kotayk and Gegharkunik
don’t implement many of main instructions necessary for pre-natal,
post-natal, child’s care, consulting on family planning and treatment
of sexually transmitted diseases.
Zaruhi Mkrtchian, the Monitoring and Estimation Specialist informed
about this at the March 14 discussion, refering to results of studies
held in the above-mentioned marzes. The study was held within the
framework of the Renovate and Assist Reproduction Health program
financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Z.Mkrtchian mentioned that only the 35% of visitors knows which medical
services of the reproductive health are included in the package of the
free medical services adopted by the Government. According to her, the
majority of visitors informed that they paid about 50 thousand drams
(about 110 U.S. dollars) for medical services of maternal health and
neonatal care.
It was mentioned that the goal of the Reproductive Health program
with the duration of 5 years is to improve the accessibility of the
medical services of the maternal and infant’s care in the rural places
of Armenia. The program is implemented by the Emerging Markets Group,
Intrahealth International and Save the Children organizations. The
main circle of activity of the program includes re-training of medical
employees of the rural reproductive health and primary health care
level and allocation of necessary equipment.
The program has been implemented since 2004 in Lori, Shirak and
Tavush marzes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONCERT VARIANT OF MOZART’S THE MAGIC FLUTE OPERA TO BE PERFORMED ON YEREVAN NATIONAL OPERA STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The 250th jubilee of Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart will be celebrated by the performance of the concert
variant of the composer’s “The Magic Flute” opera on March 17 and
18 at the Yerevan National Opera and Ballet Academic Theater after
Alexander Spendiarian. The concert performance of “The Magic Flute”
on the Yerevan stage will be headed by Swiss famous conductor Facundo
Agudin. The premierre of the opera performance will also take place
under his head in May-June.
As Gegham Grigorian, the Artistic Head of the National Opera and
Ballet Academic Theater stated at the march 14 press-conference,
director of “The Magic Flute” opera Michael Locher is from Germany,
Sean MacAllister from Italy is the lighting designer, and the clothes
designer is Ann Spinelli from Switzerland.
According to Gegham Grigorian, entrance of one of the Yerevan
performances will be free for children and booklets dedicated to Mozart
and “The Magic Flute” will be published specially for that purpose.
Besides that, the performance will be released by DVDs as well as will
be broadcast in Armenia and a number of European countries. Spanish
journalist and photographer Rodrigo Carrizo Couto who is in Armenia
during these days will cover the concert for press of Spain,
Switzerland, France and Argentina.
Conductor Facundo Agudin’s cooperation with the National Opera and
Ballet Academic Theater started still in 2005 when the famous conductor
arrived in Armenia to participate in the premierre of composer David
Halajian’s “Stephan Elmas” piano concert.
“I’m very glad to be in Armenia. It’s an excellent opportunity for
me to work with the staff of the National Opera and Ballet Theater,”
the Swiss director mentioned. According to him, it seldom happens
that both orchestra and choir and soloists work at the theater so
jointly. “A wonderful working atmosphere is created here. I’m very
glad that I put on the stage that great work of Mozart just in this
theater,” Facundo Agudin emphasized.
Gegham Grigorian mentioned that a Mozart was for the last time put
on the Armenian stage 30 years ago. The Artistic Head of the theater
is sure that they will again put on the stage “Don Juan” as well as
the composer’s other works as the theater today has that potential.