DESECRATORS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL WILL BE PUNISHED
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. Minister for Internal Affairs of France
Nicolas Sarcosy considers unbearable the desecration of the memorial
of the Armenian Genocide victims. As it was previously reported,
on April 17 the memorial of the Genocide, erected in Lyon, was
desecrated. The memorial was to be officially opened on April 24,
the 91-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in eth Ottoman Turkey.
‘France Presse’ agency reports that Mr. Sarcosy called the writings
on the memorial denying the fact of the Genocide unacceptable and
promised the desecrators to be punished. In the person of Jules
Martirosian, Minister for Protection of Monuments, Nicolas Sarcosy
expressed solidarity to the Armenian community of France. He reminded
that France has recognized the Genocide of 1915.
It should be noted that unknown barbarians wrote the following:
‘There was no genocide’, ‘One must be happy of being Turk’. On March
18 the Turkish community protested against erecting the memorial.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DM OF IRAN: WE ALWAYS MAINTAINED AND WILL KEEP MAINTAINING TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN
Yerevan , April 20. ArmInfo. Iran is always ready to assist Azerbaijan
in the Karabakh conflict settlement. As the Baku “525” newspaper
informs, the Defense Minister of Iran, Major-General Mustafa Muhammed
Najar told about it during the meeting with the Azerbaijan’s DM
Safar Abiev.
“We have always maintained and will keep maintaining the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan”, Najar said. In his turn, Abiev stated that
the Karabakh conflict serves a main source of tension and a main
factor which hampers the development in the region. “The policy,
carried out by the Armenia’s authorities, will finally result in
a collapse of their country. In our opinion, Iran has to assist
Azerbaijan in the fair solution of this problem”, Abiev said.

STARTED PROCESS OF NEGOTIATIONS ON TURKEYS’ ENTRY INTO EU CAN BE OF
INTEREST FOR ARMENIA
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. The process of negotiations, started in
October, 2005, on Turkey’s entry into the European Union can be of
interest for Armenia, the State FM of Austria Hans Winkler said at
the joint press-conference with the Armenia’s FM Vardan Oskanyan.
According to him, the most important issue for the EU is that
Armenia keeps on making efforts to establish neighborly relations
with Turkey. “The mandate for the beginning of negotiations with
Turkey envisages very transparent work frames. It is unknown, when
these negotiations will be finished. At present, the negotiations
are carried out according to the established procedures”, Winkler said.
He added that a number of tasks are set before Turkey, including
fulfillment of engagements connected with the North Cyprus problem,
process of reforms, assurance of human rights and religious minorities,
freedom of opinions expression. These problems are to be solved during
EU-Turkey negotiations, which may take very much time.
“We do not want to speculate on the versions of the negotiation process
duration, as all the EU criteria must be implemented “, Winkler noted.

U.S. EMBASSY HOLDS FIFTH ANNUAL JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH IN YEREVAN
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. The U.S. Embassy in Armenia is proud to
announce that it will hold its fifth annual Jazz Appreciation Month
in Armenia April 26-30.
This year’s program will include multiple events including film
showings, a jazz dance performance, and Armenian and American jazz
music concerts, which are open to the public, U.S. Embassy told
ArmInfo. The Judy Bady Quartet from New York City, along with many
well-known Armenian jazz musicians, will take part in this week-long
celebration of jazz. A new addition to this year’s events is a jazz
dance performance “American Suite” at the Paronyan Theater. On the
first day of the event, Children’s Art Museum will open at the National
Aesthetic Center.
Tickets for all performances are on sale at the Opera and Paronyan
Theater box offices. Additional information can be found on the U.S.
Embassy website at

AMBASSADOR OF USA TO RA JOHN EVANS WITH WIFE DONNA TO CELEBRATE WORLD
DAY OF LAND IN ARAGATS REGION’S KARIN VILLAGE
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. The Ambassador of the USA to Armenia-
John Evans with his wife Donna will celebrate the World Day of Land in
the Aragats region’s Karin village, where an action for tree planting
will be held.
As ArmInfo was informed in the Yerevan office of the “Armenia Tree
Project” American organization, representatives of the Armenian
government and a number of international organizations will also
participate in the action to be held April 21. To be noted, planting
of 900,000 trees was carried out in 550 communities of Armenia since
1994 by the efforts of the Armenia Tree Project.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA’S FM: INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO
CONTRIBUTE TO PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE IN THE WORLD
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. Armenia and the Armenian people, as a
people, which underwent genocide, bears a moral responsibility in the
issue of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, thus,
to contribute to the further prevention of genocides in the world, The
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told at today’s joint press-
conference with the State Secretary of the Austria’s MFA Hans Winkler.
According to Oskanyan, entering of the Armenian Genocide’s
international recognition issue in the order paper of the Armenia’s
foreign policy is a natural process and it could not be otherwise.
“The Armenia’s authorities bear moral responsibility before the
Armenian people, previous generations, Genocide victims and the world
community, since Genocide is an actual phenomenon for the world”,
Oskanyan said, having reminded that Genocide, by the UN assessment,
is considered of one of the challenges of the XXI century.
At the same time, Oskanyan noted that the results of issue entering
in the republic’s foreign policy order paper are evident. According
to him, the Armenian Genocide has already been recognized by a host
of countries and their number is growing day by day. Besides, this
led to positive shearings even in Turkey, as more representatives of
intelligentsia talked about this issue. The Minister also noted the
connection of this issue with negotiations about Turkey’s membership
in the EC. In response to the question, if the publications in
the Turkish press about contacts at different levels between the
representatives of Armenia and Turkey represent the facts, Oskanyan
said that some publications relative to the contents of meetings are
overestimated grossly, however, the FM confirmed the fact of such
meetings. According to him, the Armenian-Turkish contacts exist and
they were not interrupted even in a “hopeless time”.

ARMENIA’S DEFENSE MINISTER: ANY INCOMPLETE CONFLICT IN CAUCASUS CAN
PLAY ROLE OF DETONATOR
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. Any Incomplete Conflict In The Caucasus
Can Play A Role Of Detonator , The Armenia’S Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkissyan Told In The Interview To The “Krasnaya Zvezda” Newspaper.
“The South Caucasus Is Very Small And All The Countries Here Depend
On Each Other. Thus, Resumption Of Operations May Have Negative
Consequences, For Us As Well. If Talk About The Instability In Georgia,
It Is In No Way Convenient To Armenia, As Georgia Is The Only Country
Which Connects Us With The Outer World. On The Other Hand, Resumption
Of Operations Means A Definite Temptation For Other Countries To Get
Twisted In The Conflict”, Sarkissyan Said.
In Response To The Question Of Possibility Of A Peacemaking
Operation In Nagorny Karabakh, The Minister Expressed Doubt That
“Anyone Is seriously engaged in the preparation of a peacemaking
operation”. As Sarkissyan noted, agreement of parties or, at least,
reference points of the agreement are necessary for this. We can
talk about it only when the parties will come to an agreement and
of course, peacemakers will be necessary after that. Unfortunately,
there is no agreement between Azerbaijan and us so far. Therefore, it
is also early to talk about peacemakers, Sarkissyan stressed. Talking
about the situation around Nagorny Karabakh, the DM noted that the
Karabakh question is being constantly raised in Azerbaijan, thus,
trying to solve other domestic issues. “You probably know that both
the President of Azerbaijan and the Defense Minister talked time and
again, that if we do not agree with their conditions, Baku will have
to solve the issue in a military way. Moreover, we have doubled the
military budget and Azerbaijan has recently stated that it will reduce
it to $1 bln. But I think, there is a blackmail. We are not afraid
of war but we don’t want it either. In 1994, through the mediation
of Russia, an agreement was reached about operations cessation. Today
our forces are in a favorable defensive position and we equipped well
our positions within 12 years. Billion of dollars will not help us
in this case. If fighting efficiency and readiness could be defined
by great military budgets, all the oil states, I think, would have
the most efficient armies. But it is not so.”, Sarkissyan said.

KARABAKH CONFLICT MUST BE RESOLVED ACCORDING TO SELF-DETERMINATION PRINCIPLE
Yerevan, April 19. ArmInfo. The international community should
accept the position of the Armenian side that the Karabakh
problem should be resolved in accordance with the principle of a
nation’s self-determination, says the co-chair of the Armenia-EU
inter-parliamentary cooperation commission Marie-Anne Isler Beguin.
Beguin says that Azerbaijan should recognize the right of the Karabakh
people to self-determination as this is a primary principle in the
international law. Beguin also notes the importance of the problem of
refugees. Refugees should be taken back to the seven districts around
Karabakh. The Karabakh conflict should be resolved in the accordance
with two principles: the right of a nation to self-determination
and the respect of the rights of national minorities. The return of
refugees is exactly the latter principle.
Beguin also notes the necessity of early resolution of the Karabakh
conflict and says that the EU will support the sides in the matter.
She regrets that the EU special representative to Armenia has no
specific directives for the Karabakh conflict settlement. She says that
the international community has undertaken to resolve the conflict as
soon as possible. She notes that the two peoples should be prepared
for compromises. Beguin regrets that the Armenian and Azeri presidents
failed to agree in Rambouillet but hopes that they will agree soon.

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
April 20 2006
Ethnic-Armenian Forces End Military Exercises in Karabakh
The Nagorno-Karabakh army in training, 2005
(Photolur)
April 20, 2006 — Ethnic-Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh
concluded a week of military exercises today in the disputed enclave.
About 1,500 soldiers took part in the exercises, which took place
mainly around the central Agdam region. The area is near the
so-called line of control that separates ethnic-Armenian and
Azerbaijani forces.
The drills were observed by the defense minister and chief of general
staff from Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but is populated mostly by
ethnic Armenians. Clashes regularly break out between the two sides.
At least 30,000 people have been killed and 1 million made refugees
during six years of open conflict that
ended with a ceasefire in 1994.

HANS WINKLER: WE BELIEVE IN CLOSE COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The joint press
conference of RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and head of the
delegation of EU Troika, State Secretary of Austrian Foreign Ministry
Hans Winkler was dedicated to issues of development of cooperation
between Armenia and European Union, as well as to summing up of the
results of the delegation’s visit to Armenia.
The participants of the press conference gave a high estimation
to the results of Troyka’s visit to Armenia, as well as to current
negotiations between Armenia and EU dedicated to discussion of the
Actions Plan. The work at the latter will be over soon as the third
stage of the negotiations will start already in early May. Vartan
Oskanian estimated cooperation between RA and EU as “extensive
and deep” and expressed the hope that further discussion of issues
regarding Armenia’s integration to European structures will bring
effective results. In his turn, Hans Winkler emphasized that the
South Caucasus is a very important region for EU. “EU is interested
in close cooperation with the South Caucasus and considers that the
negotiations on the Actions Plan are a basis for further development
of cooperation between EU and the South Caucasus.
We also believe in close cooperation with Armenia”. According to
him, EU attaches great importance to human rights and development
of democratic processes in Armenia. As for the fact why EU is so
reserved in its reaction towards the violations during the elections
in Armenia and whether EU has a differentiated approach to Armenia
in this issue, Hans Winkler answered: “EU applies general approaches
towards all countries. I think it is clear what we expect from the
elections and there should not be incomprehension here”. Issues
regarding the sphere of energy, including diversification of energy
sources, took a special place at the press conference. Hans Winkler
confirmed the interest of EU in closing the Armenian Nuclear Power
Plant as provision of security on it does not correspond to the
current international standards. Meanwhile, he mentioned that each
country has its strategy in this sphere and has the right to solve
its problems itself. As for the possible consequences for Armenia
of the fact that almost all entities appeared in RF’s hands, Vartan
Oskanian said that diversification does not depend on the circumstance
in whose hands the energy entities are, the most important here is
diversification of sources of energy production and ways of supply
of energy carriers. “Of course, we would like diversification to
be in the issue of countries, too, but it came so that none of the
countries except Russia expressed interest in this issue,” Oskanian
declared. He admitted that indeed the most part of the Armenian energy
entities appeared in the hands of one state, whereas, in his opinion,
everything depends on the clauses of these agreements: “I think these
agreements completely protect our energy security”.