Armenpress

MISS ARMENIA OFFICE DENIES BRIBE ALLEGATIONS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS: Karen Aristakesian, director of Miss
Armenia national agency, denied today allegations that the Armenian sponsors
of Anush Grigorian paid 10,000 euros in bribes to judges at a Miss
Intercontinental beauty contest in China last month to help her finish
fourth . In an interview with Armenpress Karen Aristakesian described what
had happened as “a clash of interests.”
“As a judge at Miss Intercontinental beauty contest I voted in favor of
Armenian representative and before the contest and after it I gave no bribes
to anyone and never negotiated it with any of the rest of judges,”‘ he said.
The first report about the incident was published by a local daily Azg, y
which said that the head of the European branch of the World Beauty
Organization has resigned over the allegations. Azg also said Anush
Grigorian has been barred from participation in an upcoming international
beauty contest in Panama. According to Aristakesian, the organizers of Miss
Intercontinental contest in China had demanded that Miss Armenia national
agency give back its licenses and refused also to give the money prize set
for the fourth place and even the band confirming that Anush Grigorian came
forth.
“But even if the licenses had not been demanded back, the agency had no
intentions to further participate in beauty contests organized by the World
Beauty Organization and I told about our intention to some of its
officials,” he said Describing the beauty contest in China as ‘a peculiar”
game, Aristakesian denied Armenian press reports that Anush Grigorian was
banned from further participation in such contests, saying she was
disqualified only from participation in next context due in Panama.

Armenpress

TURKEY AWAITS OUTCOME OF ARMENIAN-AZERI TALKS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS: The New Anatolian Magazine in Turkey
quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying that Ankara is awaiting the
outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani talks over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to
decide whether to start the process of normalization of relations with
Yerevan or not.
The magazine said Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are expected to make
progress in the conflict regulation efforts and agree on a proposal
envisaging the withdrawal of Armenian troops from five of 7 Azeri regions,
controlled by Armenian troops, while the status of Karabakh will be decided
in a referendum within next 15 years. The magazine said Turkish officials
were pondering over lifting Armenia’s transport blockade after Armenian
troops pulled out of the occupied regions. It also said Armenian occupation
of Azeri territories was one of the main obstacle to normalization of ties
between Yerevan and Ankara.
“Though Armenian authorities implicated recently that they were ready to
give its foreign policy line for recognition of so-called genocide
allegations, special ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey are hindering
Turkish government to open its borders with Armenia unless a solution is
found to the Karabakh dispute,” the New Anatolian said.

AZG Armenian Daily #149, 24/08/2005

Karabakh issue

PACKAGE YET STEP-BY-STEP SOLUTION TO KARABAKH ISSUE

Why Aliyev Turns Skeptic? – Analysts Comment

The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Armenia responded to the last statement of
Azerbaijani President on Saturday. Vartan Oskanian replied to the Azeri
comprehension of Karabakh regulation methodology, to “arming race” in the
neighboring state and to aggressive and belligerent statements of Ilham
Aliyev.

“Everybody is well aware, including the Azeris, that the status of Nagorno
Karabakh is primary in the Karabakh regulation and it should be decided
based on the right of people of Karabakh on choosing its own destiny. Other
issues – elimination of conflict aftereffects, return of territories and
refugees – stem out of the primary one and will follow it. The package
regulation, certainly, can be realized step by step, and we can and are
ready to display flexibility”, Armenian foreign minister told Armenpress.

What shall we understand from Oskanian’s comment? Davit Babayan, political
analyst from Stepanakert, voices his opinion: “This means that the
conflicting sides come to an agreement, sign a peace treaty itemizing all
necessary issues of regulation – status of Nagorno Karabakh, territories
under Karabakh control, refugees, blockade etc. They settle secondary issues
through step-by-step alternative. The package regulation is to be applied
for the status of Karabakh as recognition is of declarative character, i.e.
Baku should recognize Karabakh as part of Armenia or as a sovereign state.
All other issues, demanding technical preparation and finances, can be
settled gradually”.

Stepan Safarian, expert at the Armenian Center for Strategic and National
Research, thinks that Oskanian’s approach suggests the following: reaching
written agreement over all issues, including status, but informing the
public about the phases and realizing them gradually in course of time. “In
that case, Aliyev can avert serious problems with the public opinion on the
threshold of parliamentary elections. Moreover, first steps regarding
territories and refugees can be in favor of the Azeri society. Those issues
will be settled once Azerbaijan agrees to present guarantees for the status
of Karabakh”, Safarian says.

Armenian foreign minister explained earlier what he means by “flexibility”.
“We tend to document the right of self-determination of the people of
Karabakh and can be flexible as regards the time of the final
materialization”. This means that self-determination can be realized in
10-15 years, otherwise Azerbaijan may refuse the status that Yerevan and
Stepanakert strive for, once getting Karabakh-controlled territories.

“If we settle issues concerning conflict aftereffects without deciding the
status of Karabakh, then one of the sides may reject its obligations
changing thus military-political situation”, Babayan says.

A few days prior to Kazan meeting between Armenian and Azeri presidents,
Ilham Aliyev displays skepticism over negotiation process. The Azeri
President noted in particular that “he tends to peaceful regulation”. “But,
as you can see, there is no visible progress here. Therefore we should be
ready to liberate our lands by force if needed. To do that, Azerbaijan has
to be twice as powerful as Armenia”, Aliyev said, pointing out that the
Prague Process suggests step-by-step regulation and, regarding the status,
Karabakh can get the highest autonomy within Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan, as a rule, either picks at the Minsk group or expresses
skepticism over the talks process whenever it fails to get what it wants.
Regarding the Azeri definition or estimation of the Prague Process, they
pose their wishes as reality”, Oskanian told Armenpress.

Stepan Safarian explains the reason of Ilham Aliyev’s skepticism: “Aliyev
pleases Russia by hinting at the prospect of no soon regulation, especially
when the immediate regulation is somehow connected with the prospect of
locating US military bases in Azerbaijan, regarding which America expects
Aliyev’s reply (in an interview to News Week Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan
“is no outpost to any country”). The Azeri President, in this regard, tries
to make the US understand that it is not satisfied with current agreements
and wants more for the price of “its agreement”.

Besides, the expert thinks, Aliyev tries to demonstrate “his own rebellion”
against the West’s pressure in demanding Azerbaijan to hold democratic
elections and in supporting the opposition.

Vartan Oskanian also noted in his comments that “the increase of
Azerbaijan’s military budget owing to dollars from oil does not give them
much in essence”. “Azerbaijan can neither attract us with oil, nor, even
more so, frighten us. Armenia always has the capacity to counterbalance any
military budget of Azerbaijan. In fact, the privilege of the Armenians is
not in the military expenses or arming but in being just in their claim.
Armenians believe in their righteousness in the Karabakh issue and in case
of a war will fight for their land and home – something that the Azeris did
not do and will not do”, Oskanian said.

By Tatoul Hakobian

European group leader says elections will test Azerbaijan’s democracy

.c The Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – The president of a European organization said
Tuesday that November parliamentary elections would test democracy in
Azerbaijan, while an opposition leader accused authorities of seeking
to undermine his campaign by running candidates with the same name.

“The upcoming elections are a test case for your country,” Rene van
der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, told a news conference at the end of a two-day visit to the
politically tense Caucasus Mountain nation.

Referring to the Nov. 6 elections in Azerbaijan and a constitutional
referendum in neighboring Armenia, he said that “for both countries
it’s a real opportunity to show the international community that you
are willing and able to fulfill the commitments of free and fair
elections.”

Van der Linden also urged Azerbaijan’s opposition to act responsibly
and “approach the elections in the constructive spirit of
democracy,” and called on law enforcement organizations to solve the
March slaying of opposition magazine editor Elmar Huseinov.

Tensions are high before the vote, with opposition groups fearing
fraud on the part of the government.

A leader of the opposition alliance Yeni Siyaset, Eldar Namazov, said
two candidates who shared his name have been nominated to run in his
district – one a businessman and the other a prison guard – in what he
called a bid to draw votes away from him by confusing voters.

Accusations of vote-rigging after the October 2003 presidential
election erupted into violence in the oil-rich former Soviet
republic’s capital, Baku.

08/23/05 16:21 EDT

Foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss
Karabakh conflict in Moscow

.c The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) – The foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
were slated to meet in Moscow on Wednesday for discussions of the
conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave and a planned meeting this
week between the two Caucasus nations’ presidents, the Interfax news
agency reported.

“Negotiations have intensified noticeably over the past six months,”
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov was quoted as saying
Tuesday, referring to talks on Nagorno-Karabakh that have been
mediated by Russia, the United States and France.

The bloodshed began after the legislature of the ethnic
Armenian-dominated enclave in Azerbaijan called in 1988 for the region
to be incorporated into Armenia, which like Azerbaijan was then still
a Soviet republic. Full-scale military offensives broke out in 1991;
thousands were killed and a million displaced.

A tense cease-fire has held since 1994 but efforts to finally resolve
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status have repeatedly failed.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliev are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of a summit of the
Commonwealth of Independent States in Russia’s Volga River city of
Kazan on Friday, Interfax said.

08/24/05 02:26 EDT

#
Sunday, August 21, 2005
************************************
It is not anti-Armenian to suggest that if Turks are human beings they deserve our understanding.
*
Because I speak for understanding, tolerance, and dialogue, I am accused of denying the Genocide. I see no connection there, but I see a connection between being perennial losers and perennial ignoramuses.
*
I am against hatred not because I love murderers and rapists but because hatred limits our ability to function at our full potential.
*
Freedom of speech does not mean my freedom is more important than yours is because I am right and you are wrong. It means the freedom to be wrong, that is to say, to be fallible, that is to say, to be human.
*
Armenians are a misunderstood, unappreciated, and ignored people, and ignored not only by odars but also by Armenians.
*
Authoritarianism, intolerance, and charlatanism: I see them as three different facets of the same aberration.
*
Any idea that remotely resembles what I thought twenty years ago as a dupe is repellent to me today, as it may well be twenty years hence to our dupes today.
*
As long as there are Armenians who are not Armenophiles and Turks who are not Turcophiles, we may hope for reconciliation, coexistence, and peace.
#
Monday, August 22, 2005
**********************************
I am for dissent and against propaganda regardless of race, color, and creed. Between a Turkish dissident and an Armenian propagandist I will be on the side of the dissident; and I refuse to believe that agreement with a dissident Turk and disagreement with an Armenian propagandist is a capital offense.
*
The sentence, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do,” could also be rephrased as, “Forgive them, Father, for they have been brainwashed.”
*
The only way to agree with a propagandist is to allow him to brainwash you.
*
Where benefactors play a central role, there will be rule by flunkies and brown-nosers parading as intellectuals and statesmen. When asked to name the greatest influences in his life, one of these so-called statesmen-intellectuals is quoted as having named one of our national benefactors.
*
After subsidizing the construction of a museum dedicated to Armenian history and culture, one of our benefactors is said to have offered his old desk as an exhibit. What a book one could write on the megalomania of our benefactors!
*
Until she died a couple of years ago, the wealthiest woman in Turkey is said to have been a bordello madam by the name of Manoogian. At her death even our weeklies in the diaspora published long obituaries.
#
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
***********************************
There are two kinds of people, those who say, “Let us reason together” and mean it, and the others. It is to the “others” that we owe all wars and massacres.
*
As long as I have the agreement of moderates on both sides, why should I care about the others? To put it more bluntly: as long as I have the agreement of reasonable men, why should I give a damn about the disagreement of jackasses?
*
My greatest ambition in life: to make my readers smile even when I write about sad things.
*
More often than not I do nothing but paraphrase our writers (see my DICTIONARY OF ARMENIAN QUOTATIONS). Our jackasses are not aware of this fact because they don’t read Armenian writers. Their ignorance thus allows them to parade as good Armenians even as they voice views that are neither good nor Armenian.
*
The Turks say, “We are not guilty of slaughtering Armenians,” and our political parties say, “We are not guilty of leading the nation to the slaughterhouse.” Nothing new in that. All significant historic events have their defenders and critics. Napoleon is a hero to some, a villain to many others. The American, French, and Russian Revolutions have their apologists as well as critics. Notwithstanding their countless victims, Stalin and Hitler have their defenders. Even Hiroshima has been Rashomonized.
*
Like all moderates, I believe silencing or exterminating the opposition is not the only legitimate way of settling differences.
#
Wednesday, August 24,2005
***********************************
Speaking as a layman, I say if our political parties and their pundits have so far failed to convince me, they have also failed to convince many others. The reason of our high alienation and assimilation rate (or “white massacre”) must be sought in this failure rather than in “historic, social, cultural, and environmental factors beyond our control.”
*
If you are like myself a man of limited knowledge and understanding, you will have many adversaries among those who know and understand everything.
*
Preaching to the converted is one of the most popular and profitable commercial enterprises in the world.
*
After meeting a nice Turk and a nasty Armenian you are bound to question many other assumptions.
*
Armenian writers survive only by writing for an odar audience. The culturally starved Armenian will only starve them.
#

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF THE ST. EGIDIO BROTHERHOOD

His Holiness Aram I met with around 30 members of the St. Egidio
secular brotherhood which functions under the patronage of the
Roman Catholic Church. His Holiness briefed the visitors about the
birthplace of Christianity, the Middle East and the long history of
Christian-Muslim coexistence.

“The Christian Muslim dialogue has its toots in the Middle East, where
these two monotheistic religions have witnessed a dialogue unfolding
over the centuries. Lebanon is in this sense a mosaic of religions
and this gives it a unique character and identity,” said His Holiness.

Aram I pointed that while international conferences and seminars
about dialogue can sometimes be fake, the Christian-Muslim dialogue in
Lebanon is not based on conference agendas. “Rather, it is everywhere:
in people’s homes, shops, on the streets, in other words, in everyday
life.”

The members of the Brotherhood attended the Holy Mass conducted in
the Chapel of St. Asdvadzadzine. They also visited the St. Gregory
the Illuminator Cathedral and the Martyrs’ Chapel in Antelias.

The St. Egidio Brotherhood often organizes international conferences
with the aim of developing a dialogue between religions. His Holiness
Aram I has frequently been invited to attend these conferences.

##

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE

Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

HIS HOLINESS MEETS WITH FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER SALLOUKH

His Holiness Aram I received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Lebanon Fawzi Salloukh in his office in Antelias on August 23.

The minister briefed His Holiness about the internal situation of
Lebanon in general and talked about the country’s foreign affairs. His
Holiness informed the minister about the international relations of the
Catholicosate of Cilicia and the Armenian communities it represents.

The minister talked with admiration and respect about the Armenian
community of Lebanon, its participation in the political life of
the country and the contribution it has brought to Lebanon’s growth
and progress.

His Holiness stressed that the importance of guaranteeing Lebanon’s
security and stability and pointed out that political leaders should
refrain from making provoking statements.

The Catholicos emphasized that the government should act as a single
unit. He added that new impetus should be given to the relations
between Lebanon’s different communities and international and regional
developments should be closely followed.

The foreign affairs minister gave a brief press conference after
his meeting with His Holiness Aram I. He expressed satisfaction at
meeting with “such spiritual leaders who have wide knowledge about
religious and political issues.”

The minister then spoke about the Armenian community of Lebanon,
considering it an indispensable part of the country’s communities
and acknowledging the important role it has played in the country’s
progress.

He also talked about the Lebanese-Armenians living in different part
of the Diaspora and their “honorable work” for the progress of Lebanon.

##

View picture here:

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
history and the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE

Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

HIS HOLINESS MEETS WITH THE MINISTER OF CULTURE

His Holiness Aram I received the Minister of Culture Tarek Mitri in
Bikfayya on August 21. The minister informed His Holiness about the
reform undertaken in the ministry entrusted to him.

His Holiness outlined the importance that should be given to culture in
Lebanon, pointing out that the field had witnessed a recess during the
politically and economically critical periods the country went through.

Ms. Teni Pirri Simonian, the director of the World Council of Churches’
(WCC) department for church and ecumenical relations, attended the
second part of the meeting. The sides talked about issues related to
the WCC and future plans regarding the Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Mitri is the director of the Inter-Religious Relations and Dialogue
department of WCC. Minister Mitri then had dinner with His Holiness
Aram I and the conversation between the two continued on various
issues related to culture and dialogue between religions.

##

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about
the history and the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may
refer to the web page of the Catholicosate,
The Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church
is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE
The Greens Union of Armenia
Contact: Dr. Hakob Sanasarian,
President of The Greens Union
Address: Mamikoniants St. 47-13, Yerevan, Armenia.
Telephone: (374-2) 257 -634.
US Contact: Dr. Anne Shirinian, phone/fax (732) 462-9089
E-mail: [email protected]

A FEW WORDS ABOUT MINING AND PRIVATIZATION OF MINES IN ARMENIA

August, 2005

A government Decree # N 1677-², dated December 12, 2004, privatized
the Copper-Molybdenum mine of Zangezur, by selling its shares to 3
companies. This was done under a private property law/regulation,
violating the fact that the mine was NOT a private property but a public
one – it belonged to the government. No public body or office or entity
was consulted regarding the privatization of the mine and its associated
works, such as the processing plant. By another Decree # N 1768-²,
dated December 16, 2004, the government ordered the proceeds from the
sale of the mine and its works (132 million USD) to be credited to the
extra-budgetary, foreign currency account of the Ministry of Finance and
Economics of Armenia.

Last year, in 2004, the mining works processed 8.5 million tons of raw
material and generated about 130 million USD for the government of
Armenia, according to official sources.

Meanwhile, in the towns of Meghradzor and Sotk, the privatized mines of
gold are producing the raw material, which is then moved to the “Ararat”
gold processing plant (also privatized), where gold is extracted from
the raw material. Work conditions are so inhuman at the mines that the
miners have resorted to a strike resulting in dismissals from employment
in large numbers, even though the miners’ demands were reasonable, such
as access to drinking water and toilet facilities, a certain regard for
worker safety, pay for overtime hours, living wages, compensation for
limbs lost on the job, vacation time, firings should be explained/
justified, etc. Indeed, work conditions are brutal and unsafe at the
mines; miners work at 2370 meters above sea level, where winter-time
temperatures can drop to -40deg Celsius, workers are not given a chance
for a break at the fire to get warmed and are dismissed regularly for
complaining, and, recently, the mining company has lagged in paying them
their monthly wages. Finally, according to mining experts, the company
is exploiting the mine with total disregard to conventional mining
methods, such that after the company leaves, the mines will become
useless for any further exploitation.