AZERI SOLDIER KILLED IN ARMENIAN CEASE-FIRE VIOLATION
ANS TV, Baku
17 May 06
Azerbaijani soldier Ektan Rafiq oglu Haciqayibov was killed as
Armenians violated the cease-fire in Azerbaijan’s Goranboy District
today, the Azerbaijani private TV station ANS has reported.
The TV also said that the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the
village of Tapqaraqoyunlu in Goranboy District came under fire twice
at 0130 gmt and 0930 gmt on 17 May.

RADIK MARTIROSYAN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF ACADEMY
Lragir.am
17 May 06
On May 17 the general meeting of the National Academy of Sciences
took place in Yerevan to elect president of the Academy. The
candidates were three: Lenser Aghalovyan, the director of the
Institute of Mechanics, Scientific Secretary of the NAS Edward
Ghazaryan, and Radik Martirosyan, the former rector of Yerevan State
University. Seventy-nine academicians and associate members were
present at the meeting. By the results of the vote Radik Martirosyan
was elected president of the NAS. 46 voted for Radik Martirosyan,
27 against, six abstained from vote.

FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO ANKARA HOPES PARLIAMENT WILL VOTE DOWN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 19:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Parliamentarians Union head Hasan Korkmazcan
said yesterday that a bill about the Armenian genocide facing the
French Parliament this week will set a historical test for bilateral
relations, while French Ambassador to Ankara Paul Poudade asserted
that the French government opposes the bill. The debates about the
bill proposing prison terms and fines to those who question the
claims are mounting as the date for debates of the bill looms, New
Anatolian reports.
“Some politicians who have limited political influence, accepted
the Armenian Genocide claims,” Korkmazcan said adding that the bill
“is targeted against scientific investigations and freedom of speech.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POLITICS AND ARMENIAN YOUTH SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN MOSCOW
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2006 13:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the initiative of “Mitq”, the Union of
Armenian Youth in Moscow with the assistance of the Russian-Armenian
Commonwealth NGO a seminar titled “Politics and Armenian Youth” will
be held in the Russian public and political center May 18, reported
Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of Russia. The purpose of the
seminar is to increase the socio-political activity of the Armenian
youth and engage Armenian youth organizations into the political
processes in Armenia.
The event participants will discuss the role of the youth in
the public and political life of Armenia and Russia, the role of
youth organizations in the strengthening of the Russian-Armenian
relationships, patriotic bringing up of the young generation and
interaction of the state and civic society. Russian NGOs and Armenian
student associations were invited to take part in the seminar.

U.S.: KARABAKH CONFLICT PARTIES CLOSE TO SETTLEMENT AS NEVER
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2006 14:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European
and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza stated that “the parties to the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict are as close to the settlement as never”. In
his words, the U.S. considers the next several months to be a real
“window of possibilities”. Matthew Bryza also remarked that the
Armenian and Azerbaijani governments should demonstrate political
courage to overcome the discrepancies.
According to another U.S. State Department representative David
E. Appleton, progress can be proved by the fact that Baku requested
the U.N. Refugee Agency to develop a program for the return of refugees
after the signing of a peaceful agreement, reported RFE/RL.

KAZIMIROV: KARABAKH’S PARTICIPATION IN TALKS NECESSARY
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2006 14:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The exclusion of the Nagorno Karabakh delegation from
the negotiation process started immediately after the OSCE summit in
Budapest in December 1994, Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement in 1992-1996 Vladimir
Kazimirovtold PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the exclusion
of NKR was initiated by Azerbaijan.
“Official Baku said that if Karabakh is engaged in the talks, it
should be presented by the Azeri community headed by Nizami Bahmanov
as well. This offer was rejected both by the Armenian side and the
mediators.
Then Baku insisted on the exclusion of the Armenian delegation of
Karabakh. Nevertheless I consider that the participation of the NKR
representatives is essential,” Kazimirov underlined.
As for the current stage of negotiations, Vladimir Kazimirov stated
that the responsibility should be shared by the Foreign Ministers
and Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In his opinion, NGOs should
also engage in the process.

GEORGIAN LEADERSHIP PREFERS APOSTATE, TRAITOR AND SEPARATIST AS IMAGE OF ARMENIAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2006 14:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The incumbent Georgian leadership prefers to present
the image of an Armenian as an apostate, traitor and separatist,
President of the Union of Armenians of Tbilisi Mikhail Tadevosov
told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the non-constructive
policy pursued by the Georgian authorities can lead to a recurrent
turn of national tension. “All the efforts of the Armenian community
to break this stereotype stumble upon a wall of misunderstanding,”
Tadevosov remarked.
The President of the Union of Armenians of Tbilisi considers that the
Georgian leadership is rewriting the history and this can tell on
the relations between the two states. “Only three Armenian schools
function in Tbilisi at present, but the directors of these schools
are Georgians. Armenian churches are declared to be Georgian and
the originality of the Armenian population in Georgia, especially in
Javakhk, is being disputed,” he underscored.
Mikhail Tadevosov considers that the Samtskhe Javakheti problem
can be solved by a single scientific conference. “This should be a
real scientific conference where both parties will be represented
by historians, ethnographers and experts who treat the matter
impartially. Otherwise the problem of Javakhk will never be settled,”
he said.
It should be noted that Mikhail Tadevosov, the director of secondary
school after Sayat-Nova, was detained on December 7, 2005 for the
“violation of civic order and insubordination to the authorities.”
April 12 the Tbilisi court decreed to close the case and Tatevosov
was released.

RISK OF ESCALATION OF FROZEN CONFLICTS ALWAYS EXISTS, EU ENVOY CONSIDERS
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2006 14:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union supposes that the frozen conflicts
in the South Caucasus cannot be settled without laborious work for
creating the atmosphere of trust between the communities, majorities
and minorities in the region, EU Envoy for the South Caucasus Peter
Semneby stated. In his words, the atmosphere of trust should be
created between the states of the region and with the big neighbors
as well. “This is impossible without precise political and economic
outlook. All including the European Union and Russia as well as the
states of the region and all the interested parties should work for
it,” Mr. Semneby remarked adding that the escalation cannot be ruled
out until the conflicts are settled.
When commenting on the possibility of deploying EU and NATO
peacekeepers in the region, the EU Envoy said, “I am not empowered
to speak of NATO. As for the European Union, it’s possible. However
it will be one of many possibilities. Everything depends on the will
of the parties,” reported Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
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TODAY IS THE WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DAY
A1+
[01:16 pm] 17 May, 2006
The annual observance of World Telecommunication Day, marking the
founding of the International Telecommunication Union on 17 May 1865,
has drawn attention to the work of ITU and the broader challenges
of global communication. From the days of the telegraph through
space-age communication, and now in cyberspace, ITU has helped to
connect the world.
In recognition of this evolution, the World Summit on the Information
Society, which was held in two phases (in Geneva in 2003 and in
Tunis in 2005), proposed that 17 May henceforth be celebrated as
World Information Society Day. The Summit’s aim was to build an open,
inclusive, people-centred, knowledge-based information society that
will accelerate the pace of development. This occasion now highlights
the link between the great potential of information and communication
technologies and our goal of accelerating the pace of development.
The Summit recognized the importance of building confidence and trust
in the use of ICTs. This is reflected in the theme for this year’s
observance, /promoting global cybersecurity/. In an increasingly
interconnected and networked world, it has become critically important
to safeguard our vital systems and infrastructures against attack by
cybercriminals, while instilling confidence in online transactions in
order to promote trade, commerce, banking, telemedicine, e-government
and a host of other e-applications. As this depends on the security
practices of each and every networked country, business and citizen,
we need to develop a global culture of cybersecurity.
I therefore urge all Member States and stakeholders to help
increase global awareness of cybersecurity, and to develop an
international network of initiatives and ICT-based countermeasures
to enhance security and build trust in the use of information and
communication technologies. This is essential for the continued
growth and development of our economies, and especially important
for developing countries.
More broadly, on this annual observance, let us all pledge to connect
the unconnected and build a free and safe information society that
will spur development for all the world’s people.

PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE IS BEING ELECTED
A1+
[01:58 pm] 17 May, 2006
At present the general session of the RA National Academy of Science
is under way. The session is to elect a new President. There are three
candidates for the post: Head of the NAS Mechanics Institute Lenser
Akhalovyan, Scientific secretary of the Academy Edward Ghazaryan and
ex rector of the Yerevan State University Radik Martirosyan.
79 academicians and correspondents participate in the closed
session. The voting will take place at about 03:00 PM.
Let us remind you that the post has been vacant since the resignation
of Fadey Sargsyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress