ARTUR BROTHERS TAKEN TO COURT OVER HOUSE RENT
By Joseph Murimi
Standard, Kenya
May 17 2006
Artur Margaryan outside their Runda residence in Nairobi
The Armenian brothers who featured in the mercenaries saga are now
embroiled in a rent dispute with their landlord.
Mr Sammy Mutinda Musyoki has sued Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargasyan,
through their company Brotherlink International Ltd, demanding about
Sh800,000.
His application under a certificate of urgency is set to be heard by
Justice Festus Azangalala this morning at the Nairobi High Court.
In the application, Musyoki says he risks losing the money for breach
of tenancy agreement and attempts by the Armenian brothers to leave
the country. He wants them to be directed to deposit the money as
security for eventual decree in the suit.
Alternatively, Musyoki wants warrants of arrests against the two to
be issued, and they be restrained from removing their property from
the house situated on Glory Road, in Runda Estate, pending the hearing
and determination of the suit.

RESCUERS FIND BODY OF YOUNG MAN WHO DROWNED IN HRAZDAN RIVER ON MAY 9
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. After a 3-day serch, the rescuers
of Kotayk marz on May 12, at about 3:15 pm found the body of Karen
Shahinian, 16, in the gorge of the village of Nerkin Ptghni, in the
Hrazdan River – 25 km from the place where the incident occured. To
recap, on May 9 Gor Aghayan, 13, of the Nor Hachn village, fell
into the Hrazdan River at the buidling No 2 of the Arzni health
resort. K. Shahinian hurried to save the boy. G. Aghayan was rescued,
while K. Shahinain drowned.

SOCHI AIRPORT GROUND CONTROLLER CHANGES HIS DECISION IN ONLY 30 SECONDS
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The Main Department of Civil Aviation
adjunct to the Armenian government received an official press release
from the CIS Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) on the Armenian
airline Armavia’s A-320 plane crash near Sochi on May 3. According
to preliminary information, the first radio communication between
the approach ground controller of Sochi airport and the pilots of
A-320 took place at 21:10:20 Greenwich mean time, and the plane
crew last communicated with the ground controller at 22:12:35. The
pilots did not respond to the controller at 22:12:39, 22:13:08 and
later. According to the information on the RA Main Department of Civil
Aviation, at 22:10:45 the pilots reported opening the undercarriage
and readiness to make a landing, in response to which they received
information about a distance of 10 km and 4,000X190 weather and were
given permission to land. However, about 30 seconds later the ground
controller reported the actual lower line – 100 metres and issued a
command to stop lowering the aircraft, make a second circle with a
turn to the right, gain an altitude of 600 metres and to communicate
with the ground controller in charge of circle flights. The preliminary
analysis of the radar data shows that the plane started making a second
circle at an altitude of about 300 metres – by turning to the right,
beginning to gain intensively altitude (450 meters at the maximium),
with a simultaneous loss of speed with respect to the earth and
further lowering of the aircraft until it hit the water surface.

VAZGEN MANUKIAN: “THERE IS NO COALITION FROM FORMAL POINT OF VIEW”
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. There is no coalition from the
formal viewpoint, as, according to one of the points of their
agreement, by one of member parties’ leaving, the coalition is
supposed to be liquidated. Vazgen Manukian, the Chairman of the
National Democratic Union expressed such an opinion at the May 16
press-conference. According to him, any separation (the “Orinats
Yerkir” (Country of Law) party’s leaving the coalition: “NT”)
brings some weakness into the rulling system. Manukian finds that
the Republic Party of Armenia makes use of the given situation, and
it is a “intimate situation” for the ARF Dashnaktsutiun. According
to Vazgen Manukian, it was decided for some reasons that National
Assembly Speaker, “Orinats Yerkir” party head Artur Baghdasarian
must be punished, and people engaged in business from the inside of
the party were easily obliged to leave the party. Thus, it shows that
“we live in a state the government system of which is the same Soviet
Union system, with a bit more “riff-raff” forms.” “And the country
may not develop with such a government, he emphasized.” According
to V.Manukian, the whole society must be anxious that this way of
government is destructive for the country. And it is necessary to
create a public movement to change this form, where not only parties
but the society, intellectuals, businessmen as well must unite. In
responce to the question if the “Orinats Yerkir” party may occupy
a place in the opposing field, the NDU Chairman said that places
of the authorities are limited, of the opposition are unlimited:
“So that, anybody may find his place in the opposition. The life
will show if Artur Baghdasarian will be able to find his place in
that field.” According to Manukian, it is sensible to cooperate in
the opposing field, if a public, political field is created as a
result of that cooperation. As for the NDU’s participation in the
coming elections, Manukian mentioned that if the electoral system of
Armenia continues to remain alike its present state, they will not
participate in any election.

NKR PRESIDENT PAYS WORKING VISIT TO YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
STEPANAKERT, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. NKR President Arkadi Ghukasian
left for Yerevan on a working visit. The NKR President’s acting Press
Secretary informed Noyan Tapan about it.

CO-CHAIRS’ VISIT TO REGION TO CLARIFY ISSUE OF MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Proceeding from the current situation
in the process of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and
proceeding from the problem’s being complicated, no matter what
document is submitted for consideration, the sides will not have
an unequivocal position on it. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian declared this in his interview to journalists on May
16. He mentioned that depending on the fact “what the opposite side
will accept or will not accept, the Armenian side will try to bring
together the points of view if possible”. According to him, the visit
of OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to the region planned for late May will
clarify the issue of the possible meeting of Presidents Kocharian and
Aliyev. V.Oskanian also mentioned that the forthcoming meeting between
him and his Azerbaijani colleague in Strasbourg will also greatly
clarify this issue. “If the meeting in Strasbourg passes normally and
the Co-chairs’ visit also fixes some progress, why not, the meeting
between the Presidents is not excluded,” the Minister declared. As
for the issue, what impact the current home political processes in
Armenia can have on the peaceful settlement, the Minister declared:
“I would not like, even if at the current stage, to connect the
negotiations process with the home political events, the process of
settlement is taking its course and the most important is to achieve
peaceful settlement of the conflict”. He expressed confidence that
the process will continue in its usual course.

OYK YOUTH BRANCH EXPRESSES UNCONDITIONAL ASSISTANCE TO ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN AND PARTY HEADING BODY
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. “We are sure that the decision made by
our party’s political council and leader on leaving the coalition is
right and we express our unconditional assistance to party Chairman
Artur Baghdasarian, political council and administration members and
do not hide our inspiration with their principal and honest way of
actions,” is said in the statement adopted at the May 14 enlarged
special sitting of the “Orinats Yerkir” (Country of Law) party youth
union’s administration. The statement was made public at the May
16 press-conference. The statement authors express at the same time
their readiness to make more efforts from now on and decisively to
struggle for seeing the power of law, social justice and prosperous
life in the action in Armenia. “We are decisively intended in our
struggle making coming political great victories closer, moreover,
in the opposing field,” youth of the OYK party assures. They aslo
consider inadmissible and condemn “unprincipled behaviour of being led
by fragmentary interests” of people left the party. OYK youth branch
head Samvel Farmanian assured that their organization has at present
about 8 thousand members only about 500 of who joined the party during
the last developments connected with the party. According to him,
no case of young people’s leaving the branch was fixed, even more,
120 young people expressed will to join the party on May 16.

COURSES OF INTERNATIONAL IDEA IN ARMENIA TO START IN JANUARY 2007
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 16, the Central Electoral
Commission (CEC) and the International Institute of Democracy and
Elections Assistance (International IDEA) signed an agreement on
mutual understanding on the program “Development of Stable Democracy
in Armenia: Improvement of Skills of Electoral Administration
and Political Participation”. As Noyan Tapan was informed by CEC
Spokesperson Tsovinar Khachatrian, under the above-mentioned program
it is planned to organize courses for those studying the electoral
administration. The courses will be organized on the basis of the
methodological materials of BRIDGE worked out jointly with the
International IDEA, Australian Central Electoral Commission and
UN. The program lasts 2 years including January 2007. In total, the
program amounts to 385414 euros. According to the agreement on mutual
understanding, the financing is to be implemented by the International
IDEA. According to Tsovinar Khachatrian, the implementation of the
program in the South Caucasus was initiated in 2003. In 2005 the
program was implemented in Georgia. In Armenia the courses will start
in 2007 January. The bids for participation in the courses will be
accepted in October of the current year.

STATE DUMA DEPUTY CALLS ON TO CREATE IN RUSSIA STRUCTURE ON ANALOGY OF ARF DASHNAKTSUTIUN
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 16 2006
MOSCOW, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Dmitri Rogozin, the
former leader of the “Rodina” (Fatherland) party, a Deputy of the RF
State Duma calls on to create in Russia a structure on the analogy
of the ARF Dashnaktsutiun.
According to the “Yerkramas” (coutry) newspaper of Armenians in
Russia, speaking about the future Russian patriotic movement in the
interveiw to the internet-publication “Russkaya Liniya” (Russian Line),
he called on to use experience of “other pursued peoples.” Dmitri
Rogozin particularly stated: “Let’s take, for example, as a model
the “Dashnaktsitiun” party the name of which is translated as “the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation.” It was the main anti-Turkish force
still in the period of the Armenian Genocide conducted by the Ottaman
Empire. Armenians as well appeared to be a nation “in dispersion,”
but they had the “Dashnaktsutiun” party branches of which existed in
different countries, there was an international bureau where the main
problems were solved, there was its own art, artistic, educational
elite. The center led the most different initiatives: political and
women’s organizations, youth unions, journalists’ associtations. We
must create an analogous structure.”

AMBASSADOR CHITECHIAN PRESENTS TO BELGIAN BUSINESSMEN OF ARMENIAN ORIGIN POSSIBILITIES OF PROMOTING ACTIVITY IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 16 2006
BRUSSELS, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On the initiative of
the Belgium-Armenia Trade Chamber, Ambassador of Armenia to Belgium
Vigen Chitechian met with big businessmen of Belgium of the Armenian
origin. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s
Press and Information Department, the meeting, in which businessmen
representing the spheres of advertising, insurance, transport,
internet, jewelry and sweet production of Belgium participated,
had a goal to establish a direct tie among businessmen of Armenian
origin presenting different spheres of the economy as well as to
present them possibilities of promoting activity in Armenia. The
meeting participants discussed issues connected with participation
of representatives of the Belgium-Armenia Trade Chamber in the
Armenia-Diaspora third conference.