M. BAGHDASAROV CALLS NOT TO BELIEVE TO VARIOUS HEARSAY OVER A-320 CRASH
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:22 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The flight recorders may be lifted already today
and most likely French specialists will lift them, Armavia air
company head Mikhail Baghdasarov said in Yerevan. In his words,
in a few days it will be possible to know how the tragedy actually
happened. He also said that the Airbus Investigation Bureau is holding
all investigation. He called not to believe to various hearsay and
versions.
“We should base ourselves on facts and they are: there was enough
kerosene, the plane was trig, the crew was trained. All the rest will
be cleared out, when flight recorders are lifted,” he said. Baghdasarov
added there were no arms and especially fight aboard. “If it were
the case, it could be heard from the land,” he said.
The air company head underscored that pilot Grigoryan was trained and
retrained in Holland and he was a qualified pilot. “As of bad weather,
it was not so bad that A-320 could not land. Old soviet airplanes could
not do it, but airbuses land in any weather,” Baghdasarov remarked.
As of further plans of the company, May 18 a new A-319, bought in
Canada, is arriving in Yerevan. “We are going to buy another airbus
and a small plane with 50-60 seats. The company buys only those plane,
which are produced after 2000. The new A-319 is assembled in 2004,”
the air company head said.

OSKANIAN: ANY OSCE MG PROPOSALS HAVE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIDES
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian did not rule out the
possibility of a Kocharian-Aliyev meeting, noting that much depend on
the outcomes of the meeting of Armenian and Azeri FMs and mediator’s
coming visit to the region.
Oskanian said the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are scheduled to visit the
region in late May. The Armenian FM said the mediators have presented
some new ideas to parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and these
will be discussed at his meeting with Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov
in Strasbourg this week within the session of the Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers.
Any proposals have both positive and negative sides and all disputed
issues should be solved in the course of talks. We will try to make
our stands maximally close,” the Armenian FM said, noting that much
will depend on the response of the Azeri party to the new proposals
of the mediators, Mediamax reports.

DEEP-WATER DEVICE DID NOT DISCOVER À-320 FLIGHT RECORDERS YET
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 13:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The search group did not find the airborne recorders
of A-320 airplane, which crashed near Sochi on the night of May
3. Operation to lift flight recorders started in the morning. A
device was dropped at the bottom and started examination of the
location. “Many fragments of the liner are found at the bottom, but
in the opinion of French specialists, nothing like flight recorders
is found yet. The search continues,” an Operative Staff representative
said, Russian media report.
On the night of May 3 a Yerevan-Sochi plane of Armavia Armenian air
company crashed in the Black Sea 6 km away from Adler airport. All
113 passengers, including 6 children and 8 members of the crew, died
as a result. Among them were 26 Russian citizens, one Ukrainian and
one Georgian citizen, while the rest were Armenian citizens.
–Boundary_(ID_SGX9STSAaI3ZNn8chNLN/A)- –

EU MAY POSTPONE APPROVAL OF ACTION PLANS OF ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 14:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The EU may postpone approval of Action Plans of
South Caucasian states, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner said.
Not ruling out the opportunity to work out a new phase of talks with
Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. “There will be another round of
talks. These will be held after we see again that these countries are
ready to that. I hope we will reach agreement,” the EU Commissioner
said, reports RFE/RL.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: TURKEY THREATENS FRANCE WITH SANCTIONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 14:30 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated official
Ankara may apply trade and other sanctions against France, if the
French Parliament adopts a law, providing for penalty for denial of
the Armenian Genocide. Erdogan noted France’s bill to criminalize
denial of the Armenian Genocide is related to its domestic political
issues. Erdogan said he met with representatives of French companies
operating in Turkey and added that they are also worried over the
current situation. Emphasizing that French President Jacques Chirac
also voiced his discomfort over the bill during their conversation
in Vienna, Erdogan said: “Chirac wants that the bill be decided by
the lower wing and should not be carried to Parliament. He said the
agenda of the French Parliament was already too busy.”
“Our patience continues up to a certain point. We want to reach an
agreement and we will continue to act with patience, but I don’t know
what will happen if this process in France continues. We are not in
the position of hostility; however, we can apply our own sanctions,”
Erdogan said. He said that a country that has considerable investments
in Turkey will of course be negatively affected with this kind of a
situation, reports the Zaman newspaper.
Discussion of the bill, which provides for a fine of 45 thousand
euros or imprisonment of 5 years for denial of the Armenian Genocide,
is planned May 18.

AZERI EMBASSY IN MOSCOW SENT PROTEST NOTE TO RUSSIAN MFA
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 14:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azerbaijani Embassy in Moscow has sent a note of
protest to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The note was
issued in connection with the participation of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic (NKR) in an international tourist exhibition which opened
in Moscow. The Embassy said that they had not received an answer to
the note up to 15 May evening. A group of Azerbaijani students held
a protest action during the exhibition to hinder the participation
of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic in the event, Trend reports.

KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT “DEPENDS ON ENSURING DEMOCRACY IN ENTIRE OSCE SPACE”
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2006 15:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Austrian FM Ursula Plassnik stated that peaceful
settlement of frozen conflicts in Transnistria, Nagorno Karabakh and
South Ossetia “depends on ensuring democracy in entire OSCE space.”
The FM of Austria, which presides the EU, states it after a meeting
of the OSCE Troika led by organization Chairman-in-Office Karel de
Gucht. “Strengthening democracy is a basic precondition for lasting
peace,” Ursula Plassnik said, reports Mediamax.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SHAVARSH KOCHARIAN: ONE DOES NOT BECOME OPPOSITION BY ANNOUNCING
Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. As a result of the constitutional
amendments, a situation is created in the country when having the
parliamentary majority’s assistance, the Prime Minister factually
becomes the head of the authorities. The rulling camp has understood
it very well, and the interpolitical discontents taking place in the
country are provided by that.
Shavarsh Kocharian, a RA NA Deputy, the Chairman of the National
Democratic Party made such a statement at the May 13 meeting
taken place in the “Azdak” club of the “Sahmanadrakan Iravunk”
(Constitutional Right) union. According to the speaker, the changed
game rules suppose that before the elections, the rulling team must
have an agreement on posts of the Prime Minister, President and
Parliament Speaker. And as the number of pretenders is more than
three, and still in 2005 it became clear that present Speaker of
the National Assembly, “Orinats Yerkir” (Country of Law) party head
Artur Baghdasarian may not pretend for any of those posts, then
it was forseeable that he must leave the rulling camp. According
to Shavarsh Kocharian, Artur Baghdasarian skilfully uses the
circumstance that the elite does not clearly put the Eurointegration
issue in the country. According to him, the issue that the OYK states
democratization and Eurointegration, is possible by itself: “Another
issue is that it is done for playing up to the West and I consider
inadmissible shaking a finger at Russia.” According to the speaker,
in the case when a beneficial situation is created in the country
for taking serious steps addressed to progress, the opposition is
unprecedently weak.
An as far as the opposition field became empty, an attempt is made
to fill it. Shavarsh Kocharian mentioned that the OYK still just
announced about its intension to become an opposing force, but “by
announcing, one neither becomes opposition nor makes revolution,
nor comes to the power.” According to him, possibilities of the
OYK on the opposition field is provided by the issue how the people
will accept him. Kocharian mentioned that unlike the authorities,
where one may establish greater influence due to inner intrigues,
it does not happen in the opposing field, and the force may have
success which will have the people’s assistance. According to him,
an oppising force having no assistance of the people, may not enjoy
assistence of the West either. “It is obvious that there is positive
attitude towards Artur Baghdasarian in some western circles, but
its continuation or deepening is provided by the issue if the people
accepts him or does not,” he mentioned. Touching upon the possibility
of the opposing forces’ cooperation with the OYK, Shavarsh Kocharian
mentioned before speaking about it, it is necessary for the “Orinats
Yerkir” party estimates 2003 elections and violations conducted
against peaceful demonstrators in April, 2004.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN SEES NO TRAGEDY IN COLLAPSE OF COALITION
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 15 2006
BRUSSELS, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The most probable
candidate of the next Speaker of the RA National Assembly, Deputy
Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia and NA Deputy Speaker
Tigran Torosian relates to rumours about his appointment calmly. “Those
are usual rumours, there is nothing to be specially interpreted. We’ll
see what will be, and according to it, interpretations and explanations
will be,” he said to Radio Liberty.
As for the collapse of the coalition, Tigran Torosian said: “Coalitions
are always provisional, there is no tragedy either in formation or in
destroying. Everything is normal, it is important that works continue
at the National Assembly normally.” National Assembly Speaker Artur
Baghdasarian did not ascribe at the May 12 press-conference the
“Orinats Yerkir” (Country of Law) party’s leaving the political
coalition to any pressure. Responding the question about pressures
from the presidential residence, Tigran Torosian mentioned: “I have no
basis not to believe Mr.Baghdasarian.” Deputy Speaker of the National
Assembly considers natural the flow of deputies, ministers from the
“Orinats Yerkir” party: “Movements within the party are painful for any
party. It is very important that the multi-parties system is stable
in Armenia and does not subject to different concussions. Weakness
of multi-parties system, its being still incompleted is today the
greatest challenge of the political sphere.” “I hope that no similar
serious concussions threaten the Republican Party, But, naturally,
it is impossible to exclude that if the RPA is not ever at power,
people will leave our party as well. But I’m sure that our party will
lose nothing from that,” Tigran Torosian summed up.

WERE DISMISSED WITHOUT ANY WARNING
A1+
[12:11 pm] 16 May, 2006
16 workers of the “ArmenTel” Toumanyan telephone service department
were informed that they are considered to be unemployed since
yesterday, May 15.
The doors of their rooms are already closed. The reduction of the staff
members was held without any warning and without any warrants. The
workers claim that the administration is unaware of it, the order of
the reduction was issued by the regional board of “ArmenTel.” None
of them signed at the bottom of the order.
THE CHURCH OF ODZUN IS BEING DESTROYED
Ter Vrtanes priest Baghalyan will be consecrated into the priest of the
Odzun church. He will also serve 9 other villages adjacent to Odzun.
But before the ceremony, Ter Vrtanes priest Baghalyan has been
celebrating liturgies since the holiday Tsaghkazard in order to create
spiritual atmosphere in the church. The priest claims that the village
inhabitants rather frequently go to church but the sore point is the
terrible state of the building. The cracks of the building start from
the cross and go to the bases which gives ground for serious concern.
“Ankyun plus 3” TV company of Alaverdi.