AZERBAIJAN REPORTS ANOTHER FATALITY IN KARABAKH
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Oct 3 2005
Another soldier of the Azerbaijani army has been killed in a skirmish
with Armenian forces near Nagorno-Karabakh, reports from Baku said
on Monday.
An Azerbaijani television station reported that the 18-year-old
soldier died from a bullet wound sustained in what it described as a
“truce violation” by the Armenian side in the northern section of the
Karabakh frontline. It said the deadly shooting occurred on Saturday
and was confirmed by Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry. No further details
were reported.
Armenian military sources did not report any fighting along the
heavily militarized line of contact east and north of Karabakh
over the weekend. Sporadic exchanges of fire from automatic weapons
are periodically reported from there by the warring sides, each of
them accusing the other of violating the 11-year ceasefire in the
conflict zone.
The Azerbaijani military, in particular, claims to suffer casualties
on a regular basis. Its previous fatality was reported on September 6.
The ceasefire regime along sections of the Karabakh frontline and
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is monitored by representatives of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The most
recent OSCE monitoring late last month was interrupted by a skirmish
southeast of the disputed territory. Still, truce violations appear
to have become less frequent since last spring when some Armenian
officials suggested that Baku, which regularly threatens by win back
Karabakh by force, be preparing for large-scale military action.
Renewed fighting seems even more unlikely now that the parties are
reportedly close to reaching a long-awaited agreement on the resolution
of the Karabakh dispute.

BRANCH OF RF FUND OF DEVELOPMENT TO BE RESENTED IN YEREVAN
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
September 30, 2005 Friday
YEREVAN, October 1
The presentation of a South Caucasian branch of the Russian fund
of development “Caucasian Institute of Democracy” will be held in
Yerevan on Saturday.
Head of the department of the Russia president’s administration
political scientist Modest Kolerov arrived in the Armenian capital
to hold the ceremony.
During several months of its existence, the branch has already
managed jointly with the newspaper Voice of Armenia to launch the
daily appendix-digest Monitor.Ru which carries interesting materials
of the Russian, foreign and Armenian press. Besides, Russian-language
news program was organized on the Yerevan TV channel “Yerkir-Media.”
As representatives of the branch said, its main aim “is to
consolidate democratic values in public consciousness, foster respect
to constitutional rights, freedoms and human guarantees, and form
civil society.
The organization intends to give educational and teaching money grants
for studying history of Russia and countries of the South Caucasus,
develop the national media and book publishing, as well as hold
events with the participation of experts of political circles on
topical problems of the region’s states.
The fund intends to support talented representatives of youth and
students of Armenia wishing to continue their education in leading
institutes of higher education of Russia. Under the aegis of the
branch, Russian scientists are to come to Armenia to read lectures
in institutes of higher education of the republic. A House of Russian
Book is to open in Yerevan in the near future.
The branch is going to work in Nagorny Karabakh too. An educational
computer centre for children, as well as representatives of the Russian
community of this unrecognised republic will open Stepanakert soon.

FIRST LADIES TURN OVER BOOKS FROM HOME LIBRARIES TO CHILDREN
ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
October 3, 2005 Monday 7:21 AM Eastern Time
Lyudmila Putin, the wife of the Russian president, and the wives of
the leaders of five other countries have turned over books from their
home libraries to Children’s s Homes in Russia.
Lyudmila Putin addressed her book collection to the Children’s Home
in the town of Blagoveschensk in Bashkortostan, First lady of Britain
Cherie Blair gave her collection to the Children’s Home in Troitsk
in the Chelyabinsk region, the wife of the Austrian president Margit
Fischer sent books to the settlement of Ishma in Komi, Zorka Pyrvanova-
the wife of the Bulgarian president, turned over her book collection
to the Children’s s Home in the Sverdlovsk region.
In return, the Russian Post Service has presented the first ladies
with a gilded model of the first stamp carrying the logotype of the”
Bibliobraz- 2005″ book festival. The new stamp is hoped to occupy its
own niche in world stamp collections as a rarity. Lyudmila Putin and
Russian Minister for Information Technologies and telecommunications
Leonid Reiman canceled the stamp at the ceremony,
“The idea to issue a stamp with the symbol of the “Bibliobraz” festival
occurred to us a year ago, but it was not simple to put the idea into
practice,” the wife of the Russian president said.
“Collecting stamps has always been her dream, and philately is one of
the most interesting hobbies,” Lyudmila Putin said. “I am glad that
we have got the stamp at last,” Mrs. Putin declared, saying she was
very proud of being honored to cancel the stamp.
Similar stamps cancelled and signed by Lydmila Putin and Leonid Reiman,
put into souvenir frames and enclosed into special envelopes, were
presented to the first ladies of Austria, Armenia, Bulgaria, Great
Britain, Kyrgyzstan and Russia who took part in the festival.

LISTEN TO YOUTH, BISHOP URGES; Aram I BRINGS MESSAGE OF PEACE
By Brodie Fenlon
The Toronto Sun
October 1, 2005 Saturday
FINAL EDITION
The Christian church must address the “critical issue” of its alienated
youth by reaching out and engaging young people as equals, says a
leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
“The gap between youth and the church is growing. This is a critical
issue, a pan-Christian issue,” said His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos
of Cilicia, who is here this weekend as part of a two-week visit
to Canada.
“The church should go beyond its walls,” listen to young people and
involve them in making decisions, said the bishop, who represents
Orthodox Armenian Christians in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus.
340 CHURCHES
He also serves as moderator of the World Council of Churches, an
ecumenical group of 340 Christian churches and denominations from
around the world.
“The church must not look to youth as the future — the youth are
our present,” he told the Sun yesterday.
“Churches are often in a position where they only tell and give
guidance. But I think we must start listening ,” he said.
“We must establish a meaningful dialogue with youth.”
Aram will practice what he preaches Monday night when he hosts more
than 500 local Armenian youth for a banquet and question period at
the Toronto Armenian Community Centre on Hallcrown Pl. in North York.
He will also celebrate a large mass tomorrow at Toronto’s St. Mary
Armenian Apostolic Church.
The bishop’s agenda also includes a visit to Cambridge tomorrow night
and a banquet at the St. Paul Armenian Apostolic Church in St.
Catharines on Tuesday.
Sarkis Ghazarian, president of the Toronto church, said Aram’s visit
is an important event for the more than 30,000 Armenians living
in Ontario.
HE’S A ‘REMINDER’
“He reminds us of who we are and where we are from. He’s here to put
us on the right track as Armenian Christians,” Sarkis said.
In a wide ranging interview, Aram said much of the violence that
plagues the world today is caused by the failure of states and
religious leaders to “build bridges of communication and common values”
between different faith communities.
GRAPHIC: photo by Ernest Doroszuk His Holiness Aram I serves as
moderator of the World Council of Churches, an ecumenical group of
340 Christian churches.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN POLITICIANS, US INTELLIGENCE CHIEF DISCUSS SITUATION IN COUNTRY – PAPER
Iravunk, Armenia
Sept 16 2005
Headlined “‘Velvet season’: it smacks of a ‘velvet’ revolution”
Today it is difficult to say what political developments will take
place in Armenia this year. Will the opposition manage to topple the
authorities by means of a revolution or in some other way? One thing
is already clear: autumn will be full of unexpected and interesting
meetings.
According to a source close to the US embassy, such a meeting has taken
place at the US embassy. Some opposition leaders Aram Sarkisyan [leader
of the Anrapetutyun Party], Ovanes Ovanesyan, Aram Karapetyan, Stepan
Demirchyan [leader of the opposition Justice faction in parliament],
Viktor Dallakyan [secretary of the Justice faction] and Vazgen Manukyan
[leader of the National Democratic Union] were officially invited to
meet the head of the Eastern Europe and Russia department of the US
National Intelligence Council, Martin Schwartz.
This information is interesting because this is the first time that a
top official of the US secret services has officially met the leaders
of the Armenian opposition. It is remarkable that the format chosen
by the opposition for the meeting was not homogeneous in terms of
its geo-political orientation.
According to the same source, the meeting lasted for a long time and a
wide spectrum of local and foreign political issues were discussed in
detail. Incidentally, Mr Martin Schwartz also met some media chiefs
and even a reception was organized in his honour at the US embassy
at the end of his visit.

AUSTRIANS SEE ACCESSION BID AS NEW SIEGE BY OTTOMANS
Stephen Castle
The Independent, UK
Oct 3 2005
Across Europe, opinion may be divided on whether Turkey should be
allowed to enter the EU. But in Austria there is little sign of a
debate because history ensures that the issue touches the rawest
of nerves.
In 1683 the Ottoman army of Kara Mustafa Pasha was routed at the gates
of Vienna in a defeat that marked the last Turkish effort to take the
city. All around the Austrian capital are reminders of the battle and,
so strong is the event in the national consciousness, that newspapers
have characterised Ankara’s EU bid as a new siege of Vienna.
To complicate matters further Austria is a strong supporter of
(Christian) Croatia, which also wants to join the EU. This step has
been held up because of a row over Zagreb’s lack of co-operation in
hunting down a suspected war criminal, Ante Gotovina.
Austrians feel it would be wrong to start talking to Turkey while
holding back on Croatia. Vienna’s critics sometime suggest darkly
that Austria’s own past may prompt it to worry less about punishing
war crimes than other nations.
His tough stance has proved politically popular for the Austrian
Chancellor, Wolfgang Schnssel, whose party was crushed in regional
elections yesterday.
Elsewhere in Europe, the echoes of history have played a part in the
debate. France, home to Europe’s largest Armenian population, has
sometimes had difficult relations with Turkey. In 2001 its parliament
formally recognised the Armenian genocide (during the collapse of
the Ottoman empire) provoking fury from Ankara.
Ironically Ankara’s biggest rival, Greece, never sought to hold up
talks, believing that a Turkey inside the EU would be more modern,
restrained and susceptible to outside influence.

UPCOMING ELECTIONS WIIL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON ECONOMIC REFORMS IN ARMENIA, US AMBASSADOR STATES
Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 3 2005
WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The US Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans considered the 7th meeting of the US-Armenia Task Force
in Washington on September 26 as the most successful one of those
attended by him. He said that the meeting was remarkable for the
extensive discussion of democratic reforms with a simultaneous
coverage of their relationship with economic growth. “We have come
to an agreement that the upcoming elections may have a significant
impact on the process of economic reforms in the country, and these
elections must be free and fair,” J. Evans noted.
In 1992, the US government allocated more than 1.6 bln dollars
as development and humanitarian aid for Armenia. According to a
press release submitted to NT by the US embassy in Armenia, the
US government’s aid is aimed at ensuring stability in the region,
strengthening democracy and promoting the development of market
economy in Armenia.
The purpose of the US-Armenia Task Force (USATF), which was set
up in 2000, is to encourage the economic cooperation between the
two countries and increase the efficiency of assistance programs
implemented by the US government. USATF meetings are convened twice
a year, with one meeting to be held in Armenia, and another – in the
US. The next meeting is scheduled for spring, 2006 in Armenia.

TURKISH SPEAKER SAYS EU SHOULD BE HONEST, OBJECTIVE ABOUT EU ACCESSION
Anatolia news agency
1 Oct 2005
Ankara, 1 October: Turkish parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on
Saturday [1 October] that Turkey had its most critical days regarding
its EU bid, adding “Europe is being tested for honesty, equity and
objectivity. We see and denounce those who try to impede Turkey’s
membership to the EU by taking some political manoeuvres.”
The new parliamentary term started the same day and the parliamentary
general assembly convened under the leadership of Arinc.
Addressing the parliament, Arinc said that Turkey would not cope with
terrorism by restricting freedoms. “This parliament should give the
best response to terrorism by staying in solidarity,” Arinc said.
Referring to Turkey’s EU bid, Arinc said that the Turkish people had
difficulty in understanding the hypocrisy shown by EU towards Turkey.
Arinc stressed that Turkey was a big state and it had the power to
change some balances, adding that Europe was on the eve of taking an
important decision.
“Europe will either accept our membership, adapt itself to the change
in the world and get stronger or will impede our membership by looking
inwards and loose its impact on world politics. Turkey’s membership
means the integration of the East and the West, and the meeting of
civilizations,” Arinc said.
Denouncing the attempt to bring claims like Armenian genocide onto
the agenda prior to 3 October, Arinc said that the Turkish parliament
would not accept a crime which its ancestors didn’t commit just to
be a member of the European Union.

NATO PA “ROSE ROTH” REGULAR SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON OCT. 6-9
Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 3 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The “Rose Roth”
regular seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will be held at the
“Marriott-Armenia” hotel of Yerevan on October 6-9. Participation
of about 70 deputies of the Assembly as well as of representatives
of international organizations and centers of strategic studies is
expected at the seminar. As Mher Shahgeldian, the head of the Armenian
delegation to the NATO PA, the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee
on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs informed the Noyan
Tapan correspondent, security problems of the region will be discussed,
developments of the region as a part of the world being globalized,
reforms of the military sphere will be touched upon. A separate
discussion of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is envisaged.
According to M.Shahgeldian, though an information on the Azerbaijani
delegation’s refusal to participate in the Yerevan seminar was in
the Azerbaijani press, as for October 3 I haven’t been officially
informed about that. The deputy affirmed that guarantees of security
were given to the Azerbaijani side. The NATO heads were also informed
that in Armenia “the atmosphere is just another that in Azerbaijan.”

ARMENIA MUST PROVE ITS ADHERENCE TO EUROPEAN VALUES THROUGH CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
ArmInfo News Agency
Oct 1 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1. ARMINFO. ‘Europe does not force European
integration upon Armenia. It was Armenia that has proclaimed itself
a follower of western values. Thus, Armenia must prove its adherence
to these values through Constitutional reforms,’ said Head of the
Parliamentary Commission for Defense, National Security and Internal
Affairs, Vice Chairman of Orinats Yerkir party, Mher Shahgeldyan at
today’s seminar on constitutional reforms.
He noted the recent interest of Europe in the South Caucasus,
especially the inclusion of South Caucasian states in the
EU-implemented program “Wider Europe: new Neighborhood.” Despite its
traditions and culture, the Armenian people has a European mentality,
Shahgeldyan thinks. Constitutional reforms will be the first step
to bring the political structure of the country in harmony with the
people’s mentality. Each political forces must bear responsibility
for a possible failure of the draft constitutional reforms at
the referendum, Shahgeldyan said. To overcome corruption, social
polarization and other negative phenomena, it is necessary to display
a political will and consistency, Shahgeldyan thinks.