PanARMENIAN.Net
Ghukasyan Noted Stepanakert Participation in Karabakh Talks Necessity

08.04.2006 21:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Arkady Ghukasyan met with EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus Peter Semneby in Yerevan. During the meeting the parties
presented their approaches to the latest developments in the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and possible activation of
EU role in the peace process. Ghukasyan noted it was necessary to
sustain the cease-fire regime and provide for Nagorno Karabakh direct
participation in the talks.

PanARMENIAN.Net
US Presents New Proposals on Continuing Prague Process
on Karabakh
08.04.2006 20:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The US has presented new proposals
on continuing the Prague Process on settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov
stated when commenting talks with US Administration
officials in Washington. In his words, `the proposals
are interesting.’ Official Baku will analyze these and
will present its attitude during the visit of OSCE
Minsk Group American Ambassador Steven Mann’s regional
visit scheduled on April 18, reports Trend.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenia to Be Elected to UN Human Rights Council

08.04.2006 20:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia claims membership at UN
Human Rights Council established lately. According to
the UN Office in Armenia, Armenia is nominated for the
Group of Eastern European States (6 places). Within
the Council a Group of African States (13 places), a
Group of Asian States (13 places), a Group of Latin
America and Caribbean Basin States (8 places) and a
Group of Western European and other states (7 places)
will also be formed. The first election of the UN
Human Rights Council will take place May 9, 2006 at
the UN General Assembly session. GA members
individually elect Council members by a direct
majority vote.

U,S. hopeful for progress on rift over Nagorno-Karabakh
AP Worldstream; Apr 07, 2006

The State Department said Friday it is hopeful Azerbaijan and Armenia
can make progress toward ending their dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
That issue came up on Friday during a meeting between Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarove.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that ahead of the
meeting, Rice spoke with the Azeri and Armenian presidents.
The two leaders met recently in France.
“We hope that both sides can in the wake of the talks in France again
provide some renewed impetus to those discussions and come to an
agreement that would resolve this longstanding issue,” McCormack said.
Rice and Mammadyarove also discussed economic reform and
democratization in Azerbaijan.
“The secretary emphasized the importance of respect for human rights
and moving forward on the democratization process in Azerbaijan,”
McCormack said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  (374 10) 517 163
Fax:  (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
April 9, 2006
Armenian Church Blesses Children
Palm Sunday has been declared to be the `Day for Blessing Children’ in the
Armenian Church by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of All Armenians.  On this occasion His Holiness extends his message of love
to all children everywhere.
Message of Blessing of His Holiness Karekin II
Catholicos of All Armenians
To All Young Children
On the occasion of the wonderful feast of Palm Sunday, we send to you, our
dearest children, our fatherly love and blessings from the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin.
Today we commemorate the glorious entrance of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ into Jerusalem, when along with the adults, young children went out
to greet Christ with palm branches and songs of praise.  Jesus would always
receive boys and girls with open arms and bless them, citing their innocent
souls and honest emotions as examples to men of a path to God filled with
faith.
And today in our holy churches, the daily blessings of our Lord are granted
to our beloved children, so that they may grow full of faith, grace and
wisdom; and through their life and works, become the worthy sons and
daughters of our Holy Church and people.
>From deep in our heart, we pray to our All-Merciful God that He keep and
protect all children of the world under His Holy Right Hand in peace.  May
He bless the course of their lives with happiness, goodness and benevolence.
With Blessings and Love,
KAREKIN II
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS

From: Sebouh Z Tashjian
Subject: There Will Be No War
A1+
THERE WILL BE NO WAR
[07:45 pm] 07 April, 2006
«There must not be any war in the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict», Mher Shahgeldyan, head of the NA
Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and
Internal Affairs thinks because of several reasons.
First of all, the international community and the
international organizations will not accept the
military solution, and for the second, the RA attitude
is the same: the conflict must be solved peacefully,
via negotiations.
«Both the RA and the NKR armed forces must be on the
proper level to secure the protection of the country.
The correlation between the armed forces of the
countries shows that the way out of the conflict is
through negotiations», Mher Shahgeldyan said in the
«Pastark» club.
According to him, the negotiations have not reached a
deadlock. «This was a phase of the negotiation
process. The year 2006 can be a good chance to record
progress as the solution can be more complicated
during the coming years. The continuation of the
negotiation process is extremely important. It is also
important to find the approaches to mutual agreements
and compromise».
And what is Azerbaijan ready for? «I think Azerbaijan
must be eager to make compromise, but I can’t say
exactly what they will do».
According to Mher Shahgeldyan, USA wants to support
the settlement of the conflict, `We must welcome the
efforts of the international organizations and the
world powers in the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. The RA speaks with the terms of peace and
negotiations, and Azerbaijan speaks with those of war.
Our approaches correspond with those of the
international communities», he says.

A1+
JAVAKH PREPARES TO COMBAT BIRD FLU
[03:25 pm] 07 April, 2006
With the arrival of spring the Akhalqalaq and
Ninotsminda regions get ready to combat bird flu.
The fact of the presence of many lakes in the region
is especially dangerous. In all the schools of the
region special courses are held for the pupils.
Special protective clothes and tools have been brought
from Tbilisi, as well as groups of volunteers have
been created to control the lakes. The majority of
them are veterinaries.
According to `A-Info’ agency, the created groups work
round the clock with several shifts. According to the
chief vets of the Akhalqalaq and Ninotsminda regions,
they are ready to withstand bird flu.

A1+
`THE THRESHOLD MUST BE LOWERED’
[04:22 pm] 07 April, 2006
The Ramkavar-Azatakan and the Powerful Homeland
Parties were concerned by the draft Electoral Code
which was sent to the Venice Commission by the NA.
Today they organized a discussion of the Electoral
Code.
According to them, the reforms offered in the
Electoral Code can aggravate the atmosphere of
non-confidence and intolerance. According to the RA
present Electoral Code, the mandates meant for the NA
proportional elections are distributed to those
parties and blocs who had at least 5% and 7% of votes
respectively.
According to the new draft, the threshold for one
party participating in the Parliamentary elections 5%,
for the alliance of two parties – 7%, and for that of
three or more parties – 10%. Member of the
Ramkavar-Azatakan party Haroutyun Araqelyan announced
that it is meaningless to establish threshold as we do
not have the definition of the «political alliance».
According to Shirak Torosyan, member of the Central
Administration of the Powerful Homeland party, the
draft creates more favorable conditions for the
alliances of three or more parties as they must gather
twice as less votes as separate parties. «Factually
the parties are forced to form alliances, and very
often that is done mechanically without taking into
account ideological differences».
The Powerful Homeland offers to make the threshold
lower for both the separate parties and the alliances.

Paris-Normandie
6 avril 2006
Un père ivre blesse sa fille et sa femme
Sous l’emprise de l’alcool, un père de famille arménien a agressé sa
femme et l’une de ses filles à coups de couteau. Il a été placé en
détention en attendant son jugement.
Samoklin Sardarian, 38 ans, dort en prison depuis lundi. Cet Arménien
hébergé avec sa famille dans un foyer Aftam du Havre a blessé avec un
couteau son épouse et sa fille le samedi 1er avril. Les victimes sont
hors de danger. Présenté en comparution immédiate lundi devant le
tribunal correctionnel du Havre, l’homme a demandé un délai pour
préparer sa défense comme le permet la loi.
En revanche, le parquet a sollicité son placement en détention,
accordé par les juges, en attendant son jugement le 10 mai prochain.
L’agression s’est produite lors d’une dispute, sur fond d’alcool.
Ivre, le prévenu est devenu rouge de colère lorsqu’il a appris que sa
plus grande fille n’emmenait pas sa petite soeur à l’église.
Nerveux
Je souhaite une expertise psychiatrique de M. Sardarian demande son
avocate, Maître Céline Boisseau. Le tribunal a accepté cette requête.
Un expert se penchera donc sur son cas. Pour justifier la détention
provisoire, la substitut du procureur a mis en avant un trouble
exceptionnel à l’ordre public et la nécessité de protéger les
enfants: Il aurait pu tuer sa femme et sa fille. Il a fait preuve
d’une violence extrême. Ses quatre enfants sont insérés et
scolarisés. Il convient de les protéger. C’est quelqu’un d’impulsif
et d’imprévisible.
L’avocate assure que son client fait tout pour se soigner. Il voit
déjà un psychiatre et a conscience de son comportement violent. Il
est sujet à de véritables crises de nerf. En attendant son jugement,
il peut être logé ailleurs et vivre éloigné de ses proches. Je
sollicite un contrôle judiciaire. Au final, le tribunal a reconnu la
nécessité de l’héberger ailleurs, mais il a opté pour la maison
d’arrêt.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
05 avril 2006
” La peinture est ma maison ” ;
D’origine arménienne, né à Beyrouth en 1974, Stéphane Torossian a
connu l’horreur de la guerre. Durant ces sombres années, son seul
refuge fut le dessin. Devenu peintre, le Berruyer d’adoption exposera
bientôt ses toiles aux Bonnets Rouges.
Lorsque j’étais enfant au Liban, nous avons beaucoup fui, beaucoup
déménagé pour échapper aux bombardements. Mais où que l’on soit, mes
parents se sont toujours débrouillés pour que j’ai une feuille et des
crayons pour dessiner. L’art a été ma seule maison, raconte Stéphane
Torossian.
A 31 ans, le peintre vit désormais à Bourges avec sa femme et son
fils. Une ville qu’il a choisie pour son calme. « En débarquant en
France, j’ai d’abord habité à Paris, mais j’avais trop vécu dans le
bruit les dix premières années de ma vie pour rester là très
longtemps », explique-t-il.
Né de parents artistes peintres très célèbres au Liban, Stéphane est
tombé dans les pots de couleur quand il était petit. « Et ce n’est
pas qu’une belle phrase ! A 3 ans, je dessinais sur tous les murs qui
étaient à ma portée », sourit-il. Arrivé à Paris en 1984, sans parler
un mot de français, Stéphane s’adapte rapidement, comme il l’a
toujours fait. Il entame alors une scolarité qu’il définit comme «
chaotique et atypique ». « J’ai toujours eu des notes désastreuses en
dessin, mais le jour où j’ai eu 20, j’ai arrêté l’école. » Il rejoint
alors son père à Beyrouth et débute sa carrière de peintre en
exposant avec lui.
Sa dernière exposition, intitulée « Corps étrangers », s’inspire des
paysages désertiques, rocailleux qu’il a traversés enfant alors qu’il
fuyait la guerre mais aussi de l’intégration ou de l’éjection de
l’être humain dans ce milieu où, si l’on ne se bat pas, on meurt.
L’expo s’achèvera symboliquement le 24 avril, jour de la
commémoration du génocide arménien.
Stéphane Torossian, « Corps étrangers : de l’Arménie au Liban ».
Vernissage de l’exposition samedi 15 avril, à 18 h, aux Bonnets
Rouges, à Bourges. Exposition du 17 au 24 avril.