IN THE WAY OF THINKING OF ’70’s
Aravot.am
06 April 06
The matter of the Academy of Science isn’t regular and doesn’t depend
on Fadey Sargsian’s leadership. The change of a person won’t improve
anything. The problem is in the old system which doesn’t correspond
to the modern demands and in change of ideology and way of thinking.
The degree of the old system can be elucidated by the following
example; the same Fadey Tachatich who has some services is a
specialist calculating machines, he has become candidate of science,
doctor and Academician with that specialty. But let’s try to ask him
to open a Word file he won’t be able to do it. The level of science of
the leaders of Academy has remained in the period of a small room of
computers and `punched cards’ of `70’s.
It is more obvious in the sphere of high technologies but in the
public sciences is the same situation. For example academicians who
have got doctor degrees on the komsomol history can’t direct modern
historiography. It’s approximately the same situation when the
lecturers of atheism have become specialists of the history of
religion. The problem is that they have a way of thinking of
«punched cards», komsomol and atheism.
Science, irrespective of the art can’t develop on some persons’
talent. The progress is possible here in case of certain system. It
is impossible to create innovation by old equipments, management and
way of thinking.
All projects of reforming the Academy face to the counteract of
academicians of 70’s. Not having natural argumentations they are
engaged in political and national demagogy for keeping their posts and
pretend as if it is spoken of closing or destroying the Academy. Then
they also add that it is profitable for Turks and Azerbaijanis. While
the backward situation of our science is much more profitable for our
neighbors. And consequently it can be spoken of not closing the
Academy but just the opposite, of saving it for specialists of
international quality to be able to produce Armenia and form
scientific schools.
Otherwise you won’t discover anything new in the holes of `punched
cards’.
Aram Abrahamian

Russia’s gas giant denies buying Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
Arminfo
7 Apr 06

Yerevan, 7 April: Gazprom has refused to take the Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline. The Gazprom open-type joint-stock company has corrected the
report on the 25-year agreement signed by the Armenian government
which the company’s public relations department published earlier. The
agreement defines strategic principles of cooperation in gas and
energy projects in Armenia.
The provisions regarding to the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline have been
fully omitted from the new version of the press release which has been
posted on Gazprom’s official website. The initial version of the press
release, sent to the mass media on 6 April, said that Gazprom will
take the ArmRosgazprom closed-type joint stock company from the
Armenian government, including a 40-kilometer section of the Iran
-Armenia gas pipeline and the fifth energy unit of the Razdan power
plant, under the agreement. It also said that the Armenian government
will give ArmRosgazprom the functions of the project owner of the
construction of the second section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline,
which is 197 km long.
The new version of the document only mentioned taking the fifth energy
unit of the Razdan power plant from the Armenian government.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Millennium Challenge Corporation Signs Five Year, $235
Million Compact with Armenia
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: 202-521-3850
eMail: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
March 27, 2006
Washington, D.C. – Today, in a signing ceremony at the State
Department’s Benjamin Franklin room, Chief Executive Officer of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation, Ambassador John Danilovich and
Armenia’s Minister of Finance and Economy, Vardan Khachatryan signed a
$235.65 million Compact between MCC and the Republic of Armenia. MCC
Chair Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice officiated and witnessed the
signing. She was joined by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian.
Over one million Armenians, about 35 percent of the population, live
in rural areas and are dependent on semi-subsistence
agriculture. Farmers operate on small plots of land and are
constrained by poor roads, inadequate irrigation and an
under-developed market economy. To overcome these constraints,
Armenia’s Millennium Challenge Compact aims to reduce rural poverty
through a sustainable increase in the economic performance of the
agricultural sector. The Compact consists of two investments: a Rural
Road Rehabilitation Project and an Irrigated Agriculture Project. The
program will directly impact 75% of the rural population and is
expected to significantly increase the annual incomes of rural poor.
`I congratulate the people of Armenia for developing a results-focused
and transformational program that will improve the lives of the poor,’
said MCC CEO John Danilovich. `MCC assistance will be used to
rehabilitate roads needed for Armenians living in rural areas to
access social services such as healthcare and markets to sell their
products. The Compact also includes funding for projects that will
increase the productivity of farm households through improved water
supply, higher yields, higher-value crops, and a more competitive
agricultural sector. Armenia is a valued partner and we look forward
to supporting their efforts to build a better life for all Armenians.’
Ambassador Danilovich added, `Continued eligibility for Millennium
Challenge Account funds depends on adherence to our indicators
measuring performance in ruling justly, investing in people, and
encouraging economic freedom. MCC will continue to monitor Armenia’s
policy performance in these three categories throughout the life of
the Compact.’
Since its establishment in 2004, MCC has signed Compacts totaling more
than $1.5 billion with eight nations: Madagascar, Honduras, Cape
Verde, Nicaragua, Georgia, Benin, Vanuatu, and Armenia. MCC is also
actively engaging with other eligible countries in Compact
negotiations.
Launched by President Bush in 2004, the MCA is an innovative approach
to development assistance that recognizes sound policies and good
governance are critical to poverty reduction and economic growth in
developing countries.
###
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation
designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is
based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces
good governance, economic freedom, and investments in people

Los Angeles Daily News
April 7 2006
Panorama City fugitive arrested in Armenia

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Panorama City man accused of killing two
gang rivals more than a decade ago was arrested in Armenia, the FBI
announced.
Vahagn Akopyan, 33, was arrested by Armenian authorities in the
capital of Yerevan on Wednesday, said J. Stephen Tidwell, assistant
director in charge of the FBI office in Los Angeles.
Akopyan was being held until it was determined whether he will be
deported to the United States or charged in Armenia, Tidwell
announced Thursday.
Akopyan had been sought in connection

with the May 1994 murder of two reputed gang rivals and the attempted
murder of a third on Hollywood Boulevard.
He was believed to have returned to his native Armenian shortly after
the killings. A state arrest warrant was issued in 1994 and a federal
warrant accusing him of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was
issued in 2002.

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
April 7 2006
Telephone Conversations with Armenia Tapped in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s constitution ensures privacy of correspondence,
telephone conversations and life, and these norms are derived from
international legal documents, said Rashid Hajili, Director of the
Media Rights Institute, commenting on the statements of the
Communications and Information Technologies Minister’s statement that
telephone conversations and Internet correspondence between
Azerbaijan and Armenia’s citizens are under the surveillance of the
National Security Ministry (NSM).
According to Hajili, telephone conversations can be listened to only
on the basis of special permission, and in concrete cases for
operative reasons. Therefore, mass control is inadmissible. In fact
the Minister confirmed that Azerbaijan’s secret services controls
e-mail correspondence, which is a violation of the basic
constitutional rights of citizens.
Lawyer Isakhan Ashurov is of the same opinion. In accordance with
Criminal-Procedure Code and operative-search activity, listening to
telephone conversations is permissible only on the basis of court’s
decision, Ashurov said. The Minister’s statement testifies to a
dangerous tendency of spying on the population.
The activity of law enforcement bodies must be based on law. If some
concrete people are suspected of committing a crime, it is necessary
to have special permission by court. Interfering with the privacy of
conversations and correspondence is illegal, and materials received
in this manner cannot be used as testimony.
The cochairman of the Helsinki Civil Assembly, Arzu Abdullayeva, said
that it is nearly impossible to call Armenia from Azerbaijan, and
e-mails have been controlled for a long time. On the whole, telephone
communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan support mainly human
rights activists and NGOs involved in the promotion of the conflict’s
peaceful settlement. “Azerbaijan’s leadership officially advocates a
peaceful settlement, which is impossible without society’s support,”
Abdullayeva said.
Therefore, the persecution of people involved in peaceful process
demonstrates official Baku’s questionable position.

Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep
April 7 2006
Russia Hushes Up Purchase Of Iran-Armenia Pipeline
Russia’s state-run Gazprom monopoly has hastily retracted its
official confirmation of reports about its takeover of a planned
Armenian-Iranian natural pipeline as part of a controversial
agreement to temporarily reduce the cost of Russian gas for Armenia.
In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, Gazprom said it
will be granted ownership of a major Armenian power plant and the
first 40-kilometer section of the pipeline currently under
construction in return for keeping the gas price relatively low until
the end of 2008.
The statement was found to have been altered the next day, containing
no references to the pipeline which is due to go into service this
November. It now says that Gazprom’s Armenian subsidiary,
ArmRosGazprom (ARG), will take over the gas-fired plant in Hrazdan
and unspecified `facilities of Armenia’s gas sphere.’
The change of wording seems aimed at sparing the Armenian government
public embarrassment over its claims that the Russians will get hold
of the Hrazdan plant only. Still, the edited version of the Gazprom
statement falls short of explicitly denying the imminent Russian
takeover of a pipeline that was supposed to reduce Armenia’s
dependence on its ex-Soviet master for energy.
The Russian energy giant also stood by its claims that its presently
45 percent share in ARG, which owns Armenia’s entire gas
infrastructure, will be raised to a `qualitative majority.’ According
to the Moscow daily `Kommersant,’ the Gazprom stake in the gas
operator will jump to 82 percent.
This will constitute an additional handover of Armenian energy assets
to Moscow which the government in Yerevan prefers not publicize for
the moment. President Robert Kocharian and other senior officials
have spoken instead of the short-term benefits of the deal for
hundreds of thousands of Armenians using Russian gas for heating
purposes. They will pay 65 drams (14 U.S. cents) per cubic meter of
the fuel, instead of the planned 90 drams, until January 2009.
Under the terms of the deal, the Russian side is also obliged to pay
the Armenian government $60 million in cash and make large-scale
capital investments in the incomplete Hrazdan facility.
State-run Russian companies already own Armenia’s largest thermal
power plant, also located in Hrazdan, several hydro-electric stations
as well as the country’s entire electricity distribution network. In
addition, Russia’s Unified Energy Systems utility manages the
finances of the Metsamor nuclear power plant.
`The republic’s energy sector has been taken under Russian control,’
`Kommersant’ declared on Friday. The paper said that Gazprom will now
make sure that Iranian gas is not exported to third countries,
including Georgia, through Armenian territory.

United Press International (UPI)
April 7 2006
Russia’s Gazprom to take control of Armenian pipeline
MOSCOW — Russian gas giant Gazprom will take control of Armenia’s
pipelines along with a power station in exchange for lower gas prices
until 2009.

The price of gas is being nearly doubled from $56 per 1,000 cu.m
to $110 dollars per 1,000 cu.m. until 2009 under Thursday’s deal, but
that is still far lower than what most European nations pay for
Russian gas.

In return, Gazprom can control part of a 25-mile-long pipeline
that brings gas from Iran to Armenia. Russia can also export
electricity from the Razdan-5 gas-fired plant.

In Moscow Thursday, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
said the increase may have political consequences in his country.

“The increase in the price of Russian gas in Ukraine has had
political consequences,” he said. “I think this is also possible in
our country.”

A standoff between state-owned Gazprom and Ukraine early this
year resulted in the company turning off the taps to Ukraine,
affecting supplies to the rest of Europe, too.

Russia is Europe’s top provider of gas.

BÝA, Turkey
April 7 2006
Publisher Stands Trial for Barzani Book
Doz Publisher’s editor Vural is standing trial because of a book
named, “Barzani and Kurdish National Freedom Movement” by Barzani. He
faces up to 3 years in prison for the book which includes memories on
the Kurdish revolts and Armenian deportation.
BIA News Center
07/04/2006 Erol ONDEROGLU
BÝA (Istanbul) – Doz Publishing House editor Ali Rýza Vural is
standing trial because of a two-volume book named, “Barzani and the
Kurdish National Freedom Movement” by Mesut Barzani.
A case was brought after the first volume got published in February
2003 but then was dropped after a legal amendment. Another case was
brought after the second volume got published in May 2005.
Editor Vural, who is being charged with “insulting the Republic
through a publication,” is facing up to three years in prison based
on article 301/2 of the Penal Code.
During the hearing, the allegations by the prosecutor were read out
loud. Vural also presented the court with an address containing his
thoughts on the allegations.
Following are some of the expressions the publisher is being held
responsible for:
“Kurds revolted time after time and rebelled against the
imperialists, the counties in the region that usurped their rights.
All revolts were violently quelled. In Turkey, Mustafa Kemal crushed
Kurds very harshly.”
“However, he was only able to establish the Republic, to kick the
Greeks out of Turkish territories and to make hostile countries
recognize the Turkish state, thanks to Kurds. Mustafa Kemal at the
beginning made generous promises to Kurds but then when he was able
to stand on his feet, he forgotabout his promises.”
In another section of the book, the forced migration of Armenians is
also depicted through memories.
The book includes the memories and sayings of Molla Mustafa Barzani
(1903-1979), the father of Mesut Barzani. The next hearing will be
held on July 20. (EO/KO/EA/YE)

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 7 2006
Armenian faces deportation to Baku

Source: Trend
Author: Z. Ibrahimli

07.04.2006

19 year old Karen Avanesyan can be forcefully deported from UK to
Baku.
Avanesyan arrived to the country 3 years ago as an illegal immigrant,
unable to prove his rights for asylum he will be deported from the
country, MediaMax reports, citing sources in London.
In UK he was studying in school and lived on the means provided by
the government as he did not have rights to work.
Considering the fact that Avanesyan was born in Nagorno-Karabakh UK
government decided to deport him to Baku. He was already announced
that on April 12 he will be put on the plane London-Moscow and later
deported to Azerbaijan.

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 7 2006
Invitation of Official Visit to the People’s Republic of China

On April 7, Artur Baghdasaryan, RA NA President, received Zuo
Xueliang, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of People’s
Republic of China to Armenia.
The Ambassador extended the invitation of the Chairman of the
National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China to the
President of the Parliament to pay a visit to China with an official
visit. The goal of the visit is to strengthen the inter-parliamentary
relations with Armenia and establish inter-party relations. During
the meeting issues concerning the programme of the visit were
discussed, as well as the problem of re-operating the
Armenian-Chinese joint enterprise based on `Nairit,’ which is
designed to finish at the end of the year.