UK AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA GRATEFUL TO ARMENIAN PEOPLE FOR SUPPORT

PanArmenian News Network
July 18 2005

18.07.2005 07:03

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The British Ambassador and the staff of the British
Embassy in Yerevan thanked all those who have sent messages of
sympathy and support following the bombings in London on 7 July. In
response to the letter which President Kocharian sent to British
Prime Minister Tony Blair on the day of the bombings, the Ambassador
on Friday sent the President the following letter: “Your Excellency.
I should like to thank you sincerely for your warm and timely message
of sympathy to the Prime Minister following the bombing in London on
7 July. This is a sad time for all of us. Our thoughts and prayers
are with the victims and their families. But we deeply appreciate the
fact that our friends share our sense of loss and outrage at this
cowardly attack. We have been moved by the sympathy and kindness of
Armenians of all walks of life, including those who left flowers and
candles anonymously in front of the Embassy last week. Your support
means a great deal to us in these troubled times. Thank you again.~T

GREEK COMMUNITY OF CYPRUS THREATENS AZERBAIJAN WITH DIRECT FLIGHT TO
NAGORNO KARABAKH

PanArmenian News Network
July 18 2005

18.07.2005 06:13

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Greek community of Cyprus threatens Azerbaijan
with a direct flight to Nagorno Karabakh but they will not succeed,
Mehmed Ali Talaat, the president of the unrecognized Northern Cyprus
has told the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, according to the Azeri news
agency Trend. He said Azerbaijan’s rapprochement with Northern Cyprus
would help offset the international isolation of the Turkish Cyprus.
On the eve of his recent trip to Russia, Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan has said that the latest steps of Baku represent Azerbaijan’s
factual recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
“Hopefully, Azerbaijan’s steps towards it would continue~T, he said,
Yerkir Online reports.

CROATIAN AMBASSADOR TO RA HANDED COPIES OF CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN FM

18.07.2005 08:18

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Croatian Ambassador to RA Neven Madey
(residence in Athens) handed the copies of his credentials to Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, RA MFA press center reported. Vartan
Oskanian congratulated the Croatian diplomat with the appointment
and wished him every success. Noting the satisfactory level of the
Armenian-Croatian relations the RA FM said that a great deal of work
targeted at the development of trade-economic and cultural ties should
still be done. The parties stressed the importance of creation of
the legal basis and organization of regular consultations between
the Foreign Ministries of the two states. In his turn, Mr. Madey
familiarized Vartan Oskanian with the EU-Croatia relations. The
interlocutors also touched upon the Karabakh conflict settlement.

Beast on the Moon Wanes Off-Broadway; Final Performance Is July 24
By Kenneth Jones

Playbill, NY
July 18 2005

The Off-Broadway production of Beast on the Moon will close July 24
after 15 weeks and 120 performances, producer David Grillo announced
July 18.

Directed by Larry Moss (The Syringa Tree) and written by Richard
Kalinoski, the warm play about Armenian immigrants finding new hope
in America made its Manhattan debut with the staging at the Century
Center, off Union Square. The play blossomed internationally and
around the country in the past decade.

In recent weeks, Grillo himself stepped into the show to replace Tony
Award nominee Omar Metwallly, who is shooting a movie. Understudy
Grillo was announced to play the role of Aram through the month of
July, but will now be in the closing cast. He told Playbill.com, “Omar
has actually been back in the role for a week, on hiatus from shooting.
He’ll do the first half of the final week, and I’ll finish the run,
attempting to deliver his beautiful performance as well as I’m able.”

Metwally plays Aram Tomasian, the Armenian immigrant who settles in
Milwaukee and carves out a new life with his haunted bride, played
by Lena Georgas, a refugee from the early-century Armenian genocide.

The cast also includes Frank Biancamano (who replaced Louis Zorich)
and Louis Dilan (who replaced Matt Borish).

Grillo, who earned an MFA in acting from Yale School of Drama,
played the role of Aram in Boston in 1999, and acquired the New
York production rights two years ago. Beast on the Moon is his first
venture as commercial producer. His producing partner for the project
is Matt Salinger.

“I first fell in love with Beast on the Moon when I played Aram in
the Boston production,” Grillo said in a statement. “I knew then that
this was a play that had to reach New York audiences. I have been
standing-by for Omar since we began previews this spring. While Omar
is off filming, I am looking forward to switching hats and revisiting
Richard Kalinoski’s beautiful play from an actor’s perspective.”

Century Center for the Performing Arts is at 111 East 15th Street.

The final week’s performance schedule is July 19 at 7 PM, July 20
at 2 & 8 PM, July 21 at 8 PM, July 22 at 8 PM, July 23 at 3 & 8 PM,
July 24 at 3 PM.

Tickets are $65 for all performances. Tickets and information are
available at Telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.

Visit

Putin, Erdogan discuss stability in region extending from Caucasus to Cyprus

RIA Novosti, Russia
July 18 2005

SOCHI, July 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed stability in
the Caucasus, the situation in Iraq and Iran, and the Cyprus problem.
“We focused on the issue of strengthening stability in the Caucasus
and the Black Sea basin,” Putin said at a press conference in Sochi
after talks with the Turkish Prime Minister. Putin gave assurances
that Russia would continue to help resolve the Cyprus problem. “We
are absolutely convinced that the UN Secretary General is moving in
the right direction,” he said.

Putin also said everyone knows how the situation is developing on
Cyprus. “First, we must resolve the problem of the economic isolation
of a part of the island, create conditions for normal relations between
the two parts, and on this basis fully normalize the situation in
the interests of all people living there,” he said.

“We will think about what can be done by Russia and the island’s two
parts to resolve these issues,” the Russian president said.

Putin and Erdogan said it was necessary to address the issue of
Nagorny Karabakh (a mountainous autonomous region within Azerbaijan
historically populated by Armenians, which unilaterally proclaimed
its independence in 1991).

“I was satisfied to hear the Russian position that it was time to
start settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Erdogan said.

He added that at his meeting with Putin he had also discussed the
situation in Iraq, Iran, and anti-terrorism efforts.

“We expressed once again our resolve to fight international terrorists,
who are carrying out attacks against innocent people, defenseless
women and children,” Erdogan said.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AWARDS PRIZES TO WINNERS OF “BEST SPORT-AMATEUR FAMILY” COMPETITION

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 18 2005

YEREVAN, July 18. /ARKA/. RA President has awarded prizes to the
winners of the republican competition “Best sport-amateur family”
for the RA President’s prize. The winners of the competition,
Hovsepyan family (Armavir region), Sahakyan family (Yerevan), and
Mikaelyan family (Shirak region), received AMD 500,000, AMD 400,000
and AMD 300,000 from the President. Kocharyan pointed out that the
number of the competition participants is rising, and the fund of
the competition is increased. The President expressed wish that
the number of participants increase in conformity with the amount of
funds allocated for the competition and reach several hundred thousand
people. “There is no losers in this competition, as it is only families
for which sport is the way of life that win,” Kocharyan said.

In his turn, Chairman of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sport,
RA Government, Ishkhan Zakharyan pointed out that 83 families from
11 Armenian regions took part in this year’s competition against
54 last year. He said that only 33 families entered the finals and
continued struggling for the title of best sport-amateur family in
six competitions: ball throwing, standing broad jump, rope-pulling,
cross=country race, relay-race, and weight-lifting exercises. “Twelve
million drams were allocated for the competition this year due to the
President’s support, whereas only about 1.5mln AMD were allocated last
year,” Zakharyan said. According to him, such competitions contribute
to sport development in Armenia.

The President presented all the competition participants aged under
12 with tracksuits. The smallest participants in the competition,
6-year-old Aramais Sargsyan and Mariam Beglaryan, who broke the record
in weight-lifting exercises, received AMD 100,000 bonuses instituted
by the RA Olympic Committee.

The competition was organized by the State Committee for Physical
Culture, RA Government, with the sponsorship of the RA President.P.T.

-0–

NKR PARLIAMENT TO RECEIVE CONSTITUTION DRAFT

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 15 2005

STEPANAKERT, July 15. /ARKA/. The draft Constitution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is to be submitted to the
NKR Parliament in October-November 2005, NKR President told
a press-conference. He said that the draft is ready, but “some
clauses are still to be discussed”. Ghukasyan proposed considering
the viewpoints of the political forces that gained victory in the
recent parliamentary elections in NKR, as well as present-day trends
in Armenia.

“We strive for the NKR Constitution to be the most democratic and
corresponding with European and international standards”, Ghukasyan
said. A.A. -0–

POSITIVE CHANGES FELT IN NEGOTIATIONS: ARKADY GHUKASYAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 15 2005

STEPANAKERT, July 15. /ARKA/. Positive change can be felt in the
negotiating process, and the most important thing is that a softer tone
is used in Azerbaijan when the negotiations and the two conflicting
parties are mentioned, President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
(NKR) Arkady Ghukasyan told a press conference. According to him,
aggressive attitude reigned in Azerbaijan a few years ago, whereas
attempts are being made to assume a more constructive position. “It
is a good thing that Azerbaijan is trying to alienate itself from
this aggressive position and talks of a peace process, that is a
political settlement, can be heard there,” Ghukasyan said.

According to him, this all is evidence of positive changes and of the
fact that the international community has exerted serious influence
on the Azerbaijani authorities’ position.

As regards specific discussions, Ghukasyan said that positive changes
are obvious. The main change is that the sides do not avoid discussing
issues raised by the opposite side. “The priority task for us is the
NKR’s status, and Azerbaijan’s authorities are discussing this problem
with the mediators and with Armenia’s authorities. As regards the
position of Nagorny Karabakh, we have never avoided any discussions and
are always open for considering any issues,” Ghykasyan said. P.T. -0–

COMMON APPROACH TO REFUGEES REQUIRED: ARKADY GHUKASYAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 15 2005

STEPANAKERT, July 15. /ARKA/. During his press-conference in
Stepanakert, NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan said that a common approach
to the problem of refugees should be applied. “If there were a common
approach to refugees, the problem might have been resolved, not today,
but only after the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”,
Ghukasyan stated. He pointed out that, unfortunately, Azerbaijan
is only speaking of Azeri refugees, despite the fact that there are
Armenian refugees as well, and both figures are commensurable. “At
present, when the conflict remains unsettled, it is highly immoral
to jeopardize refugees’ life,” Ghukasyan said. A.A. -0–

NKR’S PARTICIPATION IN MEETING OF HEADS OF UNRECOGNIZED STATES NO ON
AGENDA: ARKADY GHUKASYAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 15 2005

STEPANAKERT, July 15. /ARKA/. The issue of participation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) in a meeting of the heads of
unrecognized states, which is being discussed by mass media, is not
on the agenda, NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan said, commenting on the
media reports on a planned meeting of the heads of Abkhazia, South
Ossetia, Transdniestria and, allegedly, Nagorny Karabakh. Ghukasyan
said that “this issue has not at all been discussed.” The Presidents
of the unrecognized state may have arranged, but I have never taken
part in such meetings,” Ghukasyan said. P.T. -0–