BEST IT STUDENTS GET FIRST AWARDS OF RA PRESIDENT
By Anush Babayan
AZG Armenian Daily #168
20/09/2005
Education
In April of the current year “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund and Synopsis
Armenia signed an agreement to help in awarding the best students
and pupils in the sphere of informational technologies the Prize of
RA President.
Informational technologies have always been in the spotlight of
President Robert Kocharian. In recent years, Armenia has already
advanced in the IT sphere; this fact was pointed out by founder
of Synopsis Aart de Jees after having gotten to know Armenian
specialists. By making investments in Armenia this influential
organization reveals its interest in the country’s IT sphere.
Establishment of President’s Prize will give momentum to further
development of the sphere and will spur young specialists to new
projects.
The presentation of first awards will take place at the reception
compound of the Armenian government on September 20. The jury will
pick up the top 18 out of 87 students and 58 pupils. The number
of participants (despite the presentation being first of its kind)
speaks well for the students’ and pupils’ interest and vigor. The
prizes will be awarded in five nominations: “The Best Bachelor”,
“The Best Master”, “The Best Postgraduate Student”, “The Best Female
Student” and “The Best Pupil”. The contest is held for the students
of Yerevan State University and Yerevan State Polytechnic University
as well as YSU-affiliated physico-mathematical school, YSPU-affiliated
gymnasium and Kvant gymnasium.

ELECTRICITY NETWORK AGAIN
A1+
| 20:23:09 | 19-09-2005 | Social |
Robert Kocharyan who presided over the latest Government session
had given three days to the Power Ministry to clear up all the
misunderstandings in the sale contract of the Armenian electricity
network to the Russian company “RAO EES”.
The three days are gone, and no one knows what the Power Ministry
workers have spent them on, but today till late in the evening they
assured us that they are still working on the problem.
If the sale of the electricity network is realized, the production
and sale of electricity in Armenia will become the monopoly of
Russian companies.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

R. KOCHARIAN HANDED ST. MESROP MASHTOTS ORDER TO RULER OF SHARJAH
Pan Armenian News
19.09.2005 08:04
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with
His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the
Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, RA President’s press center
reported. During the meeting R. Kocharian handed St. Mesrop Mashtots
order to the Ruler of Sharjah for the contribution to the consolidation
of friendly ties between the Arabian and Armenian people and good
attitude towards the Armenian community of Sharjah. The parties
welcomed the activation of cultural cooperation and discussed the
possibility of importing Armenian agricultural products to the UAE. His
Holiness expressed readiness to organize a visit of Arabian businessmen
to Armenia for the establishment of mutually beneficial ties.

ARMENIA PARTICIPATING IN MILITARY EXERCISE IN GEORGIA
Pan Armenian News
19.09.2005 07:38
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The exercise with the participation of military
from 18 countries started in Georgia today on the military ground
of Vaziani.
Servicemen from Armenia, Albania, Bulgaria, Germany, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Latvia, Macedonia and the U.S. are
taking part in the maneuvers headed by Commander of the U.S. European
Command, Colonel Russell Richardson. Rescuer-medcuer-05 exercise is
held under the patronage of U.S.
within the NATO Partnership for Peace program framework. The exercise
will last till September 22, RIA Novosti reports.

BUSINESS ATMOSPHERE FAVORABLE IN ARMENIA, RUSSIA AND MOLDOVA
Pan Armenian News
19.09.2005 07:12
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today in Kishinev the World Bank has issued
the outcomes of the research held in 155 countries to assess the
conditions for business created there, Transdnestrian MFA reported. The
research showed that Armenia, Russia and Moldova are leading in
the CIS, though they occupy the 46-th, 79-th and 83-rd positions in
the general list. They are followed by Kyrgyzstan (84), Kazakhstan
(86), Azerbaijan (98), Georgia (100), Belarus (106), Ukraine (124)
and Uzbekistan (138), reported IA Regnum.

RALLY AGAINST TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO EU
By Jean Eckian in France
AZG Armenian Daily #168
20/09/200
Armenian Genocide
3 October, the Armenian sharp forces of Marseilles (France) to
demonstrate to Luxembourg (10:00 am) will require the Recognition
of Genocide before Turkey begins the negotiations with European
Union. With the support of F.R.A. Daschnagtutyun, A.D.L. Ramgavar of
C.R.A.A.M. & C.D.C.A, they invite the Armenians of Europe to come to
join this movement of protest.

LANTOS BACKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VOTE
By Lisa Friedman, WASHINGTON BUREAU
The Daily Review, CA
Sept 17 2005
Lawmaker changes stance after accusing Turkey of not failingto support
U.S. interests
WASHINGTON – In a momentous victory for California’s sizable Armenian
communities, the House International Relations Committee voted
overwhelmingly Thursday to declare the massacre of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire an act of genocide.
In a surprise move, Rep. Tom Lantos,
D-San Mateo, declared that after years of opposing the genocide
resolution, he now would support it. The only Holocaust survivor in
Congress and the founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus,
Lantos had long cited Washington’s close relationship with Ankara as
a key reason for objecting to the resolution.
The separate resolutions by Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, and
George Radanovich, R-Fresno, still must pass several hurdles. The
State Department and House Speaker Dennis Hastert fiercely oppose
recognition of the Armenian genocide, arguing its passage would
rupture U.S.-Turkish relations. Both are expected to try to block a
full House vote.
Nevertheless, Armenians on Thursday said by voting 35-11 for Schiff’s
bill and 40-7 for Radanovich’s, the panel sent a strong message that
Congress should not equivocate when it comes to recognizing crimes
against humanity.
“If the United States does not step up and acknowledge this history
and show moral backbone and clarity on these sorts of issues, people
are going to be disappointed in us. We believe in this country because
it does the right thing,” said Armen Carapetian, spokesman for the
Armenian National Committee of America.
The panel voted after more than three hours of tense debate in which
lawmakers invoked the Holocaust, slavery, Darfur and the fate of
American Indians.
Every Californian on the panel voted for the resolutions.
In 2000, when the issue came before the same committee, Lantos told
his colleagues, “There is a long list of reasons why our NATO ally,
at this point, should not be humiliated.”
On Thursday, Lantos said that while he was “profoundly moved and
anguished by the Armenian people’s horrendous suffering,” he remained
unconvinced that the massacres they endured technically constitute
genocide.
Instead, he cited Turkey’s unwillingness to allow U.S. troops to use
its territory to launch an invasion of northern Iraq as well as the
country’s growing closeness with Syria even in the wake of former
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
“Turkey ignored our interests,” Lantos said. “Our allies must
understand that if they expect the U.S. to support matters of great
interest to them, we expect them to support the things that are
important to the United States.”
Armenians estimate that more than 1.5 million died and hundreds of
thousands of others were displaced in a planned genocide campaign from
1915 to 1923. Turkey maintains there was no systematic extermination
plan, that only about 300,000 Armenians were killed, and that Armenians
also killed thousands of Turks in the tumultuous last years of the
Ottoman Empire.
Rep. Dan Burton, D-Ind., who led the debate against the resolutions,
argued that historians disagree that evidence of genocide exists
and said the fact that Armenians today live peaceably in Turkey is
“proof that the genocide standard can not be met.”
Nursen Mazici, a Turkish visiting professor at Georgetown University
who came to watch the proceedings, said she was disappointed by the
vote and said she thinks most U.S. lawmakers don’t know the full
history of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
“Many Armenians were killed, but at the time many Turks were killed
by Armenian terrorists. I am so sorry for them, for both sides,”
Mazici said.

ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs ADDRESS US GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION
Armenpress
Sept 19, 2005
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS: Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
minister Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyarov addressed the 60-th
session of the UN General Assembly on September 18. Armenian minister
first cited a UNDP Human Development report which ranked Armenia at 83,
far ahead of its neighbors. Oskanian said Armenia made the progress
in the face of its disadvantaged geographic location with no crude
oil reserves and no outlet to sea.
“If we had oil money we would spend it on education, social
security and nature protection,” he said, implicating Azerbaijan’s
declared plans to double its military spending next year up to
$600 million. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Oskanian said
Armenians there have achieved a de facto independence proving to all
that they are able to defend their independence, govern themselves,
create democratic institutions and conduct fair and transparent
elections.
According to RFE/RL, Azerbaijani foreign minister dwelt on Baku’s
official position on how the conflict should be settled, saying Armenia
must first of all pull out its troops from all controlled regions of
Azerbaijan in order to get rid of ‘aggressor’s label’ and contribute
to building of atmosphere of confidence. He then said refugees must
be allowed back to where they had lived before the conflict erupted
and that a police force, composed of Armenians and Azeris, must be
formed in Nagorno-Karabakh to ensure security. He also said Karabakh
Armenians and Azeris in Nakhichevan must be allowed free communication
with their fellows in both countries.
“In this sense the Lachin corridor must be turned into a road of
peace and used in both directions and should be controlled at the
initial stage by international peace keepers,” he said.

OSKANIAN: PEOPLE OF KARABAKH FOUGHT AND WON RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION
Pan Armenian News
19.09.2005 08:30
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 18 Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian has addressed the UN Assembly General 60th session, RA Foreign
Ministry reported. The Minister spoke about the Millennium Development
Goals finding the combat against poverty and economy development
extremely important. In his speech the Minister also referred to the
regional conflicts and the course of their settlement. He has mentioned
that “in case of regional conflicts preaching of military solutions
is not only unreal but also reflects the absence of democracy, human
rights and the perception of civic society”. Speaking about the rights
of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, he underlined, “Self-determination
is the right of every person. The people of Nagorno Karabakh have
fought and won the right of self-determination. In order to win
it, they have fought the political and military aggression of a
government which was not elected by them and which tried to suppress
them by force. The fight for their rights was no their choice. Their
rights were neither abstract nor exaggerated. They wanted what most
of us have, that is the right to live in their houses on their lands
peacefully. Despite everything, they reached their aim. From that time
on they have shown their ability of governing and developing democratic
institution”. Finding the realization of Millennium Development
Goals, the Minister noted that we are responsible for the coming
generations. And our answer to ourselves and to our children must be
the united effort, united measures and united answers on the part of
United Nations. The UN can still be the answer, said Vartan Oskanian.

CRIMINALS IN LEBANON BEWARE: YOU ARE ON CANDID CAMERA
Ya Libnan, Lebanon
Sept 18 2005
Beirut, Lebanon – Police investigators are focusing on a film taken
by a security camera of a bank at the scene of the Jeitawi bombing
in Ashrafiyeh to pin down the identity of two suspects seen planting
two bags of explosives in between parked cars near a coffee shop that
took the brunt of the explosion’s impact, An Nahar reported on Sunday.
Witnesses have told the police that they saw the two bag carriers
climbing out of a private car driven by a third man. The same car
returned to pick them up and raced off after explosives were placed
on target, according to An Nahar.
Investigators hope to establish the identity of the bombers and their
car driver from the film that was taken off the security camera of
a Byblos Bank branch overlooking the scene of the blast that rocked
Jeitawi’s St. Louis alleyway five minutes before midnight.
The owner of the cafe, a Lebanese Armenian in his sixties, was killed
in the blast and a total of 28 people were injured. Police said Sunday
that only three of the wounded people remained hospitalized and the
rest were given quick first aid treatment and discharged.
Residents of the densely populated stricken street in a Christian
neighborhood of the Lebanese capital are still taking stock of the
damage caused by the explosions to their homes and businesses.
Beirut’s municipality launched a fund-raising campaign to help
residents to repair the damage.
An official statement said the first $100,000 donation came from
Sheikh Jassem Mohammed Al Bahr, reportedly a Kuwaiti citizen. The
City Council has decided to extend an initial aid of $500 to every
victim pending a survey of the damage by Lebanon’s Higher Relief Board.
It was the 8th such bombing since March 19. Anti-Syrian politicians
blamed the new attack, like the previous bombings, on Syria’s secret
service and allied Lebanese intelligence operatives. But Hezbollah,
which strongly condemned the Jeitawi blast as a terrorist act of
destabilization, publicly warned against handing down prejudgments.
The filming of the suspects is a message to future criminals that they
can no longer expect to get away so easily. The Lebanese are determined
to find out the truth about who is behind all these criminal acts in
Lebanon and bring to Justice all these criminals.
To those criminals contemplating similar actions in the future,
we may say: “Watch out! You are on Candid Camera”