ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES DRAFT DECISION ON PERMISSION TO SELL ENA

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. At the September 15 sitting, the
Armenian government discussed the draft decision in connection with
the bid submitted to the RA government by the Midland Resources
Holding Limited company regarding the alienation of 100% of the shares
of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) CJSC.
To recap, Midland Resources – the owner of ENA – applied to the
Armenian government and the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission
in order to get their consent for selling 100% of ENA shares to the
Inter Energo company (Russia). ENA was recently given to Inter Energo
for trust management for 90 years.
According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, the RA
Ministry of Energy must, within a three-day period, negotiate with the
concerned parties the issues related to the obligations that the draft
decision contains in order to calrify these issues and stipulate them
in the draft, and in case of failing to reach an agreement it must
consider the draft decision as not adopted.

PRIMATE OF ARMENIAN DIOCESE OF TEHRAN TO PARTICIPATE IN DAMASCUS IN
CELEBRATIONS DEDICATED TO 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF ASSYRIAN CHURCH
SUPERIOR’S ACCESSION

TEHRAN, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Late on September
13, Archbishop Sepuh Sargsian, the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of
Tehran left for Damascus, the capital of Syria to participate in
celebrations dedicated to the 25th anniversary of accession of Mar
Zakka I Iuazi, the spiritual superior of the Assyrian sister-church.
According to the “Alik” daily of Tehran, His Holiness Pimate will head
the delegation appointed by Aram I Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia, members of which Archbishop Gegham Khacherian, the Primate of
the Armenian Diocese of Lebanon, Archimandrite Norayr Ashgian, Sumbul
Sumbulian and Nubar Melikian are.
His Holiness Sepuh with the delegation he heads will participate in
church events and celebrations and will made a speech in the name of
the Great House of Cilicia on that occasion.
His Holiness Primate will return Tehran on September 16.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REPAIRED SCHOOL BUILDING OPENS IN AKHALKALAK VILLAGE OF GHADO

AKHALKALAK, SEPTEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The opening
of the repaired school building of village of Ghado of Akhalkalak
region took place on September 10. The building was repaired on the
initiative of the Commission of Programs of Assistance to Javakhk of
the Union of Armenian Relief with the resources given by the Armenian
Diocesan Council of Tehran.
Ghado school building was built in 1950-s and hadn’t been repaired up
to this year. The building was accident-prone. In order to avoid an
accident part of the building was isolated and lessons were held here
by 2 shifts. Today the building is already repaired and can stand at
least 20 years.
Bagrat Sargsian, Chairman of the Commission of Programs of Assistance
to Javakhk of the Union of Armenian Relief, Yesayi Abrahamian, Deputy
Chairman of Armenian Diocesan Council of Tehran, participated in the
solemn ceremony of opening of the repaired school building.
The teachers, pupils and parents of Ghado school expressed their
gratitude to the benefactors and organizers of construction.
Yesayi Abrahamian mentioned that living abroad, far from their
homeland, they realize the significance of the Armenian school very
well and sponsorship of repair of a school in Javakhk isn’t
accidental.
Congratulating all residents of Ghado, Bagrat Sargsian, Chairman of
the Commission of Programs of Assistance to Javakhk of the Union of
Armenian Relief, mentioned that the commission will try to attend to
the issue of furnishing of the school, as well.
According to the A-Info agency, the same day the opening of a new
first aid post took place in the village of Azavret of Akhalkalak
region. The first aid post was also repaired by the Commission of
Programs of Assistance to Javakhk of the Union of Armenian Relief.

VARTAN OSKANIAN MEETS WITH PACE SECRETARY GENERAL, AGO’S GROUP,
CHAIRMAN OF VENICE COMMISSION

STRASBOURG, SEPTEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Vartan
Oskanian, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Armenia met with Bruno
Haller, the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, Ambassador Roland Wegener, the head of the Ago’s
Monitoring Group of the CE Committee of Ministers, then with the all
staff of the Ago’s Monitoring Group. Gianni Buquicchio, the Chairman
of the Venice Commission also participated in the last meeting.
At the meetings, the parties discussed the process of the
constitutional reforms and provided by it, the process of
implementation of obligations undertaken by Armenia in front of the
Council of Europe.
Attaching importance to the significance of the constitutional reforms
in the direction of development of democracy in Armenia and completing
the obligations undertaken in front of the CE, the CE officials again
expressed their assistance to the package of reforms, expressing hope
that the people of Armenia will estimate their significance for future
of the country and will orient in this situation right.
Vartan Oskanian informed the CE officials about the latest
developments of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as well.
In the evening, V.Oskanian met with Ambassador of Portugal Duarte, the
CE Ministers’ delegate.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN ATTACHES IMPORTANCE TO TWO CIRCUMSTANCES AMONG PARIS
DISCUSSIONS ON NAGORNO KARABAKH ISSUE

PARIS, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Tigran Torosian,
the NA Deputy Chairman, the head of the Armenian delegation at the
PACE, attaches importance to two circumstances at the September 12
hearings in Paris concerning the Nagorno Karabakh issue within the
framework of the Ad hoc Committee created for using the PACE 14-16
resolution. As Tigran Torosian informed the NA Public Relations
Department, the first of them is that in such structures the Minsk
Group Co-Chairmen and not only they but the Ad hoc Committee members
as well have already started to speak about the necessity of using the
principle of nations’ self-determination. The second important
circumstance is that the opinion that mandates of the Council of
Europe and the OSCE must be separated was predominant.
At the hearings, Denis Samouth, the representative of the British NGO
Links, who is famous among the society for his activity within the
parliamentary initiative of the South Caucasus as well, presented a
historic review concerning the pre-history of the conflict and the
present state. According to Tigran Torosian, the report was
interesting and balanced and creating an objective idea about the
conflict.
Varuzhan Nersisian, the head of the OSCE Department of the RA Foreign
Ministry, presented positions of Armenia concerning the process and
prospects of settlement. Araz Azimov, the Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan was to do the same, who, however, presented his owm notions
instead of presenting the viewpoint of his country.
Then, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen Bernard Fassier (France) and Yuri
Merzlyakov (Russia) as well as the representative of Steven Mann (USA)
made speeches. The main idea expressed by the Co-Chairmen was the
following: it’s impossible to give a solution based only on the
principles of territorial entity or nations’ self-determination, both
principles of the Helsinki Agreement should by used: the territorial
entity related to so called “occupied territories,” and the right of
self-determination in the issue relating to the status.
Andrej Kasprczik, the personal representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, and Goran Lenmarker, the special representative on
the Nagorno Karabakh issue of the OSCE Parlaimentary Assembly made
speeches. The latter repeated the ideas of his famous report,
emphasizing the solution of the issue by giving Nagorno Karabakh wide
self-governance in the structure of Azerbaijan.
Heads of delegations of the Minsk Group in the South Caucasus and
other members of the Committee, Heiki Talvitie, the EU special
representative in the South Caucasus made their speeches as
well. Among them, the NA Deputy Chairman pointed out the speech of
Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the RF delegation. The latter
mentioned that conflicts have different reasons and pre-histories and
should have different solutions, at the same time emphasizing that the
Council of Europe shouldn’t duplicate the OSCE activity, and the
solution should take into account both territorial entity and right of
nations to self-determination.
The head of the delegation of Turkey attempted to repeat Azerbaijani
legend concerning 20% of the Azerbaijani territory, but tangled and
then attempted to present other numbers.
The head of the Armenian delegation at the PACE and another Committee
member from Armenia, Shavarsh Kocharian, the representative of the
opposition made speeches from Armenia. Tigran Torosian emphasized that
there are some very important foundamental issues concerning the
problem settlement. The first of them is a clear separation of
differences of mandates by the PACE and, in general, the Council of
Europe and by the OSCE Minsk Group: the Minsk Group should undertake
problems of the conflict settlement, and the CE should undertake
creation of an atmosphere necessary for the problem settlement. This
issue fully meet both CE mandate in general and obligations of Armenia
and Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe. At the same time,
deepening of the European integration in the region is of upmost
importance for securing a peaceful solution of the conflict. It was
mentioned that there should be a clear notion on the fact that it
would be impossible to secure in any way a positive result of that
process without representatives of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
during the settlement process and making decisions. At the same time,
there should be a clear notion on the fact that the solution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict is impossible without using the principle of
the self-determination of nations. It was specially emphasized that
creation of obseving mechanisms for implementation of proposals of
14-16 resolution is too important in order that it is clear which of
the parties carries out those proposals and which of them neglects
them.
In respond to Azeris’ questions, Shavarsh Kocharian presented numerous
facts concerning the war propaganda, thus, concerning those points
which obviously oppose the spirit of 14-16 resolution.
Few times there were questions relating to settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh problem by the example of Aland Isls. Concerning to this, the
head of the Armenian delegation presented that when Arkadi Ghukasian,
the President of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh was asked such a
question, he clearly answered that just now we are ready to sign an
agreement concerning upmost possible self-governance, only … in the
structure of Finland.
There were numerous questions connected with Azerbaijani approaches,
particularly, concerning increasing of military expenses and martial
statements.
After the discussion, the Committee continued its work. It was decided
that the next meeting will take place in December but before that,
during the the October session, a meeting of delegations of Armenia
and Azerbaijan is necessary for discussing further activity.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COMPANY MAZ TO EXPORT 100 CARS TO ARMENIA IN 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The Belarusian company MAZ, which
is taking part in the Armenia Expo 2005 exhibition that opened in
Yerevan on September 14, plans to export 100 trucks and dump trucks to
Armenia in 2006, which will exceed twofold this year’s
index. According to Stepan Abramovich, Head of the company’s
Department for Export to CIS and Central Asian Countires, out of the
50 trucks envisaged to be exported to Armenia this year, 30 ones have
already been transported to the country.
MAZ started exporting trucks to Armenia two years ago. The company’s
main Armenian customer is the Yerevan Brandy Plant. Construction and
mining indusrty companies have also begun to order cars due to the
economic growth in the country. Although in terms of quality MAZ
production is not inferior to that of other foreign companies, its
trucks are cheaper by almost 50%.

NEW AGREEMEMT ON COOPERATION BETWEEN ARMENIA AND MOSCOW REGION TO BE
SIGNED SOON

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. A delegation headed by Boris
Gromov, the governor of the Moscow region (Russia), will soon arrive
in Armenia with the aim of signing an agreement on economic
cooperation between Armenia and the Moscow region. Ludmila Molchanova,
Deputy Chairwoman of the Committee for Small and Medium Business
Development of the Moscow region, said at the “Cooperation 2005”
Armenian-Russian business meeting that the agreement has already been
sent to the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is in the process of
adjustment. It was noted that the first agreement on cooperation
between the Armenian government and the Moscow region was signed as
far back as 1997.
According to L. Molchanova, the Moscow region has been a serious trade
and economic partner for Armenia. For instance, in 2004, the trade
turnover grew more than fourfold over 2000. The Moscow region is the
largest in Russia in terms of its population. In 2004, direct
investments of over 1 bln USD were made in the region, while its trade
turnover made 6.8 bln USD.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ACCORDING TO SHAVARSH KOCHARIAN, THERE ARE BOTH POSITIVE TENDENCIES
AND DANGERS IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. There is some progress in the
process of Karabakh settlement but there are also dangers. Shavarsh
Kocharian, a member of the Armenian delegation in PACE, declared this
at the September 15 press conference. He participated in the sitting
of PACE ad hoc commission on the issue of Karabakh held on September
12 in Paris. According to him, though the Karabakh settlement model
isn’t declassified it is rather visible.
Kocharian mentioned that in spite of commission’s limited mandate, the
discussion held in Paris was very representative. According to him,
one of its reasons is that there is certain tendency to involve wider
circles into the discussion of the above-mentioned model of Karabakh
settlement. At the same time, according to Shavarsh Kocharian, at the
meeting it was mentioned that against the efforts of the Azeri party,
the settlement process will be only within the framework of the OSCE
Minsk Group. As regards other structures, they can only promote the
process. In particular, the Council of Europe can control the
fulfilment of obligations assumed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, which
includes peaceful settlement of the conflict, creation of an
atmosphere of trust between the two peoples and so on.
It was exactly mentioned during the discussions that it’s possible to
solve the problem only by joint application of principles of
territorial integrity and nations’ right of self-determination. And
the territorial integrity refers to areas beyond Nagorno Karabakh
territory and the right of nations’self-determination to the territory
of Nagorno Karabakh.
According to Kocharian, another important question was that Karabakh
can’t be an enclave, i.e. it must have a connection with Armenia.
It was also indirectly mentioned that it is supposed to create such
conditions so that direct contacts between Armenian and Azeri troops
will be excluded, i.e. implementation of peaceful mission by some
separatist forces.
Touching upon the possible dangers, Shavarsh Kocharian mentioned that
the variant proposed can be estimated as a package solution as it
contains an answer to a number of questions, including issue of
status, while it’s supposed that it will be implemented stage by
stage. According to it, the territories under NKR’s control must be
returned, after which Azeri refugees must return to NKR, then a
referendum must be again held, which will decide if Karabakh will join
Armenia, will be independent or will remain within Azerbaijan’s staff.
According to Kocharian, though nothing is said about terms, return of
refugees suppose some period of time, during which the Armenian party
loses its most serious advantage – controlled territories. As Denis
Samut, representative of LINKS British NGO, mentioned in his speech,
these territories are guarantees of security for Karabakh and can be
used as an argument during the negotiations.
Shavarsh Kocharian emphasized that the return of the territories
immediately violates the military-political balance formed and in
consideration of Azerbaijan’s bellicose appeals and increase in the
military budget, it creates a serious danger for Karabakh.

HAMLET GASPARIAN: ISSUE OF “AZERBAIJAN’S OCCUPIED TERRITORIES” CAN
SPONTANEOUSLY PASS TO UN GA 60th SESSION BUT AZERBAIJAN CAN’T INSIST
ON THIS CLAUSE

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the UN protocol,
among other issues not discussed at the UN General Assembly’s 59th
session, the issue “The situation in Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories” will also spontaneously pass to the 60th session but
Azerbaijan can take no step insisting on this clause as this will
contradict the agreement on this issue formerly achieved between the
parties. Hamlet Gasparian, RA Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson,
declared this commenting upon the transfer of the above-mentioned
issue to the agenda of UN General Assembly’s 60th session at the
request of mass media.
“Armenia’s approach to this issue hasn’t changed: if Azerbaijan raises
any question in the UN, Armenia will come out of the negotiations on
Nagorno Karabakh settlement and Baku will have to continue the
negotiations directly with Stepanakert,” Hamlet Gasparian emphasized.

“THIS CONFERENCE WOULD BE DEDICATED TO PROBLEMS OF TEACHING ARMENIAN
LANGUAGE,” ART CRITIC HENRIK HOVHANNISIAN STATES

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Participants of the conference
dedicated to the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian
letters started on September 13 at the RA National Academy of Science,
among a numer of problems of the Armenian language and Armenian
studies, expressed opinions concerning unification of two
orthographies as well.
Azat Yeghiazarian, the Director of the RA NAS Literature Institute,
finds that the issue of the two orthographies shouldn’t be made
political. According to him, this issue was present still early in the
19th century, and the insistings that the Eastern Armenian is a
language obliged by Bolsheviks, are baseless. A.Yeghiazarian mentioned
that at present, 90% of the Eastern Armenians speaks and writes by the
new orthography, and a huge literature has been created by that
orthography during decades. “If even it’s a bad orthography, we used
to it, and one may not make a revolution at once,” the Director of the
Literature Institute stated.
Richard Hovhannisian, a professor, historian of the California
University of Los Angeles expressed almost the same opinion concerning
the issue. According to him, it isn’t bad to return the classic
orthography, but we shouldn’t hurry. “All those should be done
gradually, as a strict passing to the classic orthography may obstacle
development of science and culture,” R.Hovhannisian mentioned.
According to the estimation of Henrik Hovhannisian, a Art Studies’
Doctor, “the Armenian language is in extremely poor state: everywhere,
every day and every moment language mistakes are made.” According to
him, in these conditions, one should think only of teaching literate
Armenian. “Before anniversaries, sittings and conferences one should
think what bases has teaching of the Armenian language in our
education system and in what state it is,” H.Hovhannisian mentioned,
adding that this conference would by dedicated not to the 16th
anniversary of the invention of the Armenian letters but to problems
of teaching the Armenian language.