ARMENIA PROVIDES HUMANITARIAN AID TO HURRICANE-HIT US AREAS
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
MOSCOW, September 6
September 8, 2005 Thursday 12:39 PM Eastern Time
Armenia has provided 200,000 U.S. dollar humanitarian aid to residents
of the U.S. areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, the government press
service told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
Armenian President Robert Kocheryan conveyed his condolences to his
U.S. counterpart George W. Bush on the tragedy.

ELECTION SYSTEM OF ARMENIA DELIBERATELY IMMERSED INTO CHAOS, THINKS REPRESENTATIVE OF OPPOSITION AT ARMENIAN CEC
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8. ARMINFO. The election system of Armenia was
deliberately immersed into chaos. Representative of the opposition
bloc Justice at the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia Felix
Khachatryan said at a press conference today.
He thinks that in the basis of the election process, in the voters’
list, something unimaginable is happening. In particular, on September
25 elections to the post of the prefect of Yerevan Center community
are expected, however, the voters’ lists of the polling station at
Gevorg Emin No. 182 school in Tigran Mets street lack families of
500 electors, the residents of the dwelling house N.31 in Tigran Mets
street, several flats of some houses in Yervand Kochar and Vardanants
streets were not included in the lists at all.
Moreover, middle names of two electors in voters’ lists were
“Azerbaijan.”
The number of voters at one polling stations differs from that of
another polling station by 10,000 and even 12,000 people, while in
conformity with the law, the difference must not exceed 5,000 people.
These inaccuracies are deliberate and from “above.” Before the
referendum, the number of electors accidentally decreases and than
increases before the elections. Such manipulations are possible only
from “above.”
Khachatryan did not answer the question “what to do” calling
journalists and representative to go to the polling stations and made
sure that he was rights, an than to hold a journalistic investigation.

EUROPEAN DIARY: UPCOMING CONFERENCES: “HAS TURKEY CHANGED?”
European Report
September 7, 2005
[parts omitted]
Comprehensive conference to address various points relating to
Turkish membership of the EU. To be followed on 23 September by the
Consultative Meeting of European Armenians: this will bring together
leaders of Armenian associations and organisations to discuss Turkey’s
EU membership, the new neighbourhood policy with Armenia and the role
of Armenian culture in Europe. Both events open to public.
Information:

SPEAKER OF TURKISH SENDS LETTER TO HIS COUNTERPARTS FROM 16 COUNTRIES, WHO HAVE RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8. ARMINFO. Speaker of the Turkish parliament
Bulent Arinch sent a letter to his counterparts from 16 countries,
which have recognized Armenian Genocide.
As the Turkish daily Milliyet reports, in his letter sent to the
speakers of the parliaments of Switzerland, Poland, Slovakia, Lebanon,
Canada, Argentina, Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Greece,
Uruguay, Swede, Russia and Venezuela, Bulent Arinch mentioned that
“there is nothing to hide in the history of his country and there
is nothing shameful”. “The adoption of the accusations against
Turkey on perpetration of the Armenian genocide, cause deep concern
and disappointment among the MPs of Turkey”, said in the letter.
Bulent Arinch once more supports the position of Turkey saying that
“the historians must estimate the history” and presents as “tragic
events between Turks and Armenians, which took place the years of the
World War I”. According to him, official Ankara has proposed Armenia
to establish a joint group of historians for examination of all the
archive documents of these events and submission of the results to
the international community.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT ESTONIA
Baltic News Service
September 7, 2005
Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan is scheduled to arrive
in Estonia today on what will be the first ever visit by a defense
minister of Armenia here.
In the course of the visit a cooperation memorandum between the
two countries will be signed, spokespeople for the Estonian Defense
Ministry said.
Sargsyan and his Estonian counterpart, Jaak Joeruut, are to discuss
developments related to the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan
(IPAP) for Armenia and opportunities for bilateral defense cooperation
in the future.
Also to be dealt with are the reforms of defense forces under way
in the two countries and Armenia’s and Estonia’s participation in
international peacekeeping operations. Other topics include regional
cooperation, spokespeople for the Estonian ministry said.
On Thursday morning, Sargsyan will meet with Estonia’s Chief of Staff
Alar Laneman, after which he will proceed to the southern city of
Tartu to visit the Baltic Defense College and meet its chief Algis
Vaiceliunas.
The memorandum of understanding dealing with defense cooperation
between Estonia and Armenia will be signed at the Estonian Defense
Ministry Friday morning, to be followed by a meeting with the chairman
of the Estonian parliament’s defense committee, Toivo Tootsen.
The Armenian minister will also visit the Armenian church in Tallinn
to meet with representatives of Estonia’s ethnic Armenian community.
He will leave Estonia Friday afternoon.
In 2005, Estonia is the chairman of the forum of countries providing
defense assistance to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Sargsyan and Latvian Defense Minister Einars Repse signed an
agreement about defense cooperation between Armenia and Latvia in
Riga on Tuesday.

ASHULUK SETS RECORDS
by Major Andrei Sobolevsky
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 7, 2005, Wednesday
SOURCE: Vo Slavu Rodiny (the newspaper of the Belarusian Defense
Ministry), September 3, 2005, p. EV
COMBAT TRAINING
(…) The exercise conducted by Belarus units during Combat
Commonwealth-2003 was more spectacular. Tajik and Armenian units did
not cope with their tasks and Belarus missile units had to intercept
their targets. (…) The first missile hit the Strizh target. The
second hit its burning fragments in a second. The 302nd missile
brigade produced an impression on observers – it shot down targets,
which simulated cruise missiles, from the Osa anti-aircraft complex.
This year the exercise was not as spectacular. The exercise was
conducted without surprises. The crews detected their targets and
destroyed them. No emergencies happened because servicemen prepared
for the exercise properly. (…)
Belarus crews did not have problems at all, which testifies to
high professionalism of defenders of the sky. They shared their
experience with their counterparts from the CIS. Officers of the
battalion commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Fedotov (the 115th
anti-aircraft missile brigade) trained the Tajik crew of the S-125
anti-aircraft complex. It should be noted that Armenian crews coped
with combat tasks using military hardware prepared by specialists of
the 15th missile brigade.
(…) This contributed to the prestige of the Belarus anti-aircraft
school. Belarus crews did the major part of preparatory work.
There was one more aspect. The crews conducted an exercise with combat
shooting on the eve of tactical episodes of the third stage of the
CIS anti-aircraft system. Russian counterparts proposed Belarus crews
to intercept the Pishal target. The target was created on the basis of
the S-125 missile. It simulates a ground-to-ground operational-tactical
missile. It should be noted that before the crews intercepted only 40%
of such targets (the crews used the S-300P anti-aircraft complex).
There was a risk to miss the target. However, Lieutenant-General
Oleg Paferov, Commander-in-Chief of the Air and Anti-Aircraft Force,
decided to shoot. (…) The experimental exercise would help the
crews uncover their weak points.
The first missile was launched at the Pishal target by the battalion
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Zhikharevich. By the way, the
battalion failed to intercept the first target because of a technical
problem. (…) The unit had to intercept a more difficult target in
order to rehabilitate itself. The battalion coped with this task.
The unit coped with the task thanks to its experience and regular
training. In particular, Russian pilots who checked the reliability
of Belarus units on duty simulated a real air attack. Colonel Sergei
Lemeshevsky, commander of the exercise, said that there were around
40 targets in the air. Many targets flew at a low altitude. This was
the most difficult attack in the history of Belarusian anti-aircraft
units. Belarusian servicemen passed this test!
Lieutenant-General Oleg Paferov, Comander-in-Chief of the Auir and
Anti-Aircraft Force, noted that he is satisfied with the results of
the exercise. (…) Belarusian anti-aircraft units will have to pass
a more difficult test in 2006. They will participate in an exercise
of the operational-tactical command involving aviation.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO SET UP A COMMITTEE TO OBSERVE TRIAL OF PAMUK
Turkish Press, MI
Aug 7 2005
STRASBOURG – The European Parliament will set up a committee to
observe trial of Orhan Pamuk, a prominent Turkish writer.
The proposal was made by MPs, who are members of the European wing
of the Joint Parliamentary Commission, the consultative organ between
the European Parliament and the Turkish parliament.
The committee to be formed by European MPs will observe trial of Pamuk,
and convey its views to the European Parliament with a report.
Pamuk is accused of denigrating Turkey and Turkish people as he said
in an interview with a Swiss journalist that 1 million Armenians and
30 thousand Kurds were killed.
If convicted, Pamuk can face 6 months up to 3 years in prison.
The trial will start at the Basic Criminal Court no: 2 in Istanbul
on December 16th, 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARINC SENDS LETTERS TO 16 PARLIAMENT SPEAKERS
Turkish Press, MI
Aug 7 2005
ANKARA – Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc sent letters to his
counterparts in 16 countries which has adopted resolutions on the
so-called Armenian genocide allegations.
In the letters he sent to the speakers of parliaments of Switzerland,
Poland, Slovakia, Lebanon, Canada, Argentina, Germany, Belgium, France,
the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Uruguay, Sweden, Russian Federation
and Venezuela, Arinc said, “we have nothing to hide or be ashamed in
our history.”
He expressed sorrow and disappointment about adoption of resolutions
accusing Turkey of carrying out a genocide, and said, “it is
unacceptable that the history be used as a tool for political
intentions that can cause prejudice against Turkey and Turkish nation.”
“Turkey has always argued that disputable chapters of history should
be assessed by historians, and therefore, has opened its archives
to all researchers. Recently, Turkey has proposed Armenia to form a
group composed by Turkish and Armenian historians who can examine
developments and incidents happened in 1915 within the related
archives. Turkey also proposed that this group should make public
the results of its researches,” indicated Arinc.
Arinc stated that national parliaments were not the places where
decisions on historical events can be taken, and added that parliaments
should in fact exert efforts to create and improve atmosphere of
friendship and cooperation among countries and peoples.

BRILLIANT SUCCESS ACHIEVED BY VAHE MUSOYAN IN THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIAD IN INFORMATICS
Azad-Hye, United Arab Emirates
Sept 7 2005
The 17th annual International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) took place
in Poland in August 2005 with the participation of about 270 school
children from 72 countries. According to the regulations students up
to 20 years old (who have been in school at least for the last six
months) can participate.
During its 10 years of participation Armenia for the first time
achieved gold medal. Vahe Musoyan was the star of the team and he
succeeded in gathering 511 units out of a total of 600.
Is one medal enough? Based on the regulations some 12 percent of the
participants get gold medals, which amounts to a total of 24 medals.
Each country has the right to participate with four contestants,
regardless of its size. There are countries, such as China, USA,
Russia and Republic of Korea, etc, that aspire to get gold medals for
all their four participants. In those countries favorable conditions
have been set to meet the requirements of the contestants, through
organizing training sessions, granting University admissions and the
least to say by enjoying facilities, such as training locations and
the opportunity to meet other people and to diversify their knowledge
and abilities.
Having in mind the above mentioned basic requirements we can consider
Vahe Musoyan’s gold medal as a great achievement.
Does this medal reflect the level of the Informatics as a subject
taught in Armenian schools? Armen Andreasyan, the head of the Armenian
delegation answers in one word: NO. Read More
He says to , “the medal is the result of the talent,
abilities and the efforts of Vahe Musoyan himself. He has aimed to get
this medal through had work for the last four years, getting every year
better in solving algorithmic problems. He has already participated
in the Olympiads for the last three times acquiring two bronze medals”
(see last year’s correspondence in our website).
Mr. Armen Andreasyan has been training the Armenian team in the
special school call Kvant for the last 3 and half years. He says that
unfortunately the subject of Informatics is neglected in Armenian
schools. The number of teachers is not enough and the knowledge base
of the existing ones is not sufficient. Informatics is not one of the
subjects required to enter University. Therefore it has been pushed
away from the main stream subjects.
On the question, why the other participants did not get medals, Mr.
Andreasyan admits that results of the other members of the team were
below the expectations and they should be considered to be low. Vahe
Gulyan for example gathered 240 units, which were not enough to get
a bronze medal. Armen Mnatsakanyan scored 228 units. The reason seems
to be the level of the preparation. In many countries special summer
sessions take place to develop the abilities of the students. There are
Olympiad centers, summer and winter courses, internet training sites,
but in Armenia these conditions are available only in few places.
There is another problem. The participants of the International
Olympiad of Informatics in Armenia have two choices: either to
prepare themselves to University entry level general examinations or
to devote their time to IOI trainings. It is becoming hard to achieve
good results in both. Therefore those who are opting for the first
one are not finding enough time to train for the Olympiad and are
consequently scoring humble results.
We congratulate the Armenian team and their training teacher and hope
that this year’s achievement will inspire them all to have better
results next year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WHICH DIRECTOR WOULD MAKE THE BETTER GODFATHER?: EGOYAN V. CRONENBERG
by J. Kelly Nestruck, National Post
National Post (Canada)
September 8, 2005 Thursday
Toronto Edition
At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, two of Canada’s
top directing dynamos are facing off. Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth
Lies and David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence are both getting gala
presentations, and the men behind them are vying for the (unofficial)
title of Greatest Canadian Director at the Festival After Deepa Mehta.
The timid critics are quiet as to who is the better filmmaker, but
the Canadian people aren’t shy about saying what’s what. Each day
during the festival, we will show three filmgoers pictures of Atom
and David and ask them to choose. In the end, there will only be one
dude standing (behind Deepa).
Today’s question: Which of these two men would you rather be the
godfather to your child?
Location: Outside the SilverCity movie theatre at Yonge and Eglinton.
– Meghan, a 24-year-old publicist, chose Atom. “He looks younger. His
hair isn’t going grey, and he looks more friendly. This other guy
looks kind of scary. Skeleton-like.”
– Edie, a psychologist, chose David. “Probably it’s because he’s
older, and older people tend to be godfather types. I don’t think
I’d pick either one, really. You think about godfather attributes,
like caring and responsible. I think they’re very creative, but …”
– Beata, mother of Patrick, 2, and Eryk, 9 months, chose Atom. “He
looks younger. He looks like he would be bigger fun to play with for
my children.”
Winner of Round 1: Atom Egoyan. The lean, mean Armenian takes an
early lead thanks to youthful good looks and a fun-lovin’ attitude
that bowl the ladies over. Lock him up, Arsinee, or he may end up
with a gaggle of “god”children!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress