TWO OF FIVE MAIN PROPOSALS OF OPPOSITION GET COMPLETE SOLUTION, RA NA VICE
SPEAKER ASSURES
YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, NOYAN TAPAN. In the period between the first and
second readings, the draft constitutional amendments were improved:
the provisions aimed at enhancing the role and significance of the
National Assembly and ensuring the independence of the judicial power,
and the provisions related to the formation of the government and the
principle of Yerevan mayor elections were stipulated, as well as some
amendments of editorial character were made.
Mher Shahgeldian, the speaker on the draft and member of the faction
“Orinats Erkir”, stated this at the August 26 sitting of the RA
National Assembly Ad Hoc Commission on Issues of Integration into
European Structures. According to the Commission Chairman, NA Vice
Speaker Tigran Torosian, 2 out of the 5 main proposals put forward by
the oppositional faction “Ardarutyun” (“Justice”) have received a
complete solution in the draft. It relates to the government’s
structure that shall be prescribed by law rather than by a
Presidential decree, as well as to the procedure of appointing the
Prime Minister. In particular, the draft provides that the President
appoints as Prime Minister a person enjoing the confidence of the
majority or the relative majority of the deputies. According to
T. Torosian, the opposition’s proposals to eliminate the President’s
power to appoint marzpets (regional governors) and to revise the order
of appointing the judges by the President, and to hold direct
elections of Yerevan Mayor “have solutions, which are regulated by
law”. However, the opposition believes that the given issues should
be regulated by the Constitution. Representative of the faction
“Justice” in the Commission Shavarsh Kocharian told NT correspondent
that until now the draft authors have assured that at least one
proposal of the opposition – that the government’s structure and order
of activities should be prescribed by law – has been completely
accepted. Yet, according to him, even it is done imperfectly, since
the provision on prescribing the government structure by law will take
effect in 2008, while the order of activities of the government and
its territorial subdivisions will be again prescribed by the RA
Presidental decree. According to S. Kocharian, the opposition is
dissatisfied with the draft’s solution of the Prime Minister
appointment issue: by nominating twice a candidate for the post of
Prime Minister, the President in fact can impose his choice, whereas
the NA will have to approve it under threat of being dissolved.

NEW COMPETITION ANNOUNCED FOR VACANT PLACES OF STUDY WITHOUT RIGHT OF DELAY
YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, NOYAN TAPAN. It was found out by summing up
results of entrance examinations of higher education institutions,
that there are 120 vacant places for study without right of delay. As
Sergo Yeritsian, the RA Minister of Education and Science informed at
the August 25 press-conference, for these places, the Central Entrance
Commission will receive applications of entrants left out of the
competition from August 26 till September 4. According to the
Minister, the competition for vacant places will be held on September
5-6. S.Yeritsian also mentioned that he, coming out of demand, can add
the number of places without the right of delay.

RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RECOGNIZES CORRESPONDING TO CONSTITUTION THREE
DOCUMENTS CONCERNING INTERNATIONAL CARGO TRANSPORTATIONS
YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, NOYAN TAPAN. On August 26, the RA Constitutional
Court recognizes corresponding to the Constitution principles fixed in
three international documents concerning cargo transportations.
Andranik Manukian, the RA Minister of Transport and Communication was
the RA President’s official representative on issues concerning
corresponding of the report on the following conventions with the RA
Constitution: the “Agreement on International Car Transportations”
signed on May 19, 1956 in Geneva; the convention on making easier
passing of the border for cargo transportation by railway signed on
January 10, 1952; and the convention of the agreement on international
car transportations signed on July 5, 1978. Earlier, at the August 16
sitting, the examination of those issues was postponed because of his
absence.

Putin tells CIS leaders that post-Soviet alliance must be preserved,
but improved
By MIKE ECKEL
.c The Associated Press
KAZAN, Russia (AP) – President Vladimir Putin told leaders in the
Commonwealth of Independent States on Friday that the loose alliance
of ex-Soviet republics must be preserved, but improved – acknowledging
the pact’s troubles as some members try to temper Russia’s regional
influence.
It appeared, however, that leaders were unable to agree on substantial
reforms to reinvigorate the commonwealth – a trade and political pact
deemed increasingly ineffective since its inception with the 1991
Soviet collapse.
The leaders met against the backdrop of celebrations marking the
1,000th anniversary of the central Russia city of Kazan.
At a post-summit news conference attended by presidents from all 12
members except Turkmenistan, Putin made only passing reference to a
“package of measures” to increase cooperation, and gave no details.
“I emphasize the main point here: that there is a general interest
among CIS participants to develop general, mutual cooperation,” Putin
said.
He was, however, the only one who spoke, reading from prepared text,
and no questions from reporters were allowed – underscoring the idea
that the alliance is facing difficulties.
Earlier, in televised comments from a meeting of the CIS leaders,
Putin said it was in the interest of all members “to preserve our
integrational union and to simultaneously raise the effectiveness of
its mechanisms.”
“It is clear that its purpose and aims today are being held up by
morally outdated forms and methods of work. Practically all our
colleagues have spoken of this,” he said.
“It’s one thing not to allow chaos and processes of collapse after
the fall of the USSR. It’s another to work effectively on the goal of
coming closer,” Putin said. Members must quickly “work out a new
model of integration” answering to common and individual national
priorities, he said.
Before the CIS summit, Putin met with the State Council, a group of
Russian regional leaders who gathered in Kazan, capital of the
Tatarstan region 720 kilometers (450 miles) east of Moscow.
He told them that the council, along with the “the consolidation of
all Russian authorities” and the “widening of authority to the
regions,” would help the country’s economic and political
development.
The Kremlin in recent years has pushed legislative changes designed to
strengthen central control over the sprawling country. The latest
round, taken in response to a series of terrorist attacks, allowed the
president to appoint governors and overhauled how parliamentary seats
were elected – strengthening the hand of the largest, Kremlin-backed
political parties.
The CIS leaders met amid new signs that the peaceful revolutions in
Ukraine and Georgia, which brought pro-Western leaders to power, were
threatening to pull the group apart. Their presidents, Viktor
Yushchenko and Mikhail Saakashvili, called this month for a new
regional alliance to champion democracy in the former Soviet space.
The Commonwealth of Democratic Choice, the two leaders said, would
“help usher in a new era of democracy, security, stability and peace
across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Caspian Sea.”
Such a group would further irk Russia, which dominates the
CIS. Georgia and Ukraine have made membership in the European Union
and NATO priorities, and Moldova has taken a sharp Westward
turn. Moscow’s ties with all three countries consequently have
deteriorated.
The Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan also saw a new administration
come to power after mass demonstrations.
In a sign of future tension, Putin said the next CIS summit would be
held in 2006 in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Belarus’ authoritarian
leader Alexander Lukashenko claims foreign forces are helping
opposition groups to try and foment changes like those in Ukraine,
Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. Belarus’ ties with the latter two countries
have frayed.
Russia already has shown signs it is trying to devise a new model for
dealing with former Soviet republics. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
hinted earlier this week that Russia may eventually stop providing its
substantial energy resources to Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova at
subsidized prices.
The 12-nation CIS was set up following the demise of the Soviet Union
with the aim of preserving economic and defense ties. It does not
include the Baltic states.
Turkmenistan’s President Saparmurat Niyazov skipped the summit, as he
has before, sending a government official to represent his Central
Asian country.

08/26/05 13:56 EDT
From: Baghdasarian

CONSULTATION AT THE NKR GOVERNMENT

Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 Aug 05
On August 22 the consultation of the NKR government took place, during
which the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the government were
discussed. The government discussed the projects of the government
decisions on the governmental body in charge of technical control of
electric power and energy consumption, establishment of a governmental
body in charge of postal services and the national operator of postal
communication. Besides, the members of government discussed the
procedure of granting and paying pension to prisoners and the
procedure of giving the inmates the status of disabled, the temporary
data set of the land cadastre about the farming land located in the
administrative territories of NKR communities, provision of personal
protective equipment to the population. A number of questions
referring to the system of education were withdrawn from the agenda of
the meeting for additional investigation and revision. In case the
government decision is adopted, extraordinary local elections will be
held in several communities of the republic.
AA.
26-08-2005

CENSORSHIP PROHIBITS ATOM EGOYAN’S LAST FILM
ISTANBUL, AUGUST 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to the “Sabah”
newspaper, Atom Egoyan’s last film “Where the Truth Hiden” met ban of the
American censorship because of presence of open sexual scenes. “Call me naive
if you want, but I really didn’t think that these scenes may be prohibited by
the censorship, so I didn’t prepare a second variant,” Egoyan said. According
to “Marmara,” famous cinemas in the USA refuse to show films prohibited by
the censorship. But the film reporter of “Gyunaiten” who informed about all
these, wrote that such films with open sexual scenes were shown during the
Cannes festival compared with which scenes of Egoyan’s film are mild, and the
punishment envisaged for them is not justified.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian conference and bill in September
TDN
Saturday, August 27, 2005
If my memory is not playing tricks on me, a similar resolution was
submitted during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ=9Fan’s visit to
Washington in June, and a minor crisis ensued.
Gila BENMAYOR
I met U.S. Consul General in Istanbul Deborah Jones at a
Turkish-American Business Council (TAÄ°K) reception the other
night. Jones was appointed to the post upon the departure of David
Arnett.
Jones is very knowledgeable about the Middle East.
She speaks Arabic well because she worked in Baghdad and Damascus. At
the reception I also talked to the congressional staffers who were
invited to Turkey as part of a program sponsored by TAÄ°K and its
American counterpart, the American-Turkish Council (ATC).
I would like to talk about this program.
Unfortunately, most American congressmen and their staffers know
almost nothing about Turkey.
Turkey, for them, is a country at the opposite end of the world. Even
though they know nothing about it, they draft many bills that affect
Turkey.
This is why it is very important and beneficial for TAÄ°K and the ATC
to invite a delegation from Congress from time to time in order to let
them see Istanbul, Ä°zmir and Ankara and to meet with representatives
from nongovernmental organizations.
Just as TAİK President Yılmaz Argüden said, there is a considerable
disparity between what those who come to Turkey hear and what they
see.
In the past three years, TAÄ°K has welcomed around 90 congressional
staffers.
If we return to the reception the other night, everyone I talked to
confirmed Argüden’s assessment.
`We never expected Turkey to be like this,’ some said.
I should also note that those I spoke with had visited Bodrum.
There was, of course, some congressional gossip making the rounds, and
we learned that a resolution on the Armenian genocide allegations
would be submitted to the House of Representatives in September.
If my memory is not playing tricks on me, a similar resolution was
submitted during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ=9Fan’s visit to
Washington in June, and a minor crisis ensued.
The timing of the bill is very interesting because the Armenian
conference at BoÄ=9Faziçi University that was postponed last May will
now be held in September.
The exact date the resolution will be submitted is not yet known, but
the conference will be held on Sept. 23.
I believe both happening in the same month is very unfortunate.
Unfortunately, most of the nation has negative views on the conference
due to the mistaken interpretations of the conference in the media.
If the resolution is submitted to the House at the same time, public
reaction may grow.
In summary, some very important developments will happen on the
Armenian problem in September.
Angel of villages: Nurten Ã-ztürk: The letters I receive from the
readers of my Turkish Daily News column show that they are interested
in social projects.
Maybe such reports give them hope and inspiration, I don’t know, but I
know that when I hear those involved in the project speak, I get very
excited.
One of those who inspires me is OPET board member Nurten Ã-ztürk.
Ã-ztürk, a successful businesswoman, is the person who initiated the
`clean toilets’ campaign five years ago.
If you are wondering why all the OPET gas stations have clean toilets,
don’t look any further. Ã-ztürk is responsible.
She is also supervising the `green highway’ project, whichaims to
plant trees around OPET stations.
She also helps in the development of certain villages.
This project is called `pilot village.’ She is involved in the
development of three villages right now.
They are the village of Dara, in Mardin right next to the Dara ruins;
the village of Yesemek, where the Hittite Open-air Sculpture Workshop
is located; and the village of Pazarköy in Bolu.
Ã-zürk shows the villagers how to contribute to the village economy,
ways to make their village more beautiful.
Villagers are trained in hygiene, health, and arts and crafts.
The first two villages have huge tourism potential, and that’s why
they are being shown how to utilize it.
Villagers are given brochures and CDs to hand out to tourists.
Ã-ztürk, who spends most of her time traveling to villages, does not
forget about children and supports efforts to open computer classes,
libraries and game rooms.
After having met her and witnessed her enthusiasm, I began to call her
the` angel of villages.’

COMMENTS OF NKR FOREIGN MINISTER TO `DE-FACTO’
Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 Aug 05
– Mr. Minister, how will you comment the formation of the voting
district by the Central Electoral Commission of the Azerbaijani
Republic for the citizens of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic? – As for
the current agiotage around the formation of voting districts by the
Azerbaijani Central Electoral Commission (CEC) for the population of
territories currently under the sovereignty of the NKR then it is a
serious threat to the possible democratic reforms in AR because this
allows Azerbaijani authorities using at least several hundreds of
thousands virtual voters for their purposes. The same perspective is
evident also in the proposed electronic voting. These steps of the
Azerbaijani CEC indicate that local and international observers will
be deprived of possibilities to effectively supervise the course of
elections in AR. – Doyou consider participation of NKR citizens in
Azerbaijani elections possible? – NKR legislation provides for dual
citizenship and if one day a NKR citizen obtained Azerbaijani
citizenship then the necessity of interstate agreement betweenthe
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Azerbaijani Republic would
arise. This agreement will have to regulate such issues as rights and
responsibilitiesof people with dual citizenship including the
realization of their electoral rights. This is international
practice. For such agreement to be signed, anumber of issues have to
be solved in advance. First of all, it is the recognition of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s sovereignty by the Azerbaijani Republic.
Without this further steps will be impossible. In the second place
Azerbaijani legislation must provide for the right to dual citizenship
and if necessary corresponding changes have to be introduced. In the
aftermath of these steps it will be possible to speak about signing an
interstate agreement on persons with dual or more citizenship. However,
it seems quite problematic that AR will be able to carry out
corresponding actions before the coming parliamentary elections,
though everything depends exclusively on the political will of
Azerbaijani leaders. Any positive steps in this direction will be
welcome.
`DE-FACTO’.
26-08-2005
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Department of Armenian Studies, Haigazian University
Beirut, Lebanon
Contact: Ara Sanjian
Tel: 961-1-353011
Email: [email protected]
Web:
HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
invites you to a series of three public lectures
organized in parallel with the international academic conference on
‘The Armenians of Lebanon: Past and Present’
* * *
Tuesday, 13 September 2005
Armenian Orphanages and Shelters for Abandoned Women
in Lebanon and Neighboring Regions
after the First World War
[in Armenian]
by
Vahe Tachjian
(AGBU Noubarian Library, Paris)
* * *
Tuesday, 14 September 2005
The Role and Status of Lebanon in the Development of the Armenian Diaspora
[in Armenian]
by
Khatchik Der Ghoukassian
(Universidad de San Andres, Buenos Aires)
* * *
Thursday, 15 September 2005
Political Developments in Lebanon and Armenian Communal Strategies:
A Preliminary Exploration
[in English]
by
Nicola Migliorino
(University of Exeter, England)
All three lectures will be held at the Haigazian University Media
Center, Mexique Street, Kantari, at 7:30 p.m.
N.B. Please accept this message as a personal invitation.
Haigazian University is a liberal arts institution of higher learning,
established in Beirut in 1955. For more information about its activities
you are welcome to visit its web-site at <;. For additional information on the activities of its Department of Armenian Studies, contact Ara Sanjian at

PRIVATIZATION BEGAN TEN YEARS AGO
Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 Aug 05
Ten years ago privatization of the state property began. In February
1995 the National Assembly passed the law on privatization and
denationalization of state enterprises and unfinished buildings. On
the basis of this law the Agency for Census and Denationalization of
State Property was established,which was put in charge of
privatization. The first programme of privatization, the 1995-1996
programme was adopted. Privatization in Karabakh can be divided into
two stages. In the first stage which lasted from 1995 to 1998 shops,
public food places, services, rented areas and unfinished buildings
were privatized. The second stage, the privatization of large
enterprises, began with the adoption of the law on privatization of
state property in 1998. According to the head of the department of
state property management and privatization of the NKR Ministry of
Territorial Management and Development of Infrastructures Arsen
Abrahamian, by August 1, 2005 871 small enterprises (92 per cent of
the 936 enterprises included in the programme) have been
privatized. Of these 168 were privatized by the staffs of the
enterprises, 430 by the lessees, 184 were put out to auction, 62 by
direct sale. 26 enterprises were provided free of charge according to
the investment plan. Budget return on privatization totaled 468
million drams. As to large enterprises, A. Abrahamian said, 62of the
104 companies one of the shareholders of which is the state (the
evaluated cost of which is 2 billion 953 million) have been
privatized. Half of these enterprises were privatized through direct
sale, 18 (28.1 per cent) were put out to tender, 14 (21.9 per cent)
were provided free of charge. State budget receipts from
privatization of the mentioned companies totaled 727.3 million
drams. Besides small enterprises and large commercial organizations
structural units separated from the property of 34 companies were
privatized as well, of which 28 (82.3 per cent) through direct sale, 5
were provided free of charge, 1 was put out to tender. Budget return
on these units totaled 84.5 million drams. Budget return on
privatization of unfinished buildings totaled 4.2 million drams. As to
the aims of privatization and denationalization, A.
Abrahamian said, `Generally, privatization of state property is the
most lasting reform of the government. The public opinion about the
idea of privatization varies, but it has many positive sides. The
privatization of state enterprises allows improving the effectiveness
of the operation of these enterprises.
Besides the competition between companies of different types of
ownership enable sustainable economic growth. The government expects
growth in the number of private companies through privatization. The
means from privatization, as the numbers cited above show, are a
source of budget receipts. There are also other aims, such as the flow
of foreign and local investments, importof new technologies.’ In
reference to investments A. Abrahamian mentioned that since the
beginning of privatization investment programmes of 7 billion drams
have been implemented, about 2 thousand NKR and foreign citizens have
become proprietors. A. Abrahamian said the investors mainly implement
their liabilities (by 95 per cent). `But, of course, there are cases
when the buyers cannot make the payments and investments in time,’ he
said. In such casesthe government studies the possibilities of
implementing the liabilities of the investor. If the possibilities are
good, the payment of liabilities is deferred, if not, the government
resorts to confiscation through court. A. Abrahamian mentioned 20
similar cases. `It should be noted that the governmentis interested in
completion of the contract by the buyer. Therefore, if the least
chance is there, it tries to solve the question in favour of the
buyer.’ In connection with the legislation of the republic
A. Abrahamian mentioned that it provides for normal privatization and,
according to him, it does not need any changes.
SRBUHI VANIAN.
26-08-2005