ARMENIA AND THAILAND TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON SCIENTIFIC-ENGINEERING COOPERATION
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 4 2005
04.08.2005 07:06
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Government has approved of the proposal
to sign an agreement between the Governments of Armenia and Thailand
on scientific-engineering cooperation. Today the Government also
approved of the proposal to sign a memorandum on legal assistance
and cooperation between Offices of Prosecutor General of Armenia
and Georgia, the Press Service of the Armenian Government told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

Azeri official criticizes Russia for moving hardware from Georgia to Armenia
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
4 Aug 05
[Presenter] Moscow today started transferring part of its military
hardware from Georgia to its Gyumri military base in Armenia.
[Azerbaijani] Deputy Foreign Minister Xalaf Xalafov has said that this
is a threat to the region and that Russia is disrupting stability in
the region with its step. Xalafov also criticized the OSCE’s loyal
attitude to steps that pose a threat to the region.
[Correspondent, over video of Xalafov] The deployment of military
hardware and ammunition withdrawn from Georgia at the Gyumri base
in Armenia is a threat to stability in the region. Having said this,
Xalafov said that Russia’s step should worry not only Baku, but also
all regional states.
[Xalafov] Of course, the deployment of military bases in an aggressive
country like Armenia does not serve security and stability in the
region. It does not strengthen stability, on the contrary, makes these
issues even more tense and complicated. We have already expressed our
opinion about this and will express it in the future. I think it is an
issue that concerns not only Azerbaijani-Armenian-Russian relations,
but also all regional relations.
[Correspondent] The deputy minister also said that the Kremlin had
informed Azerbaijan that military hardware, weapons and munitions
will be sent to Armenia. They even guaranteed that these weapons will
never be used against our country.
[Xalafov] The Russian side has officially told us at various levels
that these weapons, hardware, equipment and forces will be sent to
Russian military bases in Armenia. This does not mean that these
forces will be handed over to Armenia. They told us about this and
confirmed this. They gave us guarantees that this will be the case.
[Correspondent] At the same time, Xalafov thinks that the issue
of deploying bases in Armenia should be solved both by Russia and
Azerbaijan and by OSCE member states. Otherwise, this organization,
which ensures regional supervision, will have to bear responsibility
for the security of the region.
[Xalafov] There is an OSCE agreement on the balance of weapons in
this region and there are agreements on applying it. Of course,
we should look at these issues in this context and the balance
should not disrupted. The balance has been disrupted anyway. The
balance has been disrupted to such an extent that one country of
the region has invaded another country and keeps 20 per cent of its
territory under occupation. The OSCE should deal with this issue in
the future. The OSCE bears direct responsibility for solving this
issue in a peaceful way.
[Correspondent] The deputy minister said that instead of preventing
these factors in regional security issues, the OSCE is creating
conditions for this.
[Passage omitted: Details of Russian military hardware sent to Armenia]

ARMENIAN PM RECEIVES EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
ArmenPress
Aug 4 2005
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian received today Egyptian ambassador to Armenia Mrs. Abla
Abd al-Rahman Osman.
Governmental press service said during the meeting the prime minister
expressed condolences on the terrorist attack in Sharm el Sheikh July
23 and pointed out that terrorism is an evil directed against the
humanity and must be condemned. Referring to the Armenian-Egyptian
political relations, particularly in international organizations,
Andranik Margarian said they are on a high level and noted that within
the frameworks of amendments in UN Armenia is for including Egypt in
the Security Council.
As to bilateral trade-economic cooperation, the prime minister
said there are not satisfactory at the same time noting that during
the recent period positive steps have been implemented towards the
development of the cooperation.
The Egyptian ambassador expressed hope that the visit of the Armenian
prime minister to Egypt planned on fall will tangibly promote the
expansion of economic cooperation. The visit will be followed by the
4th session of the Armenian-Egyptian inter-parliamentary commission, by
the Armenian-Egyptian business conference and political consultations
between Foreign Affairs Ministries. During the meeting they also
discussed the possibility of developing new programs for cooperation
in health, cultural, education, agricultural and other spheres
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DISCUSSIONS OF “MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES” PROGRAM PASS SUCCESSFULLY
ArmenPress
Aug 4 2005
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS: This year the qualification round
of the “Millennium Challenges” program will end and afterwards the
negotiations over preparation of the agreement will launch, Tigran
Khachatrian, deputy finance minister, told at a press conference.
He said within the frameworks of the program a group of experts from
US arrived in Armenia to assess the separate points of the program
from qualification viewpoint. At present the effectiveness of the
points is being discussed i.e. whether they will secure economic
growth and promote the poverty reduction.
T. Khachatrian said the discussion of the program is going on
successfully and added that they have reached positive response over
two major points which are connected with the construction of community
roads and ensuring water supply. The two issues have been assessed as
important factors for securing economic growth and promoting poverty
reduction in Armenia. The deputy minister also noted that the first
real investments in the program will be made in 2007.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PM MET WITH EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 4 2005
04.08.2005 08:17
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan
met with Egyptian Ambassador to Armenia Abla Abd Al-Chasan Osman,
reported the Press Service of the Armenian Government. In the course
of the meeting A. Margaryan condoled with the Ambassador on the act
of terrorism in Sharm El-Shek July 23. He emphasized that terrorism
as an evil be directed against the whole of the humanity should be
censured and condemned by everyone. Speaking of Armenian-Egyptian
political relations, Andranik Margaryan noted their high level,
specifically, within the framework of international organizations. He
added Armenia many times voted in support of Egypt’s candidacy in
various UN structures in 2003-2004 and within planed UN reform
Armenia supports Egypt’s candidacy in the Security Council. The
Armenian PM qualified the bilateral commercial and economic relations
as unsatisfactory. He noted however certain steps in the field were
made lately. In his turn Egyptian Ambassador expressed hope for the
PM’s visit scheduled this autumn would promote development of economic
cooperation. Especially since the visit will be followed by the 4th
meeting of the Armenian-Egyptian Intergovernmental Commission, the
Armenian-Egyptian business forum and political consultations between
the MFAs of the two countries. In the course of the meeting the
parties discussed the program of retraining of Armenian specialists
by means of the Egyptian MFA Foundation of Technical Cooperation with
CIS countries, as well as the current cooperation and possible new
programs in health, culture, education, agriculture and others.

European bodies hail Armenian draft constitutional reforms
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
3 Aug 05
[Presenter] The adoption of a new constitution will facilitate
Armenian’s integration into Europe. The draft constitutional amendments
submitted by the ruling coalition of Armenia contain readable
improvements. However, opposition’s decision to refuse participating
in the discussion of the constitutional amendments means that the
opposition sends the ball to its own gate, representatives of European
international organizations today told a joint press conference to
express their satisfaction with the constitutional reforms.
The success of the process will demonstrate the Armenia’s maturity
in the political field. The opposition has to show that it is ready
to make concessions, the representatives of the EU, the Council of
Europe and the OSCE said.
[Correspondent, over video of press conference] The draft
constitutional amendments submitted by the Armenian authorities
contain readable improvements in the constitution and is a good basis
for guaranteeing the activity of democratic institutions in Armenia.
All organizations representing the European community in Armenia agree
with the [Council of Europe’s] Venice Commission’s positive assessment.
The offices of the EU, the Council of Europe and the OSCE in Yerevan
as well as the embassies of the USA and Britain, which is the holder
of the EU presidency, held the joint press conference in order to
express their satisfaction with the constitutional reforms.
The special representative of the Council of Europe secretary-general
in Armenia, Bojana Urumova, on behalf of the Council of Europe thanked
the Armenian authorities and experts who had worked to ensure this
success with regard to the constitutional reforms.
[Bojana Urumova in English with Armenian voice-over] In its
assessment, the Venice Commission, has noted the good will of the
Armenian authorities for speeding up the process of the constitutional
amendments and expected that this draft would be adopted in the second
reading [in the parliament] without serious changes. Another task is
to organize a campaign which will ensure the success of a referendum
in November. The adoption of a new constitution will facilitate
Armenian’s integration into Europe.
[Correspondent] We agree with the Venice Commission’s conclusion,
the British ambassador to Armenia, Thorda Abbott-Watt, said. She is
representing the EU in Armenia.
[Thorda Abbott-Watt in English with Armenian voice-over] I
am representing other EU countries as well because of Britain’s
presidency in the EU. My counterparts from these countries are here
today. I welcome the Venice Commission’s positive assessment of the
draft constitutional amendments. This draft would bring Armenia closer
to democratic values and facilitate Armenia’s integration into Europe.
[Correspondent] As a result of the work done, a reformed constitution
was presented, the head of the OSCE mission in Yerevan, Vladimir
Pryakhin, said.
[Pryakhin in English with Armenian voice-over] The constitutional
amendments which are one of Armenia’s commitments to the international
organizations will serve the interests of the Armenian public. I thank
authors for its work. This constitution will be better for Armenia.
[Correspondent] Although the USA is not a member of the Council of
Europe, we have been supporting the democratic processes in Armenia
for a long time, the US deputy ambassador to Armenia, Anthony Godfrey,
stressed.
[Godfrey in English with Armenian voice-over] We expect that a new
constitution will be endorsed at a referendum in November. We hail
Armenia’s progress towards democratic and constitutional reforms. But
the process has not been completed, and we sure that the Armenian
government will do its best to initiate active discussions. We also
expect constructive discussions at the Armenian National Assembly
due in October.
[Passage omitted: reiteration of same ideas]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Mother, daughter cook up friendly rivalry at fair
By KIM SKORNOGOSKI, Tribune Staff Writer
Great Falls Tribune (Covering Great Falls and northcentral Montana)
August 4, 2005
Louise Hachigian ignores what the other 20 competitors concoct in
the wheat and barley cook-off.
All but one, anyway.
“Just her,” Hachigian said, holding up her hand to hide who she
pointed at. “I like to rock her boat.”
Yanking flour, measuring spoons and a mixer out of a plastic storage
tub nearby, Aimee Hachigian-Gould just as passionately wants to best
her mother.
For the past 20 years, the Ulm women have challenged each other in
culinary contests at the Montana State Fair, racking up dozens of
ribbons and prizes.
Sunday at the Spam cook-off, Aimee took second; her mom took third.
Louise Hachigian couldn’t compete in the fudge face-off Monday, having
won the year before. Judges decided Aimee’s fudge was this year’s best.
Throughout the week, they’ll see who’s the best with beef, pork,
yeast and chocolate cake.
The family hasn’t had to buy sugar in five years. They just use the
pounds won at the fair.
“Some years you’re going to get the blue, some the white, and sometimes
you walk,” Aimee Hachigian-Gould said. “It’s a competition for myself,
to see if I can do better than I did last year.”
Outside the live daily cook-offs, both women enter jams, jellies,
candies and baked treats at the State Fair.
With the clock ticking Tuesday, the two cooked side by side to see
whose wheat would reign.
Calling up an old family recipe, Aimee made Armenian lavash, a cracker
bread, to dip in hummus and baba ganoush, an eggplant-based sauce.
Louise aimed to please the judges’ sweet tooth, baking an apple and
almond tort with a wheat-flour crust.
Each woman approaches the competition differently ~W Louise is careful
and precise, where her daughter is a bit frantic, shouting orders to
her 12-year-old twin sons, Andrew and Brandon, who also competed in
the wheat- and barley-a-thon.
Louise came to the Family Living Center with her ingredients measured
in jars and containers in three plastic bags.
“I don’t wing it here ~W not at competition. At home I do,” Louise
said. “You can’t fool around.”
“No fear, ma,” Aimee shouts as she races by, a cooler in her
hands. “You just can’t have any fear.”
With just a half-hour to go, Aimee was digging around in her pickup
truck for a 3-foot-long, broomstick-thick roller to press her dough
so thin you could read a newspaper through it.
Andrew takes after his grandmother in his cooking style, carefully
following instructions until the end. Brandon tends to get distracted,
Louise notes.
The fraternal twins have a competition of their own, though neither
will say who’s better.
“It’s a draw,” Brandon said.
The boys first entered dishes in the fair at age 2, winning their
first ribbons the following year.
By 8, they persuaded the culinary department to waive the age
requirement and let them cook in one of the live, daily competitions.
“It’s part of the fun. It’s why I come,” Andrew said of the brotherly
rivalry.
The boys take sides as to who is the best cook when it comes to their
mother and grandmother; Andrew pairs up to assist Louise, and Brandon
is his mom’s partner in a yeast competition later in the fair.
“I suppose they’re really about the same,” Andrew said. “My mother
was taught by my grandmother, so I suppose it’s all the same.”
Even in the heat of battle, the mother and daughter lend each other
a hand ~W or an ingredient.
Louise dug out a rolling pin from Aimee’s storage tub. And late in
the contest while waiting for her tart to bake, she casually flipped a
piece of her daughter’s lavash frying on a grill while Aimee scrambled
to roll more dough.
And as she sweated to create an unbeatable tart, Louise stopped to
point out her daughter and grandson’s ribbons displayed in glass
cabinets.
“This is Aimee’s, and this is Aimee’s,” she said, pointing at canned
cauliflower and carrots.
Aimee won overall canning this year. Andrew won overall youth. And
Louise coyly points out, she won overall candy.
With wheat and barley judging wrapped up late Tuesday, the mother
and daughter officially tied for second place. However, judges gave
one woman a 92 and the other a 92.3.
To keep the rivalry alive, we won’t say who earned what score.
“It’s just so much fun,” Louise said.
“You’re doing it for yourself. I just put my whole heart into it,”
Aimee added.

Vigil for Darfur Draws 500-Plus
The Jewish Journal of greater L.A, CA
Aug 4 2005
More than 500 people attended a late July vigil at the Federal
Building in Westwood, where Jews and non-Jews held a candlelight
protest against the ongoing genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.
“Folks, time is running out,” said Armenian American activist Armen
Carapetian, who likened the situation in Darfur to the past century’s
Armenian genocide.
The early evening rally signified an expansion of Darfur activism
in the Jewish community, spurred on by Jewish World Watch, based at
Valley Beth Shalom temple. The Conservative Encino shul’s leader,
Rabbi Harold Shulweis, was among the speakers, who also included
Rabbi Sharon Brous of the Westside IKAR congregation.
“I don’t want to stand here next summer,” Brous said, “and say,
‘Another year has gone. What have we done?'”
Human-rights experts estimate that 300,000 villagers have been
killed since 2003 by Arab janjaweed horsemen tacitly supported by
the Sudanese government.
The drive-time rally was a little smaller and more secular than a
day of fasting held on May 26, when about 600 Southern California
Jews attended Darfur events at synagogues in Pico-Robertson, Bel Air
and Pasadena. Sponsors of the event at the Federal Building included
Protestant, African immigrant, Catholic and Armenian groups.
Participants took part in making murals, singing and playing
instruments and signing White House-bound petitions.
“It’s my sister’s birthday, and she asked that we all come here for
this,” said Sarah Ham-Rosbrock, whose family, including her 28-year-old
sister Lena, attends Temple Israel of Long Beach.
“I’m involved because I am black,” said homeless activist Ted Hayes,
a speaker.
Progressive Jewish Alliance board member Eric Greene said Jews must
be more involved in non-Jewish issues such as Darfur, even when the
effort seems futile.
“It’s so daunting because it feels so big that it’s hard to know what
you can do,” he said. – DF

They grow ’em big in Armenia
By Holly Fesperman
The Salisbury Post (Salisbury, North Carolina)
Thursday, August 4, 2005
When Larry Frick saw the first small cucumbers on his vines,
he revisited the seed package. Frick thought for sure he’d gotten
English Cucumber seeds, but these cucumbers didn’t look at all like
ones he’d grown in the past.
He was surprised to find that his seed package actually read,
“Armenian Yard Long Cucumbers.”
The back of the package described the cukes – “long, curved, grey-green
fruits are 2-3 feet long with a diameter of 3 inches.”
Frick said he didn’t pay any attention to that when he bought them
at Wal-Mart, he just picked up the seed pack that looked like what
he wanted.
As a matter of fact, the Armenian cukes did look much greener and
less strange in the seed package picture.
Frick must have done something right because his cucumbers nearly
lived up to their name. His longest cuke came in at 28 1/2 inches.
Even though he didn’t grow English cucumbers he hasn’t been
disappointed. The Armenian variety are great on salads, and they
aren’t quite as strong tasting as regular cucumbers, Frick said.
One cucumber lasts him a while, he just cuts off what he needs and
covers the rest with plastic wrap. Frick stores the uneaten portion
in the refrigerator until his next salad or tasty cucumber sandwich.
Maybe Frick’s cucumbers aren’t so strange after all, he saw what
looked like Armenian cukes in the Food Lion sale paper last week.
He’s definitely seen some strange vegetables through the years. When
Frick was in his twenties, a service station in Rockwell sponsored
a vegetable competition similar to the Post’s Garden Game.
People in the community would bring in their vegetables and at the
end of several weeks the person with the biggest veggie would win
five or ten gallons of gas.
That was back when gas was 20 or 30 cents a gallon, said Frick.
During one service station competition, Frick remembers someone
bringing in a five and a half pound tomato.
Frick said he may have won that competition years ago if he’d had
the Armenian cukes.
He’s planning to give the biggest one away to lady at his church that
loves to grow produce as well.
PHOTO CAPTION: A strange kind of longhorn steer: Larry Frick
demonstrates an alternative use for the large cucumbers he grew. Photo
by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Gul: We Have Been Carrying Out Multi-dimensional Works To Reveal The Truths About Armenian Issue
Turkish Press
Aug 4 2005
ANKARA – “We have been carrying out multi-dimensional works to reveal
the truths about the Armenian issue,” Turkish Foreign Minister &
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Thursday.
In response to a question motion of Motherland Party (ANAP)
parliamentarian Muhsin Kocyigit, Gul said, “both the Turkish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Turkish embassies have been
carrying out multi-dimensional works to reveal the truths about
the Armenian issue. We have published a number of books refuting
the allegations of Armenians, and sent them to decision-making
mechanisms, parliamentarians, academicians, journalists, universities,
libraries and the other relevant institutions in the world through
our embassies.”
“Also, books and articles of both Turkish and foreign academicians
were distributed to the relevant circles. The MFA holds a series
of seminars and conferences with the participation of Turkish and
foreign scientists in countries where Armenian lobby is active,
with the aim of informing public opinion,” he said.
Gul noted, “as a member of the Minsk Group of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and as a regional actor
in southern Caucasia, Turkey has been making active contributions to
efforts to resolve the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia from the very beginning of the dispute.”
“Turkey closely monitors developments about Azerbaijani refugees
who were forced to leave their homes due to the occupation of Upper
Karabakh by Armenia. In addition to our aid, we pursue an active
policy in order to draw attention of the international community to
the issue,” he said.
Gul said that Turkey had been sending aid to Azerbaijani refugees
since 1993.
“Recently, the World Food Program (WFP) released a statement that
they needed 10 million USD to meet urgent requirements of Azerbaijani
refugees, and that despite all the aids, those refugees had still been
living under extremely difficult conditions. Our government have been
evaluating additional aids under the statement of the WFP,” Gul added.