RUSSIAN ENTREPRENEUR GOING TO PURCHASE SPORTS AND CONCERT COMPLEX AFTER K. DEMIRCHIAN
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 3 2005
03.08.2005 03:09
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Chairman of Bamo Russian construction holding
Murad Muradian expressed a wish to purchase the Sports and Concert
Complex after Karen Demirchian, RFE/RL reports. Murad Muradian, a
Russian citizen, has been at the head of Bamo, which is composed of
about 10 Armenian and German companies engaged in building as well as
manufacture of glass, doors and windows, for over 15 years. According
to him, the company intends to make big investments in the Armenian
economy and has already appealed to Armenian President Robert Kocharian
on the issue wishing to get response within a month. The Russian
entrepreneur is going to invest $13-15 million to repair the Complex
for its further exploitation. “We hope our proposal will be accepted”,
he noted. As RA Deputy Minister of Culture Karine Khodikian said,
the Ministry has already received an appropriate inquiry to study
the issue.

DURING DAYS OF MOSCOW IN YEREVAN CAPSULE TO BE LAID IN FOUNDATION OF HOUSE OF MOSCOW
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 3 2005
03.08.2005 02:38
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During the Days of Moscow in Yerevan to be held
October 7-9 a capsule will be laid in the foundation of the House of
Moscow. The decree was signed by Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. The
House of Moscow, which is called to become the center of cultural
cooperation between the capital cities of Armenia and Russia, will be
built in front of the Yerevan City Administration. A Yerevan-based
Moscow investment and construction company will accomplish the
building, IA Regnum reports.

Well-rounded performer
Fairfield Advance (Australia)
August 3, 2005 Wednesday
THOUGH he is no Australian Idol, Sam Berberian is a born performer.
The Bossley Park resident sings in a local church group, teaches
Armenian dancing and is helping his son learn the guitar.
Nevertheless, his eight-year-old son, Daniel, believes it is his
performance as a well-rounded father which makes Mr Berberian worthy
of being nominated for Fairfield Advance’s Father of the Year Award.
The awards recognise the city’s top dads.
Mr Berberian volunteers his time each week to teach a group of local
children Armenian dancing. He learnt the dance as a young boy and
wanted to pass the tradition on to the next generation.
“I enjoyed it when I was doing it, so I thought I’d give something
back to the kids,” he said.
He is also involved in his local church, being one of the founding
members of an Anglican service held in Bossley Park.
Mr Berberian’s daughter, Talita, was recently in hospital with a high
fever. In his nomination letter to the Advance Daniel said his father
did not leave her room for two days until the five-year-old recovered.
In fact, the children barely leave Mr Berberian’s side when he is
not at work.
“We do everything together, be it grocery shopping or homework,
and my wife is very involved,” he said.
Daniel also thinks his dad is the best barbecue cook in the world.
* John Luu is a work experience person from the University of
Technology, Sydney

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]
4 August 2005
INVITATION TO ARMENIANS AROUND THE GLOBE TO JOIN IN THE 170TH
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN SINGAPORE
Where Armenians settle, an Armenian Church is first to sprout. So it
was for the Armenian Community of Singapore in the early 19th century
when it built the very first Christian sanctuary in Singapore in 1835,
the Armenian Apostolic Church of St Gregory the Illuminator located
at 60 Hill Street, Singapore.
With fewer than 830 Armenians ever having lived in Singapore and
Malaysia, it is said that Armenians impacted the social, civic
and economic life of the early British trading settlements in both
countries. Author Nadia H. Wright explores the significant contribution
of Armenians in her book entitled “Respected Citizens: the History
of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia” and traces the existence
of four Singaporean icons to Armenians: the Church of St Gregory,
the Raffles Hotel, the Straits Times newspaper and the “Vanda Miss
Joaquim” orchid ~ popularly known as the Singapore orchid that is
the national flower of Singapore.
To mark the 170th anniversary of Singapore’s Armenian Apostolic
Church of St Gregory the Illuminator, the Trustees of the Church and
Armenians living in Asia have planned a weekend of celebration from
11-13 November and extend an invitation to Armenians around the globe
to partake in this very special event.
With the fatherly blessing of His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians, the celebrations will be presided
by His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand & Pontifical Legate
of India and the Far East.
A special website has been created to serve as a guide to the
celebrations in Singapore with information on the history of the
Church, program of planned events, recommended accommodation and
tours/excursions of Singapore and the surrounding region. The website
address is <; and it is highly recommended the site be frequently visited for updates and latest information on the celebratory events. This will be an unsurpassable opportunity for Armenians all over the world to gather and honour an international Armenian treasure, a landmark of Singapore that is connected to our ancestral heritage and to share a spirit of unity in Christian faith that has kept Armenians bonded for more than 1700 years. Questions and expressions of interest may be directed to [email protected]

NEW CONSTITUTION OF ARMENIA – ADVANCE TOWARDS EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 3 2005
03.08.2005 05:01
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During today’s press conference UK Ambassador to
Armenia Thorda Abbot-Watt welcomed the Venice Commission’s positive
assessment of the draft constitutional amendments. According to
her, the new constitution of Armenia will become a recurrent step
towards the integration into European structures. At the same time
she noted that it is the Armenian population to decide what kind of
Constitution to adopt and what kind of country to live in. In her
words, the implementation of the Constitution is one of the most
important aspects. “Armenia should itself follow the implementation
process of the Organic Law of the country”, the British diplomat
noted. She also stressed the necessity of participation of all the
political forces in the constitutional reform process. In his turn
U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Anthony Godfrey stated, “We support the
democratic reform in Armenia and hope that the new Constitution will
be adopted in November.” According to him, the positive assessment
by the Venice Commission is an advance, however the process is not
completed yet. “We expect the Armenian population to take part in the
constitutional debate, thus securing conduction of the referendum”,
he noted adding that the adoption of the reviewed Constitution cannot
rule out falsifications. Mr. Godfrey expressed hope that after the
parliamentary debates reasonable decisions will be taken.

UZBEKISTAN ASKS U.S. TO CLOSE AIR BASE
by Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor — The Jamestown Foundation
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 — Volume 2, Issue 150
On July 29, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a note
to the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, asking the United States to vacate
the Karshi-Khanabad air base, withdraw the troops and materiel from
Uzbekistan, and terminate the 2001 bilateral agreement within 180
days. The document did not state the reasons for this demand.
The six-month deadline is broadly consistent with the timeframe
suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy
adviser, Sergei Prikhodko, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s
(SCO) July 5 summit, which orchestrated this anti-U.S. move.
Prikhodko declared, “Several months, up to a year and a half” would
be an adequate deadline for the U.S.-led coalition to close its bases
in Central Asian countries (see EDM, July 6).
Some Russian officials were quick to gloat. Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov urged the United States sarcastically “to make up its mind:
how many years will the war in Afghanistan go on: 20, 30, or 250
years?” Professing to link the American military presence in Central
Asia solely to the operations in Afghanistan (“There is no other
reason, and none would be acceptable”), Ivanov portrayed that presence
as both ineffective and unnecessary: “There are no active combat
operations in Afghanistan, while the Taliban control a large part of
the country. Terrorist threats continue to emanate from Afghanistan,
but the Taliban don’t even bother to hide because no one pursues
them. The narcotics business keeps growing because no one lifts a
finger to deal with it.” Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the Foreign
Policy and Defense Council, echoed Ivanov’s sarcasm by predicting,
“It is probably a matter of several centuries yet before Afghanistan
fully recovers. But the situation is much better there now, so the
bases [in Central Asia] have served their purpose, the Americans can
do without the bases.” Federation Council chairman Sergei Mironov,
praising Tashkent’s anti-U.S. move, also distorted the U.S. position:
“The Uzbek authorities took an absolutely right and logical step. The
United States has said several times that the anti-terrorist operation
in Afghanistan has ended, thus it is time for U.S. forces to leave
Uzbekistan” (Interfax, July 28, 29; Russian Television Channel One,
July 30; RIA-Novosti, August 1).
The Uzbek “eviction notice,” as some commentators describe it perhaps
somewhat prematurely, was not, however, a foregone conclusion,
and might not necessarily be the final word. Even as the Uzbek-U.S.
political miscommunication had deepened through the Kyrgyz upheaval
and the Andijan violence, and Tashkent placed restrictions on the use
of the Karshi-Khanabad base, Uzbek authorities did not seem intent
on asking the U.S. military to leave the country. After the July
5 SCO summit, state-controlled Uzbek media carried over-dramatized
commentaries on alleged economic and ecological costs to Uzbekistan,
and inconvenience to local inhabitants, caused by the American air
base. But the commentaries stopped short of calling for closure of
the base. Rather, they seemed intended, however clumsily, to set the
stage for complete fulfillment, or perhaps re-negotiation, of some
of the terms of the 2001 and 2002 bilateral agreements.
The July 29 note came the day after the United States, working with
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Bishkek,
arranged the airlift from Kyrgyzstan to Romania of 439 Uzbeks who had
fled from Andijan. The group included some escaped criminals and some
suspected rebels who were wanted for questioning by Uzbek authorities
as part of the investigation into the Andijan violence. Nevertheless,
U.S. officials strongly pressured Kyrgyzstan to allow the evacuation
of the entire group. Thus, Tashkent’s “eviction notice” seems to be
an instant reaction to that move.
At this juncture, however, President Islam Karimov may still be keeping
the options open for both sides. As of August 1, Tashkent had not
announced the base-closure demand in the Uzbek media. The note was
delivered to the U.S. Embassy by an Uzbek courier, not by the usual
mode of delivery through government officials, and thus decreasing the
document’s weight. Moreover, the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs’
protest note against the U.S.-arranged evacuation of Uzbek suspects
from Kyrgyzstan, published on August 1, stopped carefully short of
naming the United States. Such hints seem calculated to suggest that
Karimov prefers to avoid a rupture in the security relationship at

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM – BASIS FOR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTES IN RA
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 3 2005
03.08.2005 04:51
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “We welcome the assessment of the Venice Commission,
according to which the reviewed draft constitutional amendments
provide for precise reform and can serve as a basis for securing the
activities of the democratic institutes in Armenia, CoE Secretary
General’s Special Representative for Armenia Bojana Urumova stated at
today’s press conference in Yerevan. Basing on the latest resolution
by the Venice Commission, Ms. Urumova noted that no considerable
changes will be introduced during the second reading. “We welcome
the good will of the Armenian leadership”, she noted. The political
majority and opposition parties of Armenia should double efforts for
securing constructive dialogue, Bojana Urumova stated. In her words,
raising of public awareness to lead Armenians to the adoption of the
reviewed Constitution on the way to the European integration will
become the next challenge.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SPEAKER OF NKR PARLIAMENT RECEIVES GROUPS OF ARMENIAN STUDENTS FROM CANADA
ARKA News Agency
Aug 3 2005
STEPANAKERT, August 3. /ARKA/. Speaker of the NKR Parliament Ashot
Ghulyan has received a large group of Armenian students from Canada.
Welcoming the students, Ghulyan stressed that that Karabakh
people are building up an independent democratic state, and the
international community’s attitude to the country is changing day by
day. Responding to one of the guests’ question as to how he pictures
Nagorny Karabakh in ten years, Ghulyan said that “life will be better
and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic may be recognized.” In conclusion,
Speaker Ghulyan thanked the delegation for their interest in Artsakh.
In his turn, Head of the Canadian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church Bagrat Galstanyan presented Speaker Ghulyan with a Bible. P.T.
-0–

TENSIONS SIMMERING IN GEORGIA’S JAVAKHETI REGION
Eurasia Daily Monitor (The Jamestown Foundation)
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
By Zaal Anjaparidze
The recent anti-terrorist operations in Georgia (see EDM July 25, 29)
have overshadowed coverage of anti-Georgian developments flaring in
Georgia’s turbulent Javakheti region, a southern area predominantly
populated by ethnic Armenians.
On July 17, Armenian residents of Samsar blocked efforts by students
and nuns from Tbilisi to help restore a local church dating to the
12th century. The Armenians accused the visitors of attempting to
“Georgianize the Armenian church.” The verbal argument deteriorated
into a brawl that left several of the Georgians severely injured. That
same day, local Armenians raided a Georgian school in the nearby
town of Akhalkalaki. The police managed to contain the incident,
but the situation in the region remains tense.
The Georgian and Armenian governments have done their best to
hush up the incident. In a July 21 joint statement, the Georgian
Orthodox Church and the Georgian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church expressed regret about the Samsar incident and ascribed it to
“incorrect information circulating among the local population.” Vazgen
Mirzakhanian, bishop of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia, apologized
to the Georgian victims.
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian’s impromptu visit to Georgia
on July 24-25 evidently sought to relieve the explosive situation in
the region. During his trip to Javakheti Margarian received a list of
demands from the local Armenian community to the Georgian government.
They were presented by leaders of the local civic organizations
Javakh, United Javakh-Democratic Alliance, and Virk. These groups
want the Georgian government to stop the alleged discrimination
of the Armenians, make the Armenian language the regional language
in Javakheti, stop the “Georgianization” of the region’s Armenian
cultural heritage, begin construction of a highway connecting Javakheti
with Armenia (which the Armenian government is ready to finance),
register Virk as a political party, and include Armenia’s history
in the curriculum of Armenian schools in Georgia. These Armenian
organizations insist on declaring the Armenian language as the second
state language in Georgia (home of about 300,000 ethnic Armenians)
or at least in Javakheti, and the adoption a special law on ethnic
minorities.
Margarian said that this year the Armenian government has allocated
$350,000 to support the Armenian schools in Javakheti and is ready
to increase funding if Tbilisi agrees. He also asked the Georgian
government to jointly determine the provenance of the churches in
the region, which are claimed by both religious groups.
Georgian Parliamentary Chair Nino Burjanadze told Margarian that the
provocateurs fueling enmity between Georgians and Armenians play into
the hands of the common enemy, evidently alluding to Russia. However,
there are reports that some radical Armenian organizations support
anti-Tbilisi activities in Javakheti.
Many analysts in Georgia believe that Tbilisi should handle the region
more carefully to avert new incidents. Soon after the collapse of the
USSR, some local Armenian leaders proposed political autonomy for the
region. But despite assistance from international donors to improve
the region’s socio-economic situation, the Georgian government has not
been able to find a workable solution to the problem of “Javakheti
Armenians.” That local Armenians distrust the central government’s
policies complicates the situation (see EDM, March 23, May 24).
For example, the Russian military base in the region purchased large
quantities of local produce. But local leaders doubt Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili’s proposal to feed the Georgian army with local
foodstuffs after the Russian base closes. The Armenian-populated
Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda regions boast an agricultural yield
that exceeds the dietary needs of the 20,000-strong Georgian army by
15-20 times.
Another irritation came one day after the Samsar incident, when the
Georgian armed forces completed the large-scale “Armor 2005” exercises
at the Orfolo range near Javakheti. Georgian Defense Minister Irakli
Okruashvili hinted that the fictional enemy “Blue Country,” which
according to the scenario had temporarily seized a Georgian region,
was not fictional at all. “It exists for Georgia indeed,” he said.
The Georgian media accuses the Javakh, United Javakh-Democratic
Alliance, and Virk civic movements of being behind the regions’
anti-Tbilisi mood. However, Virk leader David Rstakian claimed that
these organizations have actually prevented protests by the Armenian
community from escalating to the separatism seen in Abkhazia and
South Ossetia.
Vahan Chakhalian, leader of the United Javakh- Democratic Alliance,
which unites eight youth organizations, said that the Russian military
pullout leaves local Armenians defenseless. Chakhalian and other local
leaders have openly stated that they would retaliate if Georgian units
replace the Russian troops. They also object to a government-sponsored
plan to accommodate Georgian families in the region, which they
claim would artificially “Georgianize” Javakheti. “We have yet to
see whether the Georgian army enters here,” Chakhalian warned.
Leaders of the local Armenian organizations argue that the local
authorities in Javakheti misinform Tbilisi about the real situation
in the region and the preferences of the local establishment. The
information vacuum and poor knowledge of Georgian laws by the locals,
caused by a lack of knowledge of Georgian language, is likely the root
of many problems. Giorgi Khachidze, the Tbilisi-appointed governor
of Javakheti, says that the methodology of teaching the Georgian
language needs to be improved. “The Georgian books in the Armenian
schools are getting dusty, because they don’t need them,” he said.
Meanwhile, the socio-economic problems in Javakheti are similar
to those in other Georgian regions. However, some local groups,
guided by external forces in Russia and Armenia, may be trying to
politicize these problems and prepare the ground for the region’s
eventual separation from Georgia.
(Regnum, July 18, 25, 28, 29; Akhali Versia, July 21; Resonance,
July 20, TV-Rustavi-2, July 17, Vremya novostei, July 19)

VLADIMIR PRYAKHIN COMPARED ADOPTION OF RA CONSTITUTION WITH FOOTBALL MATCH
PanArmenian News Network
Aug. 3 2005
03.08.2005 05:04
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The adoption of the new Constitution is one of the
commitments Armenia undertook at the entry to the CoE, head of the OSCE
Yerevan Office, Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin stated during today’s
press conference dedicated to the constitution reform process. “The
current draft Constitution is closer to international standards”,
he said. He agreed with the Venice Commission on the necessity of
open debate of the constitutional amendments. As for the possible
obstacles posed by the opposition, Vladimir Pryakhin compared the
constitutional debates with a football match, where condemnation of
players and the referee is possible but own goals are absurd.