PanArmenian News
March 24 2005

CILICIA ARMENIAN SAILER TO CONTINUE VOYAGE MAY 9

24.03.2005 06:53

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Leaving the Venetian port, Cilicia Armenian sailing
ship will continue its voyage May 9, 2005, Arminfo news agency
reported. As Cilicia captain and Ayas Club Chairman Karen Balayan
noted at today~Rs press conference, the stay of Cilicia in European
and Near Eastern seaports was marked with arousing interest towards
the history of Armenia, revival of the social life of the Armenian
Diaspora. Armenian sailors, having only the experience of sailing the
Lake Sevan, mastered the Black and Mediterranean, Marmara and Aegean
Seas. An exhibition devoted to the 20-th anniversary of Ayas Club.
This April Cilicia voyage will be presented in a documentary. In 2006
after the third stage of the expedition, the route of which is not
determined yet, the sailer will be delivered to Armenia. After that
the opening of the Sea Museum and the issue of Navigation Pages of
Armenia book are planned. Karen Balayan specially thanked Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian for the diplomatic support to the
expedition.

Karabakh pleads for help in tackling “humanitarian catastrophe”

Mediamax news agency
24 Mar 05

Yerevan, 24 March: The Foreign Ministry of the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic (NKR) issued a statement today in connection with the
publication of the report of the OSCE fact-finding mission which
visited the territories around the NKR.

“The NKR Foreign Ministry notes the high objectivity of the
fact-finding mission’s report. At the same time, it should be noted
that the mission covered only the territories controlled by the NKR
authorities after the establishment of truce, and this is why it
does not reflect the whole picture of the humanitarian catastrophe
which has emerged as a result of the war launched by Azerbaijan, when
about 500,000 Armenians became refugees, having lost their property,
motherland and confidence in the future,” the statement reads.

“The NKR authorities admit their responsibility for the destiny
of these people and will make every effort to create the necessary
conditions for them and restore their rights and pay them compensation
in the future either on a parity basis or unilaterally,” the statement
reads.

The NKR Foreign Ministry urged the international community to “follow
the example of the governments of Armenia and the USA which provide
humanitarian, financial and other assistance to the NKR people, respond
to the humanitarian needs of the people who suffered as a result of the
Azerbaijani authorities’ ethnic cleansing and large-scale hostilities,
stop using double standards and providing humanitarian programs only
for Azerbaijani refugees thus ignoring the rights of Armenian refugees
who found shelter on the territory of Nagornyy Karabakh”.

YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS OF ARMENIA DEMAND TO CANCEL KIRKOROV CONCERT IN YEREVAN

PanArmenian News
March 24 2005

24.03.2005 05:57

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian youth organizations of Armenia
send a complaint letter to the organizers of the concert of Philipp
Kirkorov in Yerevan. The message authors called not to admit the
concert. Grounding their demand they noted in their message the
fact that Kirkorov adheres to an evident anti-Armenian and even
Turkish-minded stand and lately publicly insulted an Armenian female
journalist, having emphasized her background with contempt. The
authors of the complaint consider inviting a singer propagating
Turkish songs to Armenia on the eve of the 90-th anniversary of the
Genocide an amoral step. The income expected from the concert is
not commensurable with the moral values represented by the national
and human dignity. Representatives of youth organizations noted that
in case Kirkorov concert is not canceled, they reserve the right to
resort to practical actions not to admit the concert.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BOMB EXPLODES OUTSIDE CUSTOMS SERVICE BUILDING, NO CASUALTIES REPORTED

ArmenPress
March 24 2005

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: An explosive device planted into the
trunk of a tree outside Armenia’s customs service building in central
Yerevan went off today morning at 10 am right after the chief of the
customs service, Armen Avetisian, entered the building.

According to preliminary information, no one suffered. The explosive
was planted just in front of the entrance, where Armen Avetisian’s
car is parked usually.

The explosion broke the left window glass of Avetisian’s BMW car.
Police is now examining the site. Customs service said it will issue
a statement.

The government-affiliated customs service committee was swift to
attribute the bomb explosion to its policy of crackdown on tax evasion
and toughened customs administration.

A statement issued by the service’s press office said the committee
will hence be more persistent in identifying tax evasion instances
through introduction of a range of measures to drastically improve
tax administration.

“Today’s morning incident is yet another evidence that improved tax
administration and tougher measures are effective,” the statement said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA MAY BE ADVERTISED ON CNN AND EURONEWS

ArmenPress
March 24 2005

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenia may be advertised on CNN and
Euronews as an attractive tourist destination if talks with these two
TV channels are accomplished successfully, Arthur Zakarian, head of
a trade and economic development ministry department, told Armenpress.

“We are ready to launch an aggressive advertising campaign in a range
of countries, whose citizens we believe would like to visit Armenia,
but this requires huge finances, which we cannot afford, but private
sector and some donor organizations are working actively in this
direction,” he said.

According to Zakarian, the Armenian Diaspora can play a very positive
role in helping to bring more tourists to Armenia. “As we see it,
permanently operating information centers in countries with strong
Armenian communities would not demand much efforts and much money,”
he said.

According to official figures, some 263,000 foreigners visited Armenia
last year, a 27 percent more than in 2003. Zakarian said tourism
sector’s share in the overall GDP of 2004 was around 8 percent. He
said some 7,000 people directly and around 80,000 indirectly are
engaged in this sector. He said an average tourists stays in Armenia
12 days spending some $1000.

ArmenPress
March 24 2005

IMF MISSION PRAISES ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES FOR STRONG REFORM MOMENTUM

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: A press release by IMF said an IMF
team visited Armenia March 3-17th 2005. The mission met with
President Kocharian, Prime Minister Margarian, the Ministers of
Finance and Economy, Trade and Economic Development and Energy, the
Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, and other senior officials.
It said since the conclusion of the Armenia’s PRGF program, which
the IMF Executive Board reviewed in December 2004, the Armenian
authorities maintained strong reform momentum. In recent weeks,
loopholes in the simplified tax were eliminated. The State Tax
Service merged the central audit department with the large taxpayers
unit. The collection function of the State Fund of Social Insurance
(SFSI) was moved to the STS. As a result of this reform, social
contributions increased substantially. The authorities passed decrees
lengthening the time for conducting audits to a maximum of 45 days.
The payment of VAT refunds to exporters improved significantly, and
the STS are now paying off the backlog of claims.
Armenia’s macroeconomic performance continues to be impressive. In
2004, GDP increased 10.1 percent, fueled by strong private
construction and agriculture. Inflationary pressured eased during the
second half of 2004, as the appreciation of the Dram exerted downward
pressure on import prices. In 2004, the central government fiscal
deficit was 1.7 percent of GDP. Tax revenue performance during the
first two months of 2005 has been particularly strong.
The mission held discussions on new program that could be
supported by a 3-year PRGF program. In the coming days, the
government will review the proposed Memorandum of Economic and
Financial Policies. If agreement is reached in the coming weeks, the
proposed program could be presented to the IMF executive board in
late May.
The main challenges for 2005 will be to consolidate the
macroeconomic gains of the recent past and to continue implementation
of the structural reform agenda. The focus of the prospective program
will be reforms in tax policy, revenue administration and the
financial sector. On tax policy, the authorities agreed to limit VAT
exemptions at the border effective 2006. In tax administration, the
program will focus on enhancing tax audits, tax arrears collection,
and the VAT refund mechanism. In the area of customs reform, the
authorities agreed to an operational review of the State Customs
Committee (SCC).
Agreement was also reached on measures to strengthen banking
supervision. The CBA intend to complement the existing
compliance-based approach with risk-based supervision. In this
regard, the CBA will introduce a bank risk-rating process; greater
focus on bank management; and increased emphasis on banks’ internal
policies, controls, and business strategies. The proposed program
also focuses on addressing key weaknesses in corporate governance of
banks, with the authorities agreeing to implement many of the
recommendations made by the recent FSAP update mission.

ArmenPress
March 24 2005

ARMENIAN BONE MARROW DONOR REGISTRY MOVES TO NEW PREMISES

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Bone Marrow Donor
Registry Charitable Trust, founded in July 1998 in Armenia as a
non-profit, non-government organization, has moved today to a new
building. Dr. Frieda Jordan, the chairperson of the Fund, said moving
to new premises will help the Fund to expand its capacities and
establish later a bone marrow transplanting center in the country.
The primary mission of the Fund is to save precious Armenian lives
with the volunteer recruitment of Armenian donors worldwide.
Currently, 9,500 donors are registered.
Doctor Jordan said the pool of existing international donors gives
a chance of survival to patients with Leukemia or other blood related
diseases. Last year 350 people with blood diseases from Armenia and
other countries applied to the registry.
Although Armenians are considered Caucasian, their unique genetic
make up makes it very hard for them to find matches for
transplantation. The Trust’s honorary chairperson is the First Lady
of the Republic of Armenia, Dr. Bella Kocharian.
The Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry is a unique project in the
sense that it links the Diaspora with Armenia, making each individual
in any part of the world dependent on the other for survival.
Italy’s ambassador to Armenia, Marco Clemente was present at the
inauguration ceremony and handed a gift from an Italian child whose
life was saved by an Armenian donor last year. The child sent to his
donor a picture he drew and a medal with an inscription “I Love You.”
Last year the Armenian Registry joined the International Bone
Marrow Donor Registry that unites 53 such registries with 9 million
donors.

Azerbaijan to beef up embassies’ security on Armenian “genocide” anniversary

Lider TV, Baku
23 Mar 05

[Presenter] While Armenia is going to mark the 90th anniversary of
the so-called Armenian genocide, they are planning to take dangerous
steps against Turks and Azerbaijanis. Therefore, Azerbaijani diplomatic
missions abroad have been given special instructions over this matter.

[Correspondent over archive pictures] Armenia is making preparations
to mark the 90th anniversary of the so-called Armenian genocide
worldwide on 24 April. Armenia, which is planning to mark this date
in an unusual manner, is said to have planned large-scale attacks on
the Azerbaijani armed forces on the contact line. Armenians admit that
brief shootings on the front line will be permanent until 24 April.

Maj Ilqar Verdiyev of the [Azerbaijani] Defence Ministry’s press
service said that the Azerbaijani army was not worried by these
reports. If the Armenian army launches attacks or provokes us on the
front line on 24 April, they will be undoubtedly rebuffed.

As for the allegations of the Armenian side that the Azerbaijani
army has weak positions in Agdam, Fizuli, Qazax and Beylaqan, a
source at the Defence Ministry said that this was a trick of the
Armenian occupiers.

Apart from the contact line, Armenians are plotting bloody terrorist
acts worldwide on 24 April, which is typical of them. Representatives
of the separatist regime, funded by the Armenian diaspora, are not
hiding their intentions. So, 24 April will again see victims.

Azerbaijani diplomatic missions abroad have already received special
instructions in this regard and are taking serious security measures.

[Foreign Ministry spokesman Matin Mirza] Our embassies abroad have
appealed to the foreign ministries of the appropriate countries to
step up the security of the embassy buildings.

[Passage omitted: more criticism of Armenia]

gi/94/5871

EU MEMBERSHIP: WILL TURKEY BE MORE KIND TOWARD CHRISTIANS?
By J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Nov 23, 2004

With Turkey requesting admission into the European Union, there
seems to be a bit more relaxed atmosphere regarding Christians,
their churches and seminaries.

But if the EU refuses Turkey admission, will that mean all the more
repressive tactics against Christians and their churches?

Right now there is a prominent Christian church in Turkey that
is in dire need of repair. An explosion prompted by political
antagonisms damaged parts of the church. Rain leaks through. Windows
are shattered. Carpet has molded. As the spiritual leaders have
requested permission from the government to repair the church, no
answer has been received.

Parishioners state that that’s the way that Turkish officials deal with
religious faith. At times, even the Muslims come in for the sidelined
response from government officials because Turkey is priding itself
on being totally secular. Therefore, when that particular Christian
church asks for permission to repair damages, the typical official
answer is no answer at all.

Therefore, the church continues to roll up its carpets that have
molded. Worshipers attend services in the sanctuary that leaks rain
on their heads. And the spiritual leadership wonders when it’s all
going to improve.

If the EU refuses Turkey admission, then it could be that the officials
will be all the more repulsed by any religious expression. So it’s
a troubling question either way for believers. The Christians simply
don’t know what the future holds for their expression of faith.

It’s the same with a seminary that was closed in the early 1970s. Will
admission to the EU permit the seminary to reopen so that young men
can be instructed in ministry? Time will tell.

As Susan Sachs of the New York Times writes, “Some hard-liners in
Turkey see diversity as divisive.” The best religion in Turkey is no
religion at all, according to those who have held power for too long.

###

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 24 2005

BLAST OUTSIDE BUILDING HOUSING ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT’S CUSTOMS
COMMITTEE

YEREVAN, March 24, (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – A blast
occurred around 12 noon Moscow time on Thursday outside the building
housing the State Customs Committee of the Armenian government. There
were no casualties, RIA Novosti was told at the customs committee’s
press-service.

The detonation took place at the time when the office car carrying
customs committee chairman Armen Avetisyan drove up to the entrance.

The committee chairman did not suffer, but the blast damaged his car.

Top committee officials explain the incident as due to energetic
measures undertaken against the shadow economy since the beginning of
the year, and also tighter customs administration.

“The morning’s incident shows once again that the steps to improve
and tighten up customs administration are having effect,” it was
noted at the press-service.

“To those who hope to weaken with such steps the will of the
committee leadership in the struggle against the black economy we
would like to say that the committee will be consistent in exposing
customs irregularities through stricter administration,” it was
pointed out at the press-service.