PEOPLE IN ARMENIA ARE IRREPLACEABLE

A1 Plus | 17:40:57 | 15-02-2005 | Official |

By Robert Kocharyan’s decree Stepan Poghosyan and Henrik Hovhanissyan
were appointed members of the Council of the Armenian National Radio
and Television Company for a term of 6 years.

To note the above mentioned people are not newly-appointed, they just
preserved their seats for a second term.

The Yerevan Press Club, The Union of Journalists, Internews public
organization and the Committee for Freedom of Speech Protection made
a statement regarding the contest announced for Stepan Poghosyan and
Henrik Hovhanissyan’s seats.

The statement says in part, “We state that the RA law On Radio and
Television and the practice of its implementation, including the
given contest, do not correspond to Armenia’s obligation to the CE
on transformation of state broadcasting and international standards.”

French co-chair confirms illegal settlement of Armenians in Lachin

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 16 2005

Baku, February 15, AssA-Irada

The OSCE fact-finding mission, which recently conducted monitoring
in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, has confirmed the illegal
settlement of Armenians in the Lachin district, according to the OSCE
Minsk Group French co-chair Bernard Fassier. He said that the mass
settlement of population in Lachin shows that financial assistance
is being provided for this purpose.

Fassier also mentioned the activities aimed at restoring the destroyed
infrastructure of the district.

“In other regions, most areas do not get electric power, the living
conditions are poor and electricity is supplied to some areas from
Armenian military units or Upper Garabagh”, said Fassier, emphasizing
the relatively good living conditions in Lachin as compared to other
Azerbaijani regions. The co-chair said that unlike Lachin, he did
not observe a purposeful settlement of population in regions around
Upper Garabagh, and that the current residents moved there on their
own or with the aid of the Armenian Diaspora.

Fassier divided the residents that moved to these areas into
three categories: refugees from Azerbaijan, those affected by the
earthquake which hit Armenia in 1988 and those who left Armenia due
to socio-economic hardship.*

AGREEMENT ON CONSTRUCTION OF THERMOELECTRIC POWER PLANT WITH USE OF BIOGAS TO BE SIGNED IN YEREVAN BY THE END OF 2005

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 : ARMINFO

YEREVAN, 22.01.05. A Japanese company Shimizu will sign an agreement
on construction of a 1.5 megawatt thermoelectric power plant with use
of biogas in Yerevan by the end of 2005,> Nature Protection Minister
of Armenia Vardan Ayvazyan told ARMINFO, Friday.

He said that TPP would be built in the territory of Nubarashen dump on
the funds of the Japanese party. The project will cost $4.5 mln. The
Japanese State New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization
will finance the construction of bio-TPP. Tariff for the electricity
received due to use of biogas (marsh-gas) is established at 8 cents
for 1 kW/h by the Commission for Regulation of Public Services Sphere.

The minister thinks that besides production of electricity, the
construction of the plant will contribute to solution to ecological
problems in the capital. This project is favorable for Armenia and
the given technologies have already been successfully used in Japan,
the minister says.

Nubarashen dump in the outskirts of Yerevan started forming in 60s and
some 800-900 cubic meters of garbage are daily accumulated there. The
dump occupies some 60 ha.

Defense minister says Armenia would consider ceding territory in exchange for security of Nagorno-Karabakh

The Associated Press
02/15/05 16:43 EST

MOSCOW (AP) – Armenia would consider ceding Azerbaijani territory it
controls outside Nagorno-Karabakh in exchange for greater security
for the disputed, Armenian-held enclave itself, Defense Minister
Serge Sarkisian said Tuesday.

In an on-line news conference, Sarkisian called Armenian-controlled
territory a “security zone” and said that the aim in taking it
during a six-year war over Nagorno-Karabakh had not been to expand
the territory of Armenia or of Nagorno-Karabakh.

If, giving up this security zone, we can achieve more secure conditions
for the people of Karabakh, then this question can be discussed,”
Sarkisian, who is also head of Armenia’s presidential Security Council.

“But if we’re taking about the voluntary surrender of these territories
without increasing security guarantees for Karabakh, then I think
that nobody intends to do that,” he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been de facto independent since the war, which
killed 30,000 people and drove a million from their homes. Armenian
forces also control a large amount of surrounding territory, including
land that links the enclave with Armenia.

A cease-fire ended the war in 1994, but tension remains high and
disputes over the additional territory have been among the factors
that have prevented Armenia and Azerbaijan from settling the conflict
and kept the threat of a new war alive.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian government is not recognized
internationally, and Baku insists it must remain part of
Azerbaijan. The continuing dispute has hurt the economies of both
ex-Soviet republics.

Pyunic – Armenian Association for the Disabled
6606 Cantalope Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 91405
818.785.3468
NEWS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 15, 2005

Contact: Teni Melidonian

626.644.7247

[email protected]

Disabled Athletes from Armenia to Compete in

20th Los Angeles City Marathon

Los Angeles, CA (February 15) – Pyunic, the Armenian Association for
the Disabled, is proud to announce that two of its disabled athletes
from the Republic of Armenia will compete in the 20th Los Angeles
City Marathon on Sunday, March 6, 2005.

Marine Hakobyan, 30, a paraplegic, suffered a spinal cord injury
in the devastating 1988 earthquake that left over 25,000 dead and
hundreds of thousands injured and homeless. A member since 1992,
Hakobyan has participated in Pyunic sponsored programs including
several rehabilitation camps and, most recently, competed in archery
at the 2004 Paralympics Games in Athens, Greece.

Greta Khndzrtsyan, 18, a double amputee, lost her parents’ at the age
of two in the earthquake. Raised by her grandparents’, Khndzrtsyan is
a student at the Gyumri Pedagogic University majoring in Psychology. At
the age of 15, she competed in the 2002 Los Angeles City Marathon. Both
athletes train at the Pyunic Center for the Disabled in Yerevan,
Armenia.

“It is pure determination and dedication that will help these
athletes cross the finish-line. Their triumph will provide motivation
and hope for many disabled individuals living in Armenia,” said
Sarkis Ghazarian, president of Pyunic, the athlete’s sponsoring
organization. There are over 100,000 disabled persons in Armenia;
current laws and public socialization do not meet western
standards. “My hope is to create greater awareness and public
acceptance for the disable in my country,” said Hakobyan.

While in Southern California, the athletes will be honored at Pyunic’s
annual fundraising event – Winter Brunch & Silent Auction – benefiting
disabled programs in Armenia on February 27, 2005 at the Brandview
Collection in Glendale, California.

Founded in 1989 to help the disabled children of the 1988 earthquake in
Armenia, Pyunic is the leading non-governmental organization shaping
public awareness for the disabled. Pyunic provides humanitarian
aid, social services, career training and summer/winter teaching
camps. Pyunic athletes have competed in numerous worldwide athletic
competitions, including the Los Angeles Marathon and both summer and
winter Paralympics since 1994.

For more information about Pyunic, please contact Sarkis Ghazarian
at 818.785.3468.

For press/media inquiries and interview requests, please contact Teni
Melidonian at 626.644.7247 or at [email protected].

Pyunic, the Armenian Association for the Disabled, is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization dedicated to assisting, supporting and shaping
public awareness for the disabled in the Republic of Armenia.

###050215

TASHJIAN DONATES PAINTING
University of New Mexico-Los Alamos adds “Chamisa” to its collection

Los Alamos Monitor (New Mexico) _www.lamonitor.com_
()

February 10, 2005

Armenian-American painter Richard Tashjian has had a warm welcome in
New Mexico in the seven years since his arrival.

Along with spotlights in regional publications like Cowboys & Indians
and Focus Santa Fe, he has been part of several group shows throughout
north-central New Mexico and is currently represented by Editions
Gallery in Santa Fe and Wilder Nightingale Gallery in Taos.

“I feel fortunate,” said Tashjian, a native of Massachusetts.

“A lot of artists come here expecting to be successful, but a lot of
them aren’t. For him, success is measured by the happiness he achieves
through painting.

Recently, Tashjian donated the oil painting titled “Chamisa” to the
University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.

It is a bright and jovial piece, much like Tashjian’s own personality.
Chamisa refers to the centerpiece of the painting, a common desert
shrub with hundreds of Lilliputian yellow flowers.

As a backdrop to the orange colors of the desert scene are the Jemez
Mountains, crowned with a majestic blue sky.

“I thought it would be a good gift to give,” Tashjian said.

The painting was gratefully accepted as part of UNM-Los Alamos’
permanent art collection.

Tashjian also enjoyed success in his home state, Massachusetts,
both as an artist and in his career in advertising art.

He is part of many permanent art collections in Massachusetts, the
country of Armenia, Washington, DC and now New Mexico. He created the
Armenian Artists Association of America and between 1979 and 1990,
traveled frequently to Armenia to organize shows. In 1990 he was
invited to the 100th anniversary dedication for the Russian-Armenian
marine painter, Hovhaness Aivazovsky in Crimea, Russia. He was also
listed in the German Artistic Encyclopedia:Cultural Artist of All
Times and Nation.

Tashjian describes his latest paintings around the Jemez Mountains,
and the areas around Taos and Nambe’ as colorful. He hopes to exhibit
these lastest works in the spring.

***

FINDINGS OF OSCE MISSION TO CONTROLLED TERRITORIES TO BE SUBMITTED TO OSCE MG
CO-CHAIRS IN LATE FEB

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14. ARMINFO. The findings of the OSCE mission to
the territories controlled by Nagorny Karabakh will be submitted to
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in late Feb, says the Russian co-chair
of the OSCE MG Yuri Merzlyakov.

After considering the findings the co-chairs will send them with their
comments to the OSCE chairman-in-office Dimitry Rupel and then will be
examined by the OSCE standing council. Merzlyakov expects this to end
by mid Mar. Before that the OSCE MG will meet to consider the findings
and the results of the last Prague round of the Karabakh peace talks.

The possibility of new visits will depend on the results of the
mission. It was not a regular visit of the OSCE MG, says Merzlyakov
refusing to give his opinion of the mission saying that it may not
coincide will the official findings.

Armenia receives “no dividends” from peacekeepers’ dispatch to Iraq

Arminfo
8 Feb 05

Yerevan, 8 February: The US position on the Karabakh issue which
has recently been voiced by several high-ranking officials of this
country shows that Armenia has received no dividends from dispatching
peacekeepers to Iraq, opposition MP Stepan Zakaryan told the Armenian
parliament today.

He said that all the discussions in parliament and behind closed
doors about the certain dividends received by Armenia after it decided
to dispatch the peacekeeping contingent to Iraq and about the USA’s
position on Karabakh turned out to be untrue.

To prove his point, Zakaryan quoted the recent remarks by US Assistant
Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones, the US State Department and the
US embassy in Armenia on the Karabakh problem.

Apart from this, the MP recalled Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan’s
earlier statement that not all leading countries of the world put
the issue of solving the Karabakh conflict in the same frame as the
issue of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

In this connection, the MP said that deputies are becoming less
trustful of Oskanyan’s statements, since the recent remarks by
representatives of various “key” countries has proved the opposite.

Armenian minister concerned about possible US action against Iran

Arminfo
8 Feb 05

Yerevan, 8 February: The possible US preventive action against
Iran will have very undesirable consequences for the South Caucasus
region, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told students of
the department of international relations at Yerevan State University
today.

He recalled US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent statement
that the issue of starting hostilities against Iran is not on the
agenda of the USA’s foreign policy course. The US secretary of state’s
statement removes some of the worries, but some of her remarks are
still rather alarming as any military action against Iran will impact
negatively on the region, the Armenian foreign minister stressed.

Speaking about the possibility of Armenia being sidelined from regional
projects, such as the construction of Kars (Turkey) – Akhalkalaki
(Georgia) link and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Armenian
minister noted that steps should be taken to involve the country in the
regional projects. However, that should not damage national interests.

Vardan Oskanyan said that we should first take into account the price
the country pays for the participation in such projects and if the
price is too high, we should not get involved,

[Passage omitted: the minister comments on relations with Turkey,
covered by agency reports yesterday]

Armenian president names two members of Public TV board

Arminfo
15 Feb 05

Yerevan, 15 February: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has appointed
Genrik Ovannisyan and Stepan Pogosyan members of the board of the
Public Television and Radio Company for a period of six years, the
presidential press service told Arminfo news agency today.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress