Putin’s bid to alter election syst doesn’t contradict Constitution

Itar-Tass, Russia
Sept 14 2004

MOSCOW, September 15 — President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to change
the system of electing governors does not contradict the Fundamental
Law, chairman of the committee on constitutional legislation and state
development under the State Duma lower house of parliament Vladimir
Pligin said.

“The introduction of the proportionate election system of Duma
lawmakers does not contradict the Fundamental Law,” Pligin said.

After the abrogation of direct gubernatorial election, the institute
of presidential envoys and chief federal inspectors in regions will
be dissolved, Saratov region governor Dmitry Ayatskov said.

“If the president recommends the governor, why need presidential
envoys who dub their functions? The transfer of part of regional
powers to the federal center in the person of presidential envoys
was a forced measure,” Ayatskov said.

Ethnic groups of the Kemerovo region backed the presidential
initiatives aimed at strengthening state power, regional administration
officials told Itar-Tass.

Head of the community “Belarus” Mikhail Brilev told a meeting of the
ethnic groups’ leaders that “the election of regional leaders at the
suggestion by the head of state will strengthen executive power, while
people, through the Public Chamber, will be able to actively influence
the preparation and adoption of laws by lawmakers at all levels.”

The people will get a real opportunity to participate in the formation
of strategy of socio-economic development of certain regions and the
country as a whole, Brilev said.

Nar Oganesyan, a representative of the Armenian organization “Urartu”
called the president’s decision to set up the ministry of regional and
national policies “an effective methods of uniting peoples of Russia.”

The election of governors at the suggestion by the head of state
may imply alternatives, Penza region governor Vasily Bochkaryov
said Tuesday.

“The optimization of the system of governing the country, proposed by
Putin, will not only help strengthen regional authorities, but also
combine federalism with an effective power vertical,” Bochkaryov said.

“At present, I associate the system of federalism with three parallel
runways, along which three planes simultaneously take off, interfering
with each other,” he said.

Federal, regional and municipal authorities should be not competitors,
but links of one governance system, he underlined.

UPON CANCELLATION OF NATO EXERCISE IN AZERBAIJAN, LITHUANIAN VOLUNTEERS RETURNING HOME

Baltic News Service
September 14, 2004

VILNIUS, Sep 14 — After NATO called off an international exercise in
Azerbaijan, troops of Lithuania’s National Defense Volunteer Forces
who were due to attend the training are returning home.

Acting National Defense Volunteer Forces commander Colonel Leonas
Stonkus told BNS on Monday morning that 9 volunteers and 3 employees
of the forces left for the exercise on Monday.

The volunteers left for Azerbaijan by an aircraft of the Lithuanian
Air Force, which will fly them back home on Tuesday.

The NATO-arranged exercise Cooperative Best Effort 2004 was scheduled
to take place on Sep. 14-26.

In Stonkus’ words, no reasons behind the decision to call off the
exercise were indicated in a letter sent to Lithuania.

Meantime, the AFP news agency, citing a NATO official, has reported
that Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Jones made such a
decision after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday spoke
against Armenian troops’ participation in the exercise. NATO expressed
regret over such a statement.

The NATO exercise Cooperative Best Effort 2004, arranged in the spirit
of the Partnership for Peace program, was scheduled to be attended
by 20 NATO member-states and partners.

The exercise is annually held in the South Caucasus region. Last year,
the training took place in Armenia.

Leaders of post-Soviet bloc to discuss heightened terror threat
by Nick Coleman

Agence France Presse — English
September 14, 2004 Tuesday 2:02 AM GMT

ALMATY Sept 14 — Leaders of several former Soviet countries meet
in the Kazakh capital Astana on Wednesday to discuss redoubling
anti-terror cooperation in the wake of recent terror attacks in Russia
that sent shock-waves through the region.

The attacks that culminated in the deaths of some 339 people at a
school near Russia’s breakaway Chechnya region brought home the need
for more coordination among the 12-member Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), Vladimir Rushailo, the group’s secretary, said.

“Terrorism knows no borders, no limits and no point at which to stop,”
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Rushailo as saying.

Russia has long sought to bring its Soviet-era satellite states into
line with regard to issues such as Soviet-made weaponry that has
fallen into the hands of separatists in Chechnya and neighbouring
Georgia’s historic tolerance of Chechen rebels in its Pankisi Gorge.

On Monday Russia’s President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow’s
readiness to strike terrorist targets abroad — a vow taken as most
likely aimed at Georgia, with whom Moscow’s relations are at an
all-time low.

“The terrorists must be eliminated directly in their lair and, if
the situation requires it, that includes abroad,” Putin said.

Whether the fall-out from Beslan will inject new urgency into
Wednesday’s meeting remains to be seen however. Some analysts believe
that Moscow has already accepted the rag-tag nature of CIS meetings,
which have often been poorly attended and produced few formal results.

Nonetheless a number of smaller-scale meetings on the sidelines could
bear fruit, Dosym Satpayev, an analyst at Kazakhstan’s Assessment
Risks Group, said.

Particularly productive for Russia has been the so-called Collective
Security Treaty Organisation that has given Moscow military bases in
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — countries that Moscow considers a buffer
against unrest in Afghanistan.

“The CIS doesn’t work effectively and isn’t needed — the only use
it has is as a label under which the presidents can get together and
exchange views,” Satpayev said.

Among the most pressing discussions will be two-way talks billed as
“make-or-break” between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev, whose countries fought a five-year
war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s.

Though a fragile ceasefire is in force, the two sides are still
officially in a state of war and Azerbaijan has threatened to renew
hostilities.

“A lot depends on the meeting in Astana,” Aliyev told journalists in
north-western Azerbaijan recently.

Also likely to be discussed is a document circulated among
the CIS countries earlier calling for reform of the West’s main
democracy-promoting body in the region, the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Moscow recently told France and Germany that it believes the body
that helped end the Cold War concentrates too much on human rights
and too little on security.

The OSCE has in the past been at loggerheads with Russia over Moscow’s
policy in Chechnya.

However Azerbaijan’s Aliyev — himself the object of sharp OSCE
criticism in the past — has already ruled out signing any call for
OSCE reform at Wednesday’s meeting.

Turkmenistan’s reclusive President Saparmurat Niyazov has already
said he will not attend due to a prior medical appointment.

Kerkorian to wager it all on Las Vegas after MGM sale
by Veronique Dupont

Agence France Presse — English
September 14, 2004 Tuesday 9:31 PM GMT

NEW YORK Sept 14 — Kirk Kerkorian, the 87-year-old multi-billionaire,
has turned his back on Hollywood so he can concentrate on Las Vegas,
which he helped turn into the world’s gaming capital.

By agreeing to sell the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studios for nearly
five billion dollars to a group led by Sony Corp, Kerkorian is ending
a tumultuous link with the legendary film studio that he first bought
in 1969.

Kerkorian, who had an 89 percent stake, has bought and sold the
studios three times since.

MGM has won about 200 Oscars during its 80 years but is now several
decades past its prime in the eyes of most Hollywood observers.

Kerkorian is partly to blame for this, they say, by selling off many
of its prized catalogue assets. But there are still about 4,100 films
in the MGM vault, including the James Bond and Pink Panther series.

Kerkorian, the son of Armenian immigrants who was born in the
Californian town of Fresno on June 6, 1917, could almost be the
subject of a film in his own right.

He started earning money selling newspapers at the age of nine,
left school at 13 to become a boxer and then a professional pilot.
Kerkorian flew for the Royal Air Force in World War II.

After the war, he built a private airline while making his main
fortune from property speculation.

In 1962, Kerkorian bought about 80 acres (32 hectares) of land in
Las Vegas, in the Nevada desert, for less than one million dollars.

He built three hotel-casinos, which were then the biggest in the
world and helped to make Las Vegas a worldwide name that attracted
not just hardcore gamblers, but also businessmen and families.

Disaster struck in November 1980, when the MGM Grand Hotel burned
down killing more than 85 people and injuring hundreds.

The site was sold and a new MGM Grand was built on another part of
the Las Vegas Strip, which has become one of the main venues for top
boxing bouts. The MGM-Mirage group now owns 10 establishments in the
city including the prestigious Bellagio.

Kerkorian, who is known as the “Quiet Lion” because of his low key
image, now has one of the top 50 fortunes in the United States,
estimated at more than 3.4 billion dollars.

Married three times, his most recent divorce made international
headlines.

His marriage to Lisa Bonder lasted one month. She sued him seeking
a monthly 320,000 dollar payment for a daughter that he says —
DNA samples in support — is not his.

Kerkorian said he had been “set up” by his ex-wife.

The couple had been together for 10 years. Kerkorian said Lisa put
pressure on him to marry her and that he agreed to a brief marriage
on condition she agree to divorce after one month. He said she then
changed her mind and resisted the divorce. The US media feasted on
the court case.

Kerkorian has publicly backed Democratic challenger John Kerry for
the November 2 presidential election. And despite his age shows no
sign of seeking to retire.

Kerkorian wants to profit the maximum from the gambling craze that
has swept the United States over the past two years and lifted Las
Vegas profits to new heights.

Three months ago he bought the Mandalay Resort hotels and casinos
group, another cornerstone of the Strip, for 7.9 billion dollars.

If the purchase is approved by US authorities, Kerkorian will head
the world’s second biggest gaming group, controlling much of the land
around Las Vegas that can still be built on.

Voice of America News
September 13, 2004

RADIO SCRIPTS – BACKGROUND REPORT 5-55828

IMMIGRANT STORIES

by MIKE O’SULLIVAN

TEXT: LOS ANGELES

Immigrant Autobiographies Recount Turbulent Lives

INMTR: The United States is a nation of immigrants and each one has a
story. Many of their stories are compelling. Mike O’Sullivan spoke to
two immigrants who have published their autobiographies to share
their personal tales of hardship and triumph.

Susanne Reyto (RAY-toh) was born in Nazi-occupied Hungary near the
end of the Second World War. Her Jewish family survived the Holocaust
with the help of two diplomats, Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden and Carl
Lutz of Switzerland, who issued diplomatic papers to save tens of
thousands of Jews from the Nazi death camps. But no sooner were the
Nazis gone when a Soviet-backed regime was installed to replace it.

Her father was a successful businessman who suffered persecution
again under the communists, losing his home and business. The family
would spend 29 months in a prison camp, then witness the failed 1956
Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union. In 1957, the family
escaped Hungary and made its way to Australia, and later came to the
United States, settling in Los Angeles.

Ms. Reyto says her grandson, who was studying the Second World War,
asked her to talk about her experiences with his school class. She
did, and later repeated the talk.

[REYTO ACT]

“I spoke to all of the eighth-grade classes at that time, and I
realized how much of a transformation the children experienced,
especially a few days later when I received their “thank you” notes.
And one of the little girls said, Mrs. Reyto, I think you should
write a book so everybody else can listen to your stories, not only
us.”

[END ACT]

That suggestion and a later visit to Hungary cemented her decision to
put her story in writing.

[OPT] On a trip to Budapest, she visited a museum called the House of
Terror. Located in a former prison and secret police headquarters, it
documented the events of Ms. Reyto’s childhood: the persecution under
the Nazis, the confiscation of her home by the communist government,
and the prison camps.

With the help of those documents, and recollections of her mother,
[END OPT] she published her story this year in a book called “Pursuit
of Freedom.”

Eighty-four year-old Yervand Markarian has a very different story,
with a similar happy ending. Mr. Markarian was born to an Armenian
family in the Chinese city of Harbin. Located near the border of the
newly formed Soviet Union, in 1920 the Chinese city was home to
expatriate White Russians who were fleeing the Bolsheviks, and
Armenians who had fled persecution in Turkey.

As a young man, he would join the French army to fight against the
Nazis. To his surprise, he ended up in French Indochina, modern-day
Vietnam, fighting communist insurgents for the French Foreign Legion.

After the war, he worked as a policeman in the French concession of
Shanghai, then joined his father-in-law running two Russian
restaurants.

[OPT]

After the war, the restaurants thrived, but survived only briefly
after the communists took power in 1949. Mr. Markarian recounts, it
was soon apparent the new regime would not be good for business.
Officials visited to ensure that none of the married customers was
having romantic liaisons.

[MARKARIAN ACT]

“Or they would come up to a couple that would say, yes, we are
married. (The officials would ask) do you come often to such a
restaurant? Well, two or three times a week. How much do you spend?
So much. How much do you make a week? So much. Well, we think you can
afford another 10 percent of your salary to the state.”

[END ACT]

[OPT]

Branded as capitalists, some of Mr. Markarian’s business
acquaintances committed suicide. Others like him eked out a living
until they were able to leave. In 1951, he settled with five family
members in Brazil.

Unable to speak Portuguese, he faced new hardships, but he finally
found work in the Ford Motor Company’s Brazilian operation.
Eventually he took his family to the United States, were he also
worked for Ford.

Mr. Markarian would build a successful business on Hollywood’s Sunset
Boulevard, where he recreated his Shanghai restaurant called Kavkaz.
It soon became popular with film stars and directors.

[MARKARIAN ACT]

“Roman Polanski, Dan Duryea, Simone Signore, Peter Ustinov.”

[END ACT]

[OPT] Celebrity patrons also included the actor Omar Sharif, oil
magnate Armand Hammer, and singer Barbra Streissand. [END OPT]

Mr. Markarian recounts his tale in a self-published book called
“Kavkaz,” named after his popular restaurants.

The two immigrants say that despite their early hardships, they have
kept their optimism. They are both effusive about the opportunities
and freedom they have found in their new country. Mrs. Reyto adds
that she is sharing a message.

[REYTO ACT]

“My message or theme is inspiration, the power of positive thinking,
and hope and dream for a better tomorrow. And without that, we just
can’t survive. And in the worst of times, there are always decent
people in the world.”

[END ACT]

There is always, she says, light at the end of the tunnel.

The author says she has learned to take control of difficult
situations because it is always possible to change them. (Signed)

Stop genocide as it develops in Sudan

Morning Call (Allentown, PA)
September 13, 2004 Monday FIFTH EDITION

Adolph Hitler was the epitome of human evil and the epitome of
indifference to human life. And yet, he may have understood human
nature far better than any of us would want to admit. In reference to
the West tolerating the destruction of European Jewry, Hitler is
reported to have said before World War II: “Who, after all, speaks
today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Who, indeed? At least hundreds of thousands, probably over a million,
Armenians died at the hands of the Turks. Hitler and the Nazis
murdered 6 million Jews. The world then reflected on genocide and
affirmed “never again.”

And yet, since that time, there have been many attempts at genocide.
Scholars currently investigating mass graves in Cambodia now estimate
Pol Pot’s more than 3-year reign led to the deaths of approximately
two million people.

According to Amnesty International: “In 1994, close to 1 million
people were killed in a planned and systematic genocide in the
central African country of Rwanda.” Most of us will remember the
attempt at “ethnic cleansing” that occurred in the former Yugoslavia
only a few years ago. In all these atrocities, torture, mutilation
and rape of the victim populations were standard procedure.

According to The Save Darfur Coalition, at this very moment, a
government supported militia “is deliberately killing, raping and
terrorizing civilians in Darfur As many as 100,000 civilians have
been killed and 1.2 million people have been driven from their
homes.”

These events in western Sudan are a genocide in the making. Let us
not allow, by our silence, indifference or ignorance, the people of
Darfur to be added to a list already far too long. Let us press both
our government and our media to prevent a larger catastrophe than
already has occurred.

Rabbi Allen Juda
Bethlehem

OTAN cancela ejercicios militares en Azerbaiyán

Xinhua News Agency – Spanish
September 13, 2004 Monday 5:02 PM EST

BRUSELAS — La Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN)
anunció hoy que canceló los ejercios militares en Azerbaiyán horas
antes de que se iniciaran luego de que las autoridades en Baku dijeron
que no querían tropas armenias en su territorio.

Azerbaiyán se rehusó a que soldados armenios participaran en los
ejercicios porque muchos azerbaiyanos tienen malos recuerdos de la
guerra entre los dos países en el último siglo.

La OTAN decidió cancelar los ejercicios que se bebían iniciar martes,
dijo un vocero de la alianza en un comunicado.

“Lamentamos que el principio de inclusión no aplicara en este caso,
pues llevó a la cancelación de los ejercicios”, dijo el vocero.

“Los ejercicios son una serie importante de ejercicios en vivo en el
calendario de Asociación por la Paz. Están diseñados para proporcionar
conocimiento básico sobre Operaciones de Apoyo de Paz (PSO por siglas
en inglés) a nivel de unidades pequeñas”. agregó.

A inicios de los 1990’s, Baku y Yerevan sostuvieron una guerra de cinco
años por el enclave remoto de Nagorno-Karabakh, parte administrativa
de Azerbaiyán, pero habitada principalmente por armenios. Alrededor de
35,000 personas murieron en el combate y cerca de un millón de civiles
fueron desplazados. El territorio está ahora controlado por Armenia.

IN THIS ISSUE:

*** PROMOTING INTERACTIVE TEACHING METHODS OF HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN
ARMENIA

*** NGO CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

*** AAA NGO CENTER’S COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM UNDERWAY

*** REGIONAL REFUGEE SUPPORT PROJECT

*** DEMOCRACY TODAY NGO AGAINST TRAFFICKING

*** COMMUNITY EDUCATION CAMPAIGN IN REGIONS

*** TRAINING COURSES ON PEACEBUILDING, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND TOLERANCE FOR
CREATIVE REFUGEES

*** PROMOTING INTERACTIVE TEACHING METHODS OF HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN
ARMENIA

On the initiative of Abovyan-based Family and New World NGO, foreign
language training materials on human rights were translated into Armenian
and video films and brochures on interactive games were prepared. The
materials are intended for secondary school teachers of Human Rights courses
and human rights protectors. Materials were disseminated to 13 school
libraries in the Kotayk region and regional representatives of Junior
Achievement for distribution to teachers. Materials also are posted on the
website.

Contact: Julieta Ter-Martirosova
Family and New World NGO
3 Geghard St., apt. 32
Abovyan, Armenia
Tel.: (374-22) 2-36-04
E-mail: [email protected]

*** NGO CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

During the recent appeal process about written exams of university entrants,
the University Scientific Education Union NGO revealed some drawbacks in the
university examination assessment system and the suggestion to improve the
process was presented to the ROA Ministry of Education and Science. The
investigation into the appeal process is being carried out within the NGO’s
Protecting University Entrants’ Interests project, implemented with the
assistance of German EED Development Service. The goal of the project is to
raise awareness of university entrants, their parents, teachers, NGOs and
Mass Media on the current and new systems of University entrance
examinations. During seminars and discussions, suggestions and opinions of
beneficiaries were revealed, objective and subjective obstacles facing
university entrants were defined and their reasons identified. Subsequently,
the NGO will develop a suggestion package, which will be presented to the
Ministry of Education and Science for incorporation into the new 2006 system
of university entrance examinations.

Contact: Arthur Aslanyan
University Scientific Education Union NGO
61 Shirakatsi St., 19-11
Gyumri, Armenia
Tel.: (0-41) 3-63-20
E-mail: [email protected]

*** AAA NGO CENTER’S COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM UNDERWAY

This grants program is aimed at advancing civic participation and prosperity
of communities in the earthquake zone of Armenia. The program, targeting
Bazum and Vanadzor neighborhoods in the town of Vanadzor, was designed and
is being implemented based on community needs as prioritized by members of
those neighborhoods. Eighteen NGOs applied for the grants program
competition; three proposals were selected by the review board. Funding for
the grants program is provided by the US Agency For International
Development. Below is a brief description of project activities:

ž The Reflection Social and Economic NGO will create sites for organization
of outdoor rest and leisure time of the community population in the Bazum
neighborhood. The entire community, local self-governing bodies and
entrepreneurs are involved in solving their own problems; they participate
in construction activities, fencing and tree plantings. As a result, a
playground will be constructed and a park created for the neighborhood
population.

ž The Pan Armenian New Generation Youth Union NGO’s project is aimed at
solving the garbage management problem of the Vanadzor neighborhood.
Household garbage and construction waste containers are placed, garbage
removal schedules are developed, leaflets on the new waste removal system
are distributed and video clips broadcast on the NGO activities.

ž The Khachvogh Ughiner (Crossing Ways) Social NGO will promote the creation
of an information society and improvement of living conditions for members
of the Bazum neighborhood members by creating a Community Development and
Civic Initiative Center. The Center provides the following services to the
community: computer classes and NGO capacity building training; free access
to computers and the Internet; photocoping; presentation of educational
films; and organizing games. Local and national newspapers are available for
the population. The Bazum Newsletter will be issued within the framework of
the project. A database on target groups of the community will be developed
and various events for children will be organized.

Contact: Lilit Aramyan
Reflection Social and Economic NGO
Vanadzor, 59 Tigran Mets St., #48
Tel.: (374-51) 2-35-63
E-mail: [email protected]

Armen Matinyan
Pan Armenian New Generation Youth Union NGO
Vanadzor, 86/25 Aghayan St.
Tel.: (374-51) 5-53-03, 2-12-07
E-mail: [email protected]

Narine Ghazaryan
Khachvogh Ughiner (Crossing Ways) Social NGO
Vanadzor, 147/29 Yerevanyan Khchughi
Tel.: (374-51) 2-33-31, 5-57-29
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

*** REGIONAL REFUGEE SUPPORT PROJECT

The Zinvori Mair (Soldier’s Mother) Republican Committee NGO’s and the
Society of Humanitarian Research of Azerbaijan NGO’s regional Hope Mail
Service project is currently underway with the assistance of Danish Refugee
Council. The NGOs are striving to re-establish former amicable links between
refugees in Armenia and Azerbaijan and contribute to their contiguity.
Information exchanges, via letters, are carried out. NGOs receive letters
from the neighboring country, search for the addressees, and deliver the
letters, thus restoring relations between long-lost friends. A considerable
number of letters from outside the geographical framework of the project
have been received, for example, from Turkey and the USA. The project is
characterized by increased correspondence among women beneficiaries and
exchange of videocassettes and materials on media coverage on refugees.
Considering current political tensions, the authors of the project are
convinced that regional NGO cooperation is a positive way for the peoples of
both countries to make steps forward and towards each other.

Contact: Greta Mirzoyan
Zinvori Mair (Soldier’s Mother) Republican Committee NGO
Tel.: (374-1) 52-99-31; 52-32-02
E-mail: [email protected]

*** DEMOCRACY TODAY NGO AGAINST TRAFFICKING

Within the framework of UMCOR’s Assisting Victims of Trafficking program,
the Democracy Today NGO carries out the following activities: identification
of victims and forwarding them to rehabilitation center; projects aimed at
reintegration of victims into society and their families; public awareness
raising campaigns about trafficking prevention throughout Armenia; and
training courses for program staff and officers of state structures dealing
with victims. UMCOR’s Assisting Victims of Trafficking program also provides
a free hotline providing consultancy services: 0800.558.

Contact: Hasmik Edilyan
Democracy Today NGO
Tel.: (374-1) 27-22-73; 56-56-80
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

*** COMMUNITY EDUCATION CAMPAIGN IN REGIONS

Starting from August 2004, the E-Armenia Foundation NGO initiated an
educational campaign within the framework of the E-Governance for
Territorial Administration project, implemented by UNDP, jointly with the
ROA Government. The project is aimed at increasing participation and access
to information on the regional level through creating web-based e-governance
systems hosted by regional administrations and the ROA Ministry of
Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Coordination
() The goal of the E-Armenia NGO’s project is to raise
public awareness on e-Governance and, in particular, on existing regional
web resources. The campaign components include: training courses for
specialists of Internet centers within Project Harmony Armenia’s School
Connectivity Program, distribution of printed manuals on usage of regional
web sites; a series of workshops and discussions with different sectors in
communities; public awareness campaign using local media, and distribution
of printed promotional materials, including posters and fact?sheets.
Campaigns already have been conducted in three towns of Shirak region and
two towns of Kotayk region. The campaign will conclude in December 2004. All
are invited to cooperate within the Community Education Campaign.

Contact: E-Armenia Foundation
17 Charents St., 2nd floor
Tel.: (374-1) 57-02-60
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

*** TRAINING COURSES ON PEACEBUILDING, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND TOLERANCE FOR
CREATIVE REFUGEES

The goal of these training courses is to raise awareness of refugees in the
arts and cultural fields on peace building, and engage them in peace
building processes for establishing peace and stability in South Caucasus.
The courses are comprised of two parts. The first was organized recently by
the Armenian Refugee Supporting League NGO jointly with Future Generation,
Zinvori Mair (Soldier’s Mother), and Back to Hayk NGOs. The main topics
presented during the training were peace building, conflict management and
tolerance. Lectures were accompanied by role playing and other exercises,
situation analysis and discussions. Particular attention was paid to the
topic of Cultural Creativity and Its Impact on Peace building Activities,
Preventing Conflicts and Establishing Peace and Stability. The project is
implemented through funding received from Danish Refugee Council and
consultancy provided by the Center for Conflict Management and
Peacebuilding, Norway. The second part of the courses will be held for
creative refugees of South Caucasus countries.

Contact: Nina Baghdasaryan
Armenian Refugee Supporting League NGO
14 Baghramyan 1st sidestreet, # 74
Tel.: (374-1) 58-10-77
E-mail: [email protected]

__________________________________________________________________________

Armenian NGO News in Brief is a publication of the NGO Training and Resource
Center (NGOC) issued in the Armenian, English and Russian languages for
electronic dissemination inside and outside Armenia. Primary funding for
the NGOC, which is a project of the Armenian Assembly of America, is
provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Individual NGOs are welcome to submit information for publication to the
NGOC. The NGO Center is not responsible for the clarity of information
provided by individual NGOs.

Dear Readers,

The not-for-profit, non-governmental sector of Armenia is rich with diverse
civic initiatives and activities. This electronic publication, though far
from covering all activities of the sector per any given period of time, is
intended to contribute to raising awareness, both inside and outside
Armenia, of the activities of Armenian not-for-profit, non-governmental
organizations.

Your comments and feedback about this electronic publication are greatly
appreciated.

Thank you.
NGOC staff.

Contact Information:

In Armenia:
Armenian Assembly of America
NGO Training and Resource Center
39 Yeznik Koghbatsi St., Yerevan 375010
Tel.: (3-741) 54-40-12; 54-40-13; 53-92-04
Fax: (3-741) 54-40-15
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

In the United States:
Armenian Assembly of America
NGO Training and Resource Center
122 C Street NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001 USA
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

STATEMENT OF THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OF AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC
[September 14, 2004, 22:14:22]

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Sept 14 2004

Foreign ministry of the Azerbaijan Republic expresses deep regret
in connection with cancellation of the exercise Co-operative Best
Effort 2004, which was scheduled to begin on September 14-26, 2004, in
Azerbaijan in the frame of Partnership for Peace Program of the NATO.
The Republic of Azerbaijan considered these exercises in its territory
a landmark and important event on the way to integration to the
Euro-Atlantic space and had created every condition to conduct them.

The Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation links have successfully developed
in the last years and as a result, the Republic of Azerbaijan as
one of the active partners of NATO had presented the management of
the Organization the Operation Plan on Individual Partnership in May
current year.

As a military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan Republic,
the country, where the exercises were to conduct, 20 percent of
the territories are still under occupation and over one million of
Azerbaijanis are refugees and IDPs.

Leadership of this country holds a sharp and non-constructive position
in the carried out peace negotiations. In this case, for Azerbaijan,
participation of the Armenian militaries in the exercises in the
territory of the country was impossible.

The Azerbaijan side once again states its adherence to the principles
of the Euro-Atlantic values and deepening its partnership with the
Northern Atlantic Alliance and expresses hope that the years-old
successful and effective partnership relations between NATO and the
Republic of Azerbaijan will develop dynamically in the years coming.

Red Cross honors Central Mass. ‘Everyday Heroes’
by Lisa D. Welsh; TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE (Massachusetts)
September 13, 2004 Monday, FINAL EDITION

Three years ago, Ross Ogden was an American Red Cross volunteer
participating in the relief effort at the World Trade Center.

“We all remember the stories of the heroes,” Mr. Ogden said during his
keynote speech at Friday’s Third Annual Heroes Breakfast, presented
by the American Red Cross of Central Massachusetts. “There were a
lot of heroes then, but there are a lot of heroes here today, too.”

Mr. Ogden, a member of the National Board of Governors of the American
Red Cross, came from headquarters in Virginia to recognize nine local
“Everyday Heroes,” and the professional heroes of Central Mass.

Representing their profession were: Lt. John Franco of the Worcester
Fire Department; Chief George Sherrill of the Holden Police Department;
Jack Chilton III of the West Boylston Fire Department; and Charles
Grosvenor of the Red Cross Disaster Action Team. Also in the room,
were the heroes whose names don’t usually appear in the newspaper.

“While heroes are defined in Webster’s Dictionary as ‘one of great
strength and courage, favored by the gods and in part descended from
them …’ the real heroes are the ones that no one knows about,”
said Mr. Ogden who has been an active disaster volunteer in numerous
relief efforts, including Hurricane Andrew and the 1994 California
earthquake in addition to the World Trade Center attacks.”People like
those who are in this room, who are called to action from within.”

The “Everyday Heroes” breakfast was the first event in the Red Cross’
new initiative called “Together We Prepare.” As stated by Mr. Ogden,
anyone can be a hero by being prepared and doing a few things before
the emergency strikes. “Build a kit, get trained, volunteer, give
blood and pledge to prepare,” he said.

The “Everyday Heroes” that were recognized at the ceremony were:

Robert Garabedian, of Worcester, who became a blood donor in 1997 when
his 31/2-year-old daughter Susan was diagnosed with leukemia. As she
began the process of treatment, Mr. Garabedian felt a need to take
action. After learning that the Armenian blood supply was one of the
last to be “typed” or chronicled, he began organizing blood drives at
his Armenian church and established an unofficial Armenian-American
Blood Bank. Susan has been cancer-free for five years.

Leo Provencher, of Templeton, a “seven gallon whole blood donor”
who has donated platelets every two weeks for the last three years.
Since discovering that he was a match with a patient in Worcester, he
started traveling once a week for five consecutive weeks to donate his
platelets. With every donation, Mr. Provencher also designated some
of his blood for pediatric AIDS research done at the UMass Memorial
Medical Center.

John Crowley, of Leicester, for boating into the night water to
save a stranger who had fallen overboard. As Mr. Crowley was reading
quietly at his home on Stiles Reservoir, he heard yelling. He took
a flashlight and his boat key and went outside where he saw a man
searching in the water for his friend whose canoe had capsized. Mr.
Crowley’s wife called 911 as he took his motorboat out to find
the missing man. Piloting carefully in the dark, he noticed an arm
sticking out of the water. Mr. Crowley reached in and pulled the man
out of the water and brought him to the ambulance waiting on the shore.

Rebecca Delano, of Dudley, for saving the life of a child. As she
dropped off her child at the YMCA’s day care, Ms Delano heard someone
say that an infant was not breathing. A Red Cross first-aid course
graduate, Ms. Delano began administering back blows and the infant
started to cough. She and a day care staff member worked to remove an
object from the infant’s mouth, which turned out to be a tiny sliver
of dried glue.

Orville Thompson, of Wheelwright, who was on his way to Barre Plains
when he thought he noticed smoke as he passed a house. Continuing down
the road, something told him to turn around. He pulled in across the
street and saw that the house was on fire. Mr. Thompson ran to open the
door where he encountered heavy smoke and heat. He couldn’t see anyone
but could hear the voice of 11-year-old Paul White who was still inside
the home calling for his dog. Knowing that the smoke was too intense
for him to enter, Mr. Thompson began to call for the boy to exit the
house. Minutes after he was able to direct the young boy to safety,
flames came through the roof and consumed the entire structure.

Michael Crimmins, 11, of Douglas, who was outside playing when he
noticed smoke coming from the chimney while his older brother was
inside. Without Michael’s quick thinking, alerting his mother about
the smoke and calling 911, his house may have burned down. Michael
had taken part in the “Student Awareness Through Fire Education”
program at his school and put the tools he learned into use.

Danielle Leary, a Shrewsbury High School student who took action after
reading an article about a high school football referee who had been
saved from a heart attack by an automatic external defibrillator
(AED). Ms. Leary decided that her own school system would be safer
by having all schools equipped with an AED unit. Through her efforts,
she raised more than $13,000 and worked with town officials to install
the AEDs at strategic sites. Ms. Leary is now certified in CPR Life
Safety and AED and has helped all those who live in her community.

Wally and Michele Connor, of East Brookfield who, after hosting
an exchange student from Abakan, visited that city in south central
Siberia. While there, they took a tour of the Yoletchka Children’s Home
where 95 children lived in a state-run home. The government supplied
food, heat and electricity but little or no clothing or supplies. As
a result of what they saw, the couple developed a system of providing
aid to the home: sending candy, toothbrushes, pens, hair clips and
toys; and starting the “Socks for Siberia” program that to date has
collected more than 600 pairs of socks, and 400 pairs of underwear
and pajamas for the children’s home.