IRANIAN LEADER TO UNVEIL NEW KARABAKH PROPOSALS – AZERI PAPER

Ayna, Baku
4 Aug 04

During the official visit to Azerbaijan by Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami, the Iranian government is expected to present Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev with its new proposal on a solution to the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

According to information from diplomatic sources, Iran has drafted a
new plan and wants the talks to be held between Ankara, Tehran, Baku
and Yerevan. Details of the plan are kept secret.

At present, Iran wants to use the uncertainty surrounding the
settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict to get what it has long
been waiting for. Iran has never come to terms with being “sidelined”
from the solution to the conflict and keeps reminding us of that.

During the recent visit to Iran by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the sides discussed joint mediation in regional conflicts,
Iranian sources have reported. Therefore, it is noteworthy that Iran
has intensified its efforts with regard to the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict. During a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov, his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi said that Iran is
ready to help settle the Karabakh conflict. Kharrazi said that a
strong Azerbaijan is of special importance to Iran in this sensitive
region.

In the run-up to his visit to Azerbaijan, Khatami has made a new
statement. He said that Iran supports Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and deems it essential that the occupied territories be
liberated peacefully. “Iran will do its best to resolve the conflict,”
he said.

(Passage omitted: Visit to Iran by Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan)

Political observers are dubious about Iran’s package of proposals on
the Karabakh conflict.

Iran’s efforts will be in vain, political analyst Zardust Alizada told
Ayna newspaper in an interview. Iran has limited ability to resolve
the conflict. “Iran’s clout in the region is not that strong. The
Iranian government’s mediatory efforts once ended in a
disaster. During the 1992 talks in Tehran, the Armenians, in tandem
with the Russians, invaded Susa. In doing so, Russia let Iran know
that it should not be involved in this issue.”

At present, the OSCE is mediating the talks, and Iran is not an OSCE
member. On the other hand, the military and economic potential of
Armenia and Azerbaijan is not linked with Iran, Alizada said.

Talking about the visit’s influence on mutual relations, Alizada
predicted that during the expected meeting, the two president will
resolve some issues which have yet to be agreed on.

The ex-foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Tofiq Zulfuqarov, told Ayna
that several years ago Iran asked the OSCE Minsk Group to include it
in the talks. “The Minsk Group then suggested that Iran be informed
about the developments in the talks process. To this end, Iran
appointed a special envoy who acts together with the Minsk Group.”
These contacts still remain, but there has been no specific result so
far, Zulfuqarov said.

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
5 August 2004

Armenian group declares support for Kerry in presidential run

* ‘For Armenian Americans, the clear choice is John Kerry,’ says Ken
Hachikian, chairman of the hard-liner ANCA group. ‘Senator Kerry has been a
friend of the Armenian American community for over 20 years, with a proven
track record of fighting hard for issues of concern to Armenian Americans
across the nation’

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

An Armenian association in the United States known for its hard-line
opposition of Turkey and staunch position for recognition of the so-called
Armenian genocide, has declared support for John Kerry, President George W.
Bush’s rival in the U.S. presidential race.

A recent statement issued by the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) cited Kerry’s “long record of support on Armenian American issues and
President Bush’s retreat from his pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide”
for its decision to back the Democrat candidate.

“For Armenian Americans, the clear choice is John Kerry,” the statement
quoted ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian as saying. “Senator Kerry has been a
friend of the Armenian American community for over 20 years, with a proven
track record of fighting hard for issues of concern to Armenian Americans
across the nation. He faces an incumbent, President Bush, whose record on
Armenian issues has grown progressively more disappointing throughout his
tenure in the White House,” he went on to say.

Kerry’s overtures to Armenian groups are likely to cause Turkish Americans
to become disenchanted with Kerry. E-mail messages circulating among members
of the Turkish community were calling on Turkish voters not to vote for
Kerry in the upcoming elections.

Armenians claim 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in 1915-1918 as
part of a genocide campaign at the hands of the former Ottoman Empire.
Turkey categorically denies the claims, saying the death toll was inflated
and that the deaths occurred as the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell civil
unrest.

The parliaments of some 15 countries, including France, have labeled the
20th-century events as “genocide,” but the United States has so far
refrained from doing so, largely thanks to past administrations’ efforts. A
resolution calling for the recognition of the alleged genocide was shelved
at the last minute in 2000 after then President Bill Clinton intervened.

Bush and Kerry are in close competition for the presidency in the run-up to
the election slated for Nov. 2.

Armenian news sites have credited Kerry with labeling the 1915-1918 events
as “genocide” in a statement he issued on April 24, which Armenians say is
the anniversary of the alleged genocide.

“I join Armenian Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims
of the Armenian Genocide and I call on the governments and people everywhere
to formally recognize this tragedy,” Kerry’s statement carried by an
Armenian Internet site, Armenian Assembly of America, said.

Kerry welcomed the ANCA endorsement, stating, “John Edwards and I would like
to thank ANCA for its endorsement. We are looking forward to working with
all Armenian Americans to create a stronger America, more respected in the
world.”

“We call upon Armenian Americans to compare the respective records of
Senator Kerry and President Bush, to weigh the importance of their ballot
for the future of U.S.-Armenian relations, and to cast their vote for the
Kerry-Edwards ticket on Nov. 2nd,” added Hachikian.

ANCA praised Kerry for consistently being “a leading advocate of issues of
concern to Armenian Americans.” The statement said Kerry, as a U.S. senator,
had forcefully fought for U.S. recognition of the alleged genocide.

American Armenians were recently buoyed by a court decision last week
ordering a U.S. insurance company to pay $20 million to the descendants of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The class action suit against New York Life
Insurance involved thousands of policies sold in the empire between 1880 and
1915, many of which were held by Armenians killed during the civil unrest.

The legal agreement approved by U.S. District Court Judge Christina A.
Snyder is believed to be the first ever in connection with the disputed
event.

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PAN-DIASPORAN EDUCATIONAL FORUM TO BE HELD IN ANTELIAS ON AUGUST 5-7

YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). The pan-Diasporan educational forum
will be held in Antelias on August 5-7 with the support of Catholicos
of the Great Cilician House Aram I. The forum will be dedicated to
problems of education in Armenian spirit. Hrach Tadevosian, Chief of
the Diaspora Department of the RA Ministry of Education and Science,
told NT’s correspondent that about 70 delegates will participate in
the forum from the different colonies of the Diaspora.

Levon Ananian, Chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenian, is already
in Lebanon with the purpose of participation in the forum from
Armenia. According to Hrach Tadevosian, the issue of other
participants will be specified today.

According to Hrach Tadevosian, issues put before the gymnasias of the
Diaspora will be discussed during the forum, a number of issues
available in the colonies will be also discussed. “The problems of the
education of the Armenian children are exposed to danger, and the
number of Armenian students decreased in the colonies in general,
which worries everybody. I think this issue should be first of all put
to the agenda of the forum,” stressed H. Tadevosian. The Chief of the
Department, speaking about the issue of the closing of the Melgonian
Gymnasia, mentioned that though the decision on the closing of the
gymnasia has already been made, parents of the graduates and students
of the gymnasia carry out work in order that the educational
establishment having 78-year history will continue serving the
Armenian Community.

40% OF TENDERS ANNOUNCED FOR RENDERING SERVICES DIDN’T TAKE PLACE IN
FIRST HALF-YEAR

YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). In 7 months of 2004 purchases
amounting to more than 20b drams (about $38.5m) were made for RA state
government bodies, which exceeded the index of purchases made in 2003
by about 4b drams. Gagik Khachatrian, the Head of the Agency of State
Purchases, said at the August 4 press conference that the growth of
the volumes of purchases is conditioned by allocation of savings of
2003 state budget amounting to 12b drams for the sphere of
construction. The realization of 8.5b drams from this sum will be
organized by means of the Agency of State Purchases. It was mentioned
that already 5.6b drams were realized through the tenders organized
only in July. According to G.Khachatrian, the market of services
hasn’t been formed in Armenia yet. In connection with this it was
mentioned that 40% of the tenders announced for rendering of services
didn’t take place in 6 month of this year. The head of the Agency also
mentioned that the growth of exchange rate of dram in relation to the
US dollar gave an opportunity of saving 30m drams from the resources
of RA Ministry of Health. G.Khachatrian reported that a new system of
setting up of tender prices is being prepared at present. According to
this, in particular, it’s envisaged to set up season prices for
food-stuffs and a number of goods, proceeding from which the changes
of market prices will ba taken into consideration in the term
contracts. The variations of market prices will be periodically
studied for this purpose and the contractual prices will be
resonsidered on the basis of them.

CONFERENCE ENTITLED “PROBLEMS AGITATING ARMENIANS” HELD IN TEHRAN

YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). The 2nd sitting of the conference
entitled “Problems Agitating Armenians” took place at the Armenian
National Residence of Tehran on July 31. Archbishop Sepuh Sargsian,
Head of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran, opened the conference. In his
speech the holy father noticed that the purpose of the conference is
that participants of the conference conferring should find the ways of
the resolution of the problems facing the youth, as well as to involve
the youth in the national and spiritual sphere. Norair Aram ian, Head
of the Diocesan Council, mentioned the importance of the presence of
the young forces in the national structures and asked participants to
come up with concrete suggestions. Regardless of the fact that there
was an exact agenda, participants of the conference in their speeches
mentioned the importance of the Armenian schools and unions in the
matter of the education of the young generation in national spirit. At
the end of the conference Archbishop Sepuh Sargsian expressed hope
that they all together will continue the way to the achievement of
more and more successes in the national and spiritual life of the
Armenians.

POLYCLINIC OF WRITERS’ UNION OF ARMENIA TO BE LEFT TO WRITERS,
MINISTER OF CULTURE ASSURES

YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). “I can distinctly say that the
polyclinic of the Writers’ Union of Armenia will be left to the
writers, a no one has the right of taking back the polyclinic that has
belonged to the writers years running.” Hovik Hoveyan, the Minister of
Culture and Youth Affairs, declared this at the August 3 press
conference touching upon the July 16 decision of the Appeal Court. To
recap, upon this decision the Appeal Court invalidated the decision of
the court of first instance of the Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Yerevan
communities. The latter invalidated the decision of the Council of
Elders of the Arabkir community about alienating the territory in
Kasian 3 address where the polyclinic of the Writers’ Union of Armenia
was situated to citizen Sergey Meliksetian. H.Hoveyan as a member and
the former secretary of the Writers’ Union of Armenia mentioned that
they won’t give their polyclinic to anybody. According to the
Minister, “our judicial system hasn’t been formed and, naturally, they
can’t make a right decision.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Aug 4 2004

ARMENIAN IDENTITY CRISIS

Fearing politicians and hellfire, protestors force delay in law on
identity cards.

By Naira Melkumyan in Yerevan

Armenia’s government has postponed plans to introduce identity cards
for the country’s approximately three million residents, following
protests from many who feared for the safety of their civil liberties
– or their souls.

Because of street protests, complaints and public renunciation of the
documents, the scheme will now be introduced only at the start of
2005, not July 1 this year as had been intended. Just 900,000 people
have received the cards to date.

The plan is to give all residents – Armenian and foreign nationals,
refugees and those without status – a card showing a 10-figure
identity number, date of birth, sex and passport number. The plan is
to store the data for 400 years.

The United States government’s development agency USAID has donated
1.3 million dollars worth of technical aid to launch the system, while
government costs have so far reached about 200,000 dollars.

Social services minister Agvan Vardanyan told IWPR that the new system
will help the government ensure that pensions and social security
benefits are paid, and cut fraud.

About 40 political and public associations have formed an umbrella
group called Against the Numbering of People, to campaign what they
call “numbering and coding of people to remove their individuality”.

Some protestors see a spiritual dimension to the threat to their
rights.

Khachik Stamboltsyan, chairman of the charity Mkhitarich, said the law
is the work “of the devil and foreign secret-service agents”.

He said that identity numbers were linked to dark forces, and noted
that some of the 10-digit codes were bound to include the number 666,
the Biblical mark of Satan.

The Armenian Apostolic Church, which dominates religious life in the
country, also had reservations, but gave its blessing after the
government promised to change any number that featured 666.

The General Episcopal Council and other leading Apostolic Church
bodies tried to assuage fears among believers, saying that the
identity system “does not pose any threat to the salvation of the
human soul, because relations between man and God are not material”.

Vardanyan told IWPR that the government had secured backing from the
head of the church, Catholicos Garegin II, and that several priests
had already been issued with cards.

But Armen Avetisyan, a spokesman for the group Against the Numbering
of People and leader of the Armenian Arian Order, said that the
centuries-long lifespan of the cards proved there was scope for
misuse.

“Putting citizens’ data together in one centre is dangerous from the
point of view of national security, and I am sure that this is all
being done by outside forces,” he said.

There is considerable support for these views. “I am not convinced by
the arguments made by state officials. To them we’re just laboratory
mice they are trying to turn into zombies, with the aim of making us
easier to control,” said Nune, a 45-year-old hairdresser. “First they
assign personal numbers, then they start implanting microchips under
your skin.”

Officials disagree. “There is no threat here to national security.
The year, month and day of birth is not the kind of information that
could harm our security; it constitutes data on citizens that can be
presented within the bounds of international accords,” said Smbat
Saiyan, head of the social insurance department at the Social Security
Ministry, told IWPR.

State ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan said the protestors should be
listened to, even if they only constituted a minority.

So far about 1,000 people have returned their cards and more are
expected to follow. Against the Numbering of People says it has
collected 150,000 protest signatures and is also gathering support
among members of parliament to call for a hearing at the
Constitutional Court.

Avetisyan said that his organisation had received complaints from
employees in the state health and education sectors, as well as from
within the police, about being pressured to accept the card, even
though until July it was meant to be a voluntary scheme. The Institute
for Human Rights said it had received 100 complaints.

But the social security ministry insisted there was no substance to
such complaints. “When you start to investigate them, it becomes clear
that there are no facts,” said Saiyan.

Opponents of the scheme, as well as the ombudsman, are proposing a
year’s delay, but the government says its new deadline will hold. A
previous attempt to introduce personal identity codes was abandoned
two years ago.

“We are ready to listen to them, but the government does not currently
see any need to make changes to the law,” said minister Vardanyan.

Naira Melkumyan is an independent journalist based in Yerevan.

ARMENIA TO HAVE NEW COAT OF ARMS AND ANTHEM STARTING FROM OCTOBER

YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). A competition for new coat of arms
and anthem has been announced, the results of the competition will be
summed up in early September. The Commission on Consideration of
Competition Proposals was established by the decision of Yerevan Mayor
Yervand Zakarian. Gagik Baghdasarian, Chief of the Organization and
Inspection Department of the Yerevan Mayor’s Office, told NT’s
correspondent that discussions with the participation of specialists
will be organized for the public discussion of the works submitted to
the competition. According to him, the new flag and the anthem of the
capital will be presented along with the coat of arms of Yerevan
approved in 1994 at the Erebuni-Yerevan holiday, which will be marked
in October.

GDP OF ARMENIA INCREASES BY 9.2% IN JANUARY-JUNE 2004

YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). GDP of Armenia increased by 9.2% in
January-June 2004 in comparison with the same period of last year and
made 600 bln, 715.3 mln drams (about 1 bln, 155 mln dollars). During
the same period the volume of industrial output increased by 4.5% and
the volume of the gross agricultural output and retail commodity
circulation made 8.5% and 10.1%, respectively. The export and import
increased by 7.2% and 3.8%, respectively. The index-deflator of GDP
made 106.2% and the index of consumer prices made 107.6%. Stepan
Mnatsakanian, Chairman of the RA National Statistical Service (NSS),
said during the August 4 press conference that though NSS receievd
only 86.4% of the financing expected for the first half of this year
(about 218.6 mln drams), the planned work was carried out by 100%. In
particular, 35 names of statistical publications, which are included
in the open library and the internet site of the National Statistical
Service, have been prepared. Nin4e commissions of international
organizations and foreign statistical services and 12 experts visited
NSS during the indicated period.