Agence France Presse — English
July 16, 2004 Friday 3:21 AM Eastern Time

OSCE peace envoys in Azerbaijan for talks

BAKU

International envoys helping to mediate a peace deal between Armenia
and Azerbaijan in a conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
said Friday they had held useful talks with Azerbaijan’s President
Ilham Aliyev.

The trio of envoys from France, Russia and the United States which
make up the so-called Minsk Group, were in the Azeri capital, Baku,
after a round of meetings with officials in Armenia.

The mediators refused to disclose any of the details of their talks,
saying only they remained committed to helping find a peaceful
solution to the 15-year-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly
Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan.

“We have just come from a very cordial and useful meeting with
President Aliyev,” US mediator Steven Mann told a press conference.

“We will remain active in fulfilling the Minsk Group’s mandate …
which is to support discussions and negotiations between the two
sides,” Mann added.

“We believe that a peaceful resolution to the conflict is possible
and we believe that peaceful ways are the only ways that this
conflict can and must be settled.”

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a four-year war over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which cost an estimated 35,000 lives and forced
about one million people on both sides to flee their homes.

A ceasefire was agreed in 1994, leaving Armenian forces in de facto
control of the enclave and surrounding Azeri regions. Azerbaijan has
said it is determined to force Armenian troops out of the territory.

Peace talks have been taking place intermittently for 10 years, under
the mediation of the Minsk Group, to hammer out a permanent solution.

But an agreement has proved elusive and insiders say that negotiators
are as far from a deal now as they have been at any point in the
peace process.

In Azerbaijan, which sees itself as the victim of the conflict, there
is growing frustration about the failure to reach a deal, with many
people calling for a return to hostilities.

Criticism has also been targetted at the Minsk Group, which is
operating under a mandate from the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe.

The envoys said Friday they were being made “scapegoats” for the
failure to find a lasting settlement to the conflict, but that they
would not give in to their critics.

“Whether you like us or not, whether you agree or not with the
format, you will have to face our three faces,” French envoy Henry
Jacolin told reporters.

The unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is destabilising a
region which is taking on increasing strategic importance for the
West.

A multi-billion-dollar pipeline is being built, with Washington’s
backing, to export crude oil from Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian
Sea, through Georgia and Turkey, to the Mediterranean Sea.

In places, the pipeline will pass within a few kilometres (miles) of
the tense front line separating Armenian and Azeri forces, the scene
of frequent firefights.

The Washington Post
July 16, 2004 Friday
Final Edition

House Votes Down Cut In Military Aid to Egypt;
Administration Officials Pressed Hill on Issue

Dan Morgan, Washington Post Staff Writer

The House yesterday rejected a $570 million cut in U.S. military aid
to Egypt after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell issued a
last-minute warning to lawmakers that the action would damage
relations with a close Middle East ally “at a very sensitive moment
in the region.”

Although the 287 to 131 vote was lopsided, the administration and
military contractors who sell U.S.-financed weaponry to Egypt took
seriously the threat of a cut and worked behind the scenes to head it
off.

Before the vote, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice made
calls to some lawmakers, who were also on notice from arms companies
that the shift could result in job losses in home districts. “It was
a full-court press,” said Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who offered the
amendment to the $19.4 billion foreign aid bill for 2005.

His bill would have shifted the military aid to economic assistance,
which he said is “desperately needed” in Egypt. “The last thing this
society [Egypt] needs is the ultimate in high-tech weaponry,” Lantos
said.

The debate brought out highly ambivalent feelings about Egypt. The
House’s pro-Israel forces used the opportunity to vent frustration
with the Egyptian government’s role during hostilities between Israel
and the Palestinians. Among those supporting the cut was House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), one of the strongest supporters
of Israeli interests in Congress.

Lawmakers took the floor to rebuke the Egyptian government for
tolerating anti-Semitism, limiting its cooperation with the United
States in the war on terrorism and failing to prevent gun-smuggling
to militant Palestinian groups.

But Powell and senior lawmakers in both parties warned that the
action would send the wrong signal at a time when Egypt has begun
working closely with Israel to assure a smooth transition as Israel
plans to withdraw from Gaza.

In a letter to Congress, Powell noted that a unilateral reduction
would weaken the balanced military aid to Egypt and Israel that is a
“cornerstone” of the 1979 Camp David peace accords. In 2005, Israel
and Egypt are set to receive $2.2 billion and $1.3 billion in grants,
respectively, under the formula.

“Our credibility in this relationship depends to a great degree upon
being a reliable provider of assistance to the Egyptian military,”
Powell wrote.

“This puts a finger in the eye of our friends in Egypt,” said Rep.
John D. Dingell (D-Mich.)

Jewish House members were divided on the issue. Rep. Nita M. Lowey
(D-N.Y.) questioned why the United States was providing lavish
military assistance to Egypt even though “it has no real enemies” and
its government tolerates “TV shows that perpetuate anti-Semitism.”

But she said she was reluctantly opposing the aid cut because of its
timing, noting that Egypt has lately signaled its intention to play a
more constructive Middle East role.

However, Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), in backing Lantos’s proposal,
said years of U.S. aid to Egypt have done little to curb anti-Israel
rhetoric in the country’s media.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the principal
pro-Israel lobby in the United States, took no official position on
the issue. Earlier in the day, AIPAC won at least a symbolic victory
when it helped push through the House a resolution that was critical
of a July 9 advisory judgment from the International Court of Justice
holding Israel’s security wall to be illegal. The resolution
indicated that the ruling was a result of improper political pressure
from members of the U.N. General Assembly. The vote was 361 to 45.

Later yesterday, Republican leaders helped the underlying foreign aid
bill get passed by a 365 to 41 vote. Tight budget restrictions forced
the House to cut $2 billion from President Bush’s request, but the
measure still provides a record $2.2 billion to fight HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis — nearly $60 million more than last year.

The president got only half the $2.5 billion he requested for his
signature foreign aid initiative, the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. The corporation establishes a new way to dispense
foreign aid to countries that qualify by meeting a list of criteria
such as commitment to free-market economies and democratic
institutions.

The bill provides $900 million in aid to Afghanistan, and continues a
waiver that allows continued bilateral economic assistance to
Azerbaijan despite that country’s economic blockage of Armenia.

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
July 14, 2004

Helsinki Federation Reports on Elections in Caucasus, Central Asia;
Urges Russia to postpone presidential elections in Chechnya

TEXT: The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF)
has completed a new report focusing on the corruption of elections in
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation
(Chechnya).

The report was prepared for the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting on Electoral Standards and
Commitments July 15-16 in Vienna, Austria.

The report is available online at

Following is the text of an IHF press release on the report:

(begin text)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Vienna, Austria

July 14, 2004

ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN, CENTRAL ASIA, AND RUSSIAN
FEDERATION (CHECHNYA) “RIDDLED WITH SERIOUS IRREGULARITIES AND FRAUD”

CHECHEN ELECTIONS SHOULD BE POSTPONED

Vienna, 14 July 2004. The International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights (IHF) report to the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe meeting on Electoral Standards and Commitments, to be held
on 15-16 July in Vienna, focuses on the corruption of elections in
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation
(Chechnya).

[The report is available online at

)

Most of the elections held since the Central Asia republics became
independent have been characterized by serious irregularities, lack
of transparency, failure to provide equal conditions for all
candidates to promote different political views, and the abuse of
public resources. Turkmenistan has witnessed an almost total erosion
of democratic principles.

In Armenia and Azerbaijan, opposition candidates have been eliminated
from elections, media coverage has been tilted in favor of ruling
parties, opposition demonstrators and campaigners have been
mistreated by police, arbitrarily arrested, detained, and unfairly
tried. Recent elections in both countries were marred by serious and
widespread fraud.

The IHF is urging the Russian Federation to postpone presidential
elections in Chechnya to replace assassinated President Kadyrov,
which have been set for 29 August 2004. The IHF and the Moscow
Helsinki Group have documented serious fraud in the recent
constitutional referendum, presidential elections and Russian State
Duma elections in Chechnya.

“Manipulated elections aimed at creating an image of normalcy have
done nothing to solve the basic political and human rights problems
in Chechnya. But genuine and fair election processes could lead to a
political, rather than a military solution,” according to Aaron
Rhodes, Executive Director of the IHF.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)

Associated Press Worldstream
July 16, 2004 Friday 1:53 PM Eastern Time

No breakthrough for Karabakh mission

AIDA SULTANOVA; Associated Press Writer

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Foreign mediators ended a mission to Azerbaijan and Armenia on Friday
without a breakthrough in the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, and the
U.S. representative told the nations that the main burden in reaching
a settlement is on them.

Comments from the American, French and Russian envoys from the
Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe’s Minsk Group,
which has been mediating the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly
a decade, suggested their latest twice-yearly visit brought little
progress.

“The progress or lack of progress, whatever it is, rests in Yerevan
and Baku, and that is an important fact,” the group’s U.S.
co-chairman, State Department official Steven Mann, said at a news
conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

Mann and his French and Russian counterparts also visited the
Armenian capital Yerevan and Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely ethnic
Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that Armenian-backed forces won
control of in a 1988-94 war that killed some 30,000 people were
killed and drove a million from their homes.

Despite a cease-fire, the two countries continue to face off across a
heavily fortified no man’s land, and shooting occasionally erupts. No
final settlement has been reached, and the conflict continues to
aggravate economic troubles and threaten unrest in the two former
Soviet republics.

The Minsk Group’s French co-chairman, Henry Jacolin, said that forces
in Armenia and Azerbaijan sometimes point to the mediators to explain
the lack of progress. “Instead of blaming those who are negotiating,
it is always easier to look for a scapegoat. We know that we have to
play this role,” he said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said the international mediators’
role is “very important,” but added that, “for many years, in spite
of the fact of being involved in the process, there is not progress.”

Associated Press Worldstream
July 16, 2004 Friday 1:53 PM Eastern Time

Bush administration opposes House measure on Turkey

by HARRY DUNPHY; Associated Press Writer

President George W. Bush’s administration opposes a measure passed by
the House of Representatives forbidding Turkey to use U.S. aid to
lobby against a separate measure that would officially recognize the
Armenian genocide, a State Department spokesman said Friday.

“The House has passed it, the Senate has not and the administration
is opposed to it,” Richard Boucher said.

The House used a voice vote Thursday to approve language by
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California on Turkey that was added to
a $19.4 billion foreign aid bill the House approved.

Tens of thousands of Armenians live in Schiff’s district, which
includes Pasadena and other communities east of Los Angeles.

Armenians accuse Turks of a genocide of up to 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915 and 1923. Turks claim the number of deaths is inflated
and say the victims were killed in civil unrest.

“We are another step closer to silencing those who would deny the
murder of 1.5 million Armenians,” Schiff said after the vote. “This
amendment stands true to the memory of the victims.”

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other House Republican leaders said
in a statement that they oppose the Schiff amendment and “will insist
that conferees drop that provision” should the measure pass the
Senate.

“Turkey has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades,
and the deep foundation upon which our mutual economic and security
relationship rests should not be disrupted by this amendment.”

They said the amendment seems meaningless because by law, foreign
governments are barred from using U.S. aid to lobby.

“But we understand the political motivation behind the amendment and
for that reason we will insist that it be dropped.”

The leaders also said they “have no intention” of scheduling the
Armenian genocide resolution for a vote for the rest of the year.

On a related matter, Boucher said Turkey had withdrawn its candidacy
to chair the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe in
2007 “due to competing obligations by high-level officials.

“They felt they would be unable to devote the appropriate attention
to the position. So we respect that decision.”

Last month Armenian Foreign Minister Vadan Oskanian said his country
would veto Turkey’s chairmanship because it thinks the role can only
be filled by a nation that has diplomatic relations with all the
OSCE’s states.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations, although the
Turks recently have expressed a willingness to improve the situation
between the two countries.

Besides differing over genocide, the two countries also are at odds
over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region within Azerbaijan that has been under
ethnic Armenian control since a war that ended in 1994 without a
political settlement.

Turkey, which shares close ethnic ties with Azerbaijan and supported
that nation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has maintained and
economic blockage of Armenia, hobbling development in the landlocked
former Soviet republic.

Agence France Presse
July 15, 2004 Thursday

Salah le chiite et Vartan le chretien, amis face aux islamistes

par Sebastien BLANC

BAGDAD

Cinq attentats ont devaste des magasins d’alcool de l’avenue
Al-Thariba a Bagdad: au milieu des gravats, un chretien et un chiite
assurent jeudi que leur amitie est plus forte que les islamistes.

Vartan Sarkissian, 51 ans, est un Irakien d’origine armenienne. Sa
famille vit a Bagdad depuis des decennies, apres avoir echappe au
genocide de 1915 sous l’Empire ottoman. Leur quartier est comme eux,
chretien.

Du moins a 90%. Car Salah Abdallah y habite aussi. Ce chiite de 38
ans, marchand de voitures, reside juste au-dessus du commerce de
Vartan, qui vend des telephones cellulaires.

Les deux moustachus sont amis depuis dix ans. Leurs enfants jouent
ensemble. Ils se refusent rarement un petit verre, y compris
alcoolise.

Salah le musulman modere est parfois invite a l’eglise, pour des
ceremonies importantes. Il a une effigie de Jesus a l’avant de sa
voiture, un “cadeau d’amis chretiens”. Il a aussi beaucoup aime “la
Passion du Christ”, le film de Mel Gibson.

Pas etonnant dans ces conditions que les comperes s’epaulent,
quelques heures apres une serie d’explosions qui ont souffle les
devantures des boutiques d’alcool, au pied des immeubles. Celle de
Vartan a egalement ete endommagee par l’onde de choc.

“On ne veut pas d’un gars avec un turban pour diriger l’Irak. Ce
n’est pas possible d’instaurer un regime islamiste ici”, dit,
rassurant, Salah.

Pour lui pas de doute: les attaques de la nuit sont l’oeuvre de
l’Armee du Mehdi du chef radical chiite Moqtada Sadr. Ces miliciens
pronent une application rigoriste de l’islam et voient d’un mauvais
oeil les debits de boisson generalement tenus par des chretiens.

“Moqtada a divise les chiites. Mais ces attentats ne vont pas
affecter nos relations avec les chretiens. Ce sont nos freres, ils
ont toujours vecu ici”, reprend Salah.

Pourtant, les intimidations ont des consequences. Vartan connait cinq
ou six familles chretiennes qui sont recemment parties en Syrie ou au
Kurdistan irakien. “C’est triste, reagit Salah, des gens avec
lesquels on a vecu sans probleme durant vingt ans”.

Son compagnon chretien assure, lui, vouloir rester. “Je vais reparer
mon magasin et prier pour ces gens qui ont perdu le sens commun”, dit
Vartan. Il dedouane les musulmans irakiens des violences recentes.
“Il n’y a qu’a considerer les cibles pour trouver ceux qui poussent
derriere: c’est l’Iran”.

Salah et Vartan sont prets a reprendre les patrouilles communes
qu’ils menaient, kalachnikov en main, lors des pillages de
l’apres-guerre, afin de securiser les commerces du quartier.

“Je le protegerai. Il me protegera. Nous ne sommes pas seulement des
voisins, nous sommes des amis, des freres. Il est comme l’oncle de
mon fils. Des gens veulent casser la chaine qui unit chretiens et
musulmans, ils n’y arriveront pas”, predit Vartan.

Les attentats contre les debits de boissons alcoolisees se sont
multiplies ces dernieres semaines en Irak. “Avec les troubles, la
situation est plus difficile” pour les chretiens, a recemment estime
le patriarche chaldeen Emmanuel Delly, qui represente la plus grosse
communaute chretienne d’Irak.

Armenianow.com
July 16,2004

Laughing at Ourselves: American artist introduces unique comedy to Armenian
stage

By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

“Americans tell each other: ‘It’s not your business’. But can
Armenians say the same? All Armenians are engaged in each other’s
affairs.”

With such observations on Armenian culture, California monologist Vahe
Berberyan kept a sold-out crowd at the Yerevan Chamber Theater
laughing for 90 minutes last Friday evening.

“There is nobody like him in Armenia.”
In a performance titled “So Far”, Berberyan brought standup comedy to
Armenia where, previously, audiences were more accustomed to hearing a
Russian humorist poke fun at Russians. This time, it was an Armenian,
comparing his people with other nationalities.
“The Irish always drink and then beat each other,” Berberyan told the crowd,
“but Armenians first drink then give toasts to each other, praise each other
and only after that they beat each other.”
When Russian humorist Mikhail Zadornov compares Russians and Americans he
says that Americans are surprised at Russians when they see that a man
wearing a tie and coat enters stage, talks and people begin laughing.
In Berberyan’s performance the Armenian audience got a chance to see an
American-Armenian (from Lebanon) enter the stage and make people laugh. But
in this case the actor has a far different appearance. Berberyan, who is
also a painter and writer, has long ponytails and wears earrings – a look
that commands attention in Yerevan.
“I was walking down the street and saw three guys sitting on their
haunches,” the comedian said after his performance. “They were looking at
me very closely and then one of them said, ‘I’m gonna sell my car and buy
earrings’.
“According to existentialism, if nobody pays attention to a man then that
man doesn’t exist. Here people pay so much attention that it is more than
you need.”
“So far” mainly concerns Diaspora Armenians and some of the monologue was in
English.
“It was a wonderful performance,” said Anahit Sargsian, a French-Armenian.
“Most of all I liked his free speech which had nothing to do with literary
Armenian language. In Diaspora there is a tendency to speak literary
Armenian language out of obligation.”

The actor/writer/painter performed one night for a sold out theater.
For locals, it was a mild culture shock to hear words that aren’t normally
said on Armenian stages.
” Armenia is my spiritual parent,” Berberyan, age 49, said in his show. “I
mean mother and father at the same time. That’s why people say mother
fatherland. Lebanon is my biological home because I was born in Lebanon. My
fatherland is USA because I’ve been living there for many years and I’m a
citizen of USA. Canada is my aunt. South America and Arab countries such as
Nicaragua and Palestine are my brothers and sisters because my fatherland
f—-d their motherland.”
After the performance Berberyan said that when he used the “f-word” one of
the audience covered her face and another looked around to see the reaction
of people. When they saw others were laughing they laughed too.
While about 80 percent of the crowd was Diaspora, locals also were delighted
with Berberyan’s one-night show.
I liked his ease, I saw writer and actor in one person. I saw how he was
controlling the entire hall with his energy,” says writer and actress
Armineh Abrahamyan. “There is nobody like him in Armenia.”

ARKA News Agency
July 14 2004

There can be any new variants of Karabakh conflict settlement – Yuri
Merzlyakov

RA Regular Representative to CE appointed the Chairman of group of
reporters on education, culture, sport, youth and ecology affairs of
CE Ministers Committee

New Iranian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia
gives credentials to RA President

RA NA Speaker receives the German Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Armenia on the occasion of the completion of his
diplomatic mission

NKR President meets with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen

RA President and his spouse visit French Embassy in Yerevan on
occasion of National Day of France

*********************************************************************

THERE CAN BE ANY NEW VARIANTS OF KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT – YURI
MERZLYAKOV

YEREVAN, July 14. /ARKA/. There can be any new variants of Karabakh
conflict settlement, OSCE MG Co-Chairman Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia)
stated today in Yerevan. According to him, negotiations are held for
a long time and during this period all possible approaches and
variants were considered and `today all of them can be counted on the
fingers of one hand’. `Everything proceeds just as earlier, but today
we have new situation, new conditions’, Merzlyakov said. He also said
that negotiations have confidential character and represent
consultations that develop the agenda.
At this Maerzlyakov aid that during negotiations the parties did not
discuss withdrawal of Armenian forces from concrete Azeri territories
as it is represented by Azeri mass media. L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

RA REGULAR REPRESENTATIVE TO CE APPOINTED THE CHAIRMAN OF GROUP OF
REPORTERS ON EDUCATION, CULTURE, SPORT, YOUTH AND ECOLOGY AFFAIRS OF
CE MINISTERS COMMITTEE

YEREVAN, July 14. /ARKA/. On July 13, CE Ministers Committee
appointed RA Regular Representative to CE Christian Ter-Stepanian the
chairman of group of reporters on education, culture, sport, youth
and ecology affairs of CE Ministers Committee, RA MFA told ARKA.
Armenian representative will replace representative of France on this
position. Activities dedicated to 50th anniversary of European
culture convention will start since December 2004 and will last
throughout 2005. Besides, 2005 is declared a European Year of
Citizenship by Means of Education. RA MFA statement says that new
appointment is also important because it took place several months
ahead of scheduled 3rd summit of CE States’ heads on May 2005.
CE Ministers Committee acts through several reporters and working
groups. L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

NEW IRANIAN AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY TO ARMENIA
GIVES CREDENTIALS TO RA PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, July 14. /ARKA/. New Iranian Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Armenia Ali Resa Hakikyan gave credentials to RA
President Robert Kocharian in Yerevan. According to RA President’s
Press Service Department, the Ambassador said that the official
Teheran highly appreciates the attention of the President to Armenia
and the development of bilateral relations between Iran and Armenia.
Kocharian congratulated the Ambassador on his appointment. The
President appreciated the present level of Armenian-Iran relations
and was for their continuation. According to Kocharian, together with
active political contacts Armenian-Iran economic co-operation
acquired new quality, including the development of infrastructures.
There are some important programs on the stage of realization, as
President said.
The parties noted that the coming official visit of the President of
Iran Mohammad Khatami to Armenia will become a serious impulse for
the further strengthening of bilateral relations. Also the last
events in the region were discussed and the issues of Karabakh
conflict settlement. The parties estimated Armenian-Iran relations as
an important factor to ensure peace in the region. A.H. -0–

*********************************************************************

RA NA SPEAKER RECEIVES THE GERMAN AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND
PLENIPOTENTIARY TO ARMENIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMPLETION OF HIS
DIPLOMATIC MISSION

YEREVAN, July 14. /ARKA/. RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan received
German Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia
Hans-Wulf Bartels on the occasion of the completion of his diplomatic
mission. According to RA NA Press Service and Public Relations
Department, Bahgdasaryan wished Hans-Wulf Bartels luck in his new
work, noting the great input of the Ambassador in the development of
the German Armenian relations. Bartels by attaching inportance to the
economic development of Armenia noted that Germany is ready to
continue to support development programs in Armenia. He spoke about
the achievement of the country in the policy of Euro integration, and
emphasized the importance of peaceful settlement of the conflict and
development of democracy in Armenia. Bartels assured that the new
Ambassador will contribute to the development of intergovernmental
and interparliamentary relations as well. A.H. – 0–

*********************************************************************

NKR PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN

YEREVAN, July 14. /ARKA/. NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan met with the
Chairmen of OSCE Minks Group on Nagorno Karabakh which arrived in
Nagrono Karabakh on the eve. As NKR President Information Department
told ARKA, during the meeting with yuri Mrzlyakov (Russia), Steven
Mann (USA) and Henry Jacolin (USA) Ghukasyan confirmed the position
of Officail Stepanakert around the main principles of the settlement
of the Nagornio Karabakh conflict, mentioning once more that without
participation of Karabakh side on parity level the final settlement
of the conflict is practically impossible. As it is mentioned in the
press release, the most of the negotiations was held behind the
closed doors.
The Co-Chairmen also met with the representatives of NGOs of Nagorno
Karabakh. Today Yuri Merzlyakov, Steven Mann and Henry Jacolin left
Stepenakert. T.M. -0–

*********************************************************************

RA PRESIDENT AND HIS SPOUSE VISIT FRENCH EMBASSY IN YEREVAN ON
OCCASION OF NATIONAL DAY OF FRANCE

YEREVAN, 14 July. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian and his
spouse visited the French Embassy in RA on occasion of the National
holiday of France – the storming of the Bastille. As RA President
Press Service told ARKA, Kocharian congratulated the employees of the
Embassy and expressed a confidence that the friendly relations
between two countries will continue developing successfully. T.M.
-0–

Armenianow.com
July 16, 2004

Two Months, No Answers: Haglund family says “someone has gotten away with
murder”

By John Hughes ArmeniaNow reporter
The family of an American murdered in Armenia two months ago says it remains
“determined to find answers and have justice served”.
Investigators in Armenia, however, are giving no information on whether such
answers exist or whether justice is near.

Joshua Haglund, a citizen of the United States from Wisconsin, was stabbed
to death outside his Yerevan apartment in the evening of May 17. He is
believed to be the first American murdered in Armenia.
Haglund, 33, was in Armenia as part of a U.S. State Department language
fellow program. He was teaching English at Brusov Linguistic University and
was killed just days before he was scheduled to end his service in Armenia.
Reached at her home in Wisconsin, Haglund’s mother Maxine Haglund-Blommer
told ArmeniaNow that her son held high hopes for his work in Armenia and
talked about “the excitement and possibilities Armenia had in its future and
he wanted to be a part of it all.”
It happens, too, that Joshua Haglund was gay. And, privately, expatriate and
Armenian acquaintances are saying he was killed by those who opposed his
lifestyle.
ArmeniaNow asked investigators whether Haglund’s death was being considered
a hate crime. Police would give no details of the investigation nor say
whether a suspect has been identified nor how many people have been
questioned.
Members of Armenia’s gay community have privately complained that police
used Haglund’s murder investigation as an excuse to intimidate those known
or thought to be gay.
At least one man was held in confinement for several days. Another says he
was called to a police station and when he asked what crime he was being
charged with, an investigator said: “Don’t you think being a faggot is a
crime?” He also alleges that police told him they did not care whether the
law protected homosexuality, and that, in their precinct, they were the law.
“Josh was openly gay in America and his family supported him,”
Haglund-Blommer said.
She says she doesn’t understand the relevancy of her son’s sexuality to his
death because: “It isn’t important what my son’s sexual orientation was but
rather that he was a person that wanted to make a difference in the world
through teaching and travels.”
But the mother also says his family “doesn’t know what it is like to be gay
in Armenia.”
“Joshua would never intentionally put himself in danger,” Maxine
Haglund-Blommer said. “If this was a hate crime, we don’t know. But we sure
would like to find out.”
His mother says that many of her son’s friends and colleagues in Armenia
have contacted her over the past two months.
“They don’t understand how or why this could happen,” Haglund-Blommer said.
“Several have said they don’t have great hope or confidence in the legal
process in Armenia.”
Haglund-Blommer says Haglund’s brothers and sister are “very discouraged and
disappointed” with the investigation and that the family is now looking into
hiring a victim representative in Armenia.
“We want some answers to this senseless death,” she said. “Our son and
brother is gone and someone has gotten away with this murder.”

ARKA News Agency
July 15 2004

Ovik Abramian appointed the head of Armenian delegation at summer
Olympic Games in Greece

NKR President receives the heads of Armenian Dance Group Ani

RA Foreign Minister and UK Ambassador to Armenia sign agreement on
culture centers

Spread of measles is recorded in Armenia

RA and RF authorities consider the possibility of creation of joint
commission

*********************************************************************

OVIK ABRAMIAN APPOINTED THE HEAD OF ARMENIAN DELEGATION AT SUMMER
OLYMPIC GAMES IN GREECE

YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/. RA Minister of Territorial Management and
Infrastructure Coordination Ovik Abramian was appointed the head of
Armenian delegation at summer Olympic Games in Greece, RA Government
press office told ARKA. L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

NKR PRESIDENT RECEIVES THE HEADS OF ARMENIAN DANCE GROUP ANI

STEPANAKERT, July 15. /ARKA/. NKR President Arkady Gukasian received
the heads of Armenian Dance Group Ani from USA. During the meeting,
Art Director of the Dance Group Yeghia Asholian said that it is third
for the last five years visit of Nagorno Karabakh. According to him,
this time Armenian dancers from America came to Artsakh to perform at
Karabakh scene with holiday concerts dedicated to 30th anniversary of
the group.
Gukasian in his turn said that visit of Karabakh by foreign Armenian
art groups became a good tradition that should be by all means
supported. He wished the guests success in their work and expressed
hope that they’ll always remain good friends of Artsakh. L.D. –0

*********************************************************************

RA FOREIGN MINISTER AND UK AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON
CULTURE CENTERS

YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and UK
Ambassador to Armenia Torda Abbot Watt signed today an agreement on
culture centers, RA MFA told ARKA. Agreement between the countries
puts it on official base the existing high level of culture links,
which increased with an opening of British Council in Armenia in
April 2001. According to the document, British Council is an official
body, coordinating culture links between Armenia and GB. Besides, the
agreement creates backgrounds for foundation of the same Armenian
culture representation in United Kingdom. The parties also receive an
opportunity to establish culture centers in the capitals of the two
countries and other cities on mutual agreement. The basic goal of
culture center is development of Armenian-British relations in the
spheres of language, literature, culture, art, science and
technology, etc. L.D. –0–

*********************************************************************

SPREAD OF MEASLES IS RECORDED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/. Spread of measles is recorded in Armenia,
according to RA Deputy Minister of Health Haik Darbinyan. As he said,
in spite the fact that the disease is dominates in winter period,
this year already some cases of catching the disease in summer were
registered. However, Darbinyan didn’t state the exact number of the
infected. He just said that the disease could be caught through the
air, in particular, a whole bus of passengers recently caught the
disease. According to Darbinyan, cases of patients with intestinal
infections are registered this summer. Some of such infections
haven’t spread yet.
To remind, immunization of the population against 9 kinds of
infections is carried out among the population, and from the
beginning of the year the list of the injections included those
against Hepatitis -B, measles, roseola, parotids. A.H.–0–

*********************************************************************

RA AND RF AUTHORITIES CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF CREATION OF JOINT
COMMISSION

YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov suggested
creating a joint commission of RA and RF authorities. According to RA
President’s Press Service and Public Relations Department, he stated
this during the meeting with the RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan. According to Luzhkov, the commission will allow the two
Governments directly solve problems of mutual interest. He added that
such commissions already function in some states of CIS. Luzhkov also
mentioned the issue of construction `Yerevan’ trade house in Moscow
with the participation of Armenian builders. According to him,
construction is planned to be completed in 2005.
According to the press release, the parties discussed the issue of
founding a center for wholesale in Moscow. As Luzhkov said, the
center would allow Armenian side to distribute goods lots without
wasting time on looking for buyers. He noted that such centers
already exist in Moscow. In addition to that, the sides discussed the
possibility of organizing Armenian trade fairs in central regions of
Moscow. Luzhkov expressed his readiness to contribute the issue of
setting stable rent taxes in Pan Russian Exhibition Center in Moscow.
A.H. – 0 –