ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 4, 2004 Tuesday
Armenian opposition say to refrain from protests until May 14
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenian opposition will refrain from meetings, marches or other mass
actions and is ready to organize discussions with the government and
political parties on the ways of ending the current crisis, Albert
Bazeyan, one of the leaders of the oppositionist Republic Party, told
a meeting in Yerevan.
Opposition forces took that decision as a sign of respect for the
resolution on the situation in Armenia that the Council of Europe had
issued April 28, he said.
The document contained, among other things, a call for dialogue
between the government and the opposition.
Bazeyan recalled that President Robert Kocharian’s resignation
remained the oppositionists’ chief demand.
He reiterated the claims that Kocharian was an illegitimate leader
since he had come to power due to “amassed electoral violations”.
The authorities say, in the meantime, that the oppositionists are
displaying political extremism and insist that dialogue be held in
the walls of the national parliament.
Despite rainy weather, the meeting gathered about 8,000 participants,
who thronged through the central streets towards the building of the
Prosecutor General’s Office, where they demanded to release from
detention some of the opposition activists.
Police reinforcements were drawn to the Presidential Palace.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 4, 2004 Tuesday
Russia is guarantor of stability – Adzharian leader
MOSCOW
Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze has turned down the ultimatum of
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who wants Adzharia to start
disarming illegal units within ten days.
“The ultimatum cannot solve our problems, because realities do not
coincide with wishes of the center,” Abashidze told Itar-Tass by
telephone. “I do not need the ultimatum. I know what to do in the
autonomous republic.”
“Batumi still wants dialog despite ongoing provocations of Tbilisi.
There are only a few matters unacceptable for us, and we are ready to
resolve the rest of problems,” Abashidze said.
The state of emergency in Adzharia “will be cancelled as soon as the
mutual understanding is reached,” Abashidze said. “Like it or not,
Russia will be a guarantor of stability by the Moscow and Kars
treaties in case of destabilization, and Tbilisi must be aware of
that.”
An open-ended Kars treaty on friendship between Turkey, on one side,
and Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the other side, was signed
with the participation of Russia in 1921. The treaty says that Turkey
drops its claims to Adzharia, which shall return to Georgia as an
autonomous region on two conditions. The first condition is that
Georgia shall provide for full cultural, religious and national
autonomy of Adzharia, up to the Adzharian right to adopt laws. The
second condition is that Georgia shall provide for free transit via
the Batumi port.
As for the Tuesday episode in Batumi, Abashidze said, the student
protest “was planned in Tbilisi, and the young people were
aggressive.” “Problems were inevitable against the background of the
state of emergency and the curfew. We would not have allowed any
incidents if we could. The only thing we want is peace,” Abashidze
said.
Students had a rally in Batumi on Tuesday to demand resignation of
the Adzharian authorities. The police used water guns and clubs
against the students, who failed to meet the state of emergency
requirements. There is information nine to 13 people were hurt.
Abashidze said earlier on Tuesday that he would not seek political
asylum abroad. “I am not the kind of a man who runs away,” Abashidze
said on the Ekho Moskvy Radio.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 4, 2004 Tuesday
Media advisory: Russian-Armenian cooperation conference
Russian Federation Council
Press Service
The Russian Federation Council and the Armenian National Assembly
will hold an international conference in the city of Samara from May
14 to May 15.
The participants in the conference will consider the status and
prospect of development of inter-regional Russian-Armenian
cooperation.
Speaker of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov and Chairman of the
National Assembly Atrur Bagdasarian will open the conference.
Representatives of Russian and foreign mass media, TV and
broadcasting companies are invited to attend the conference.
Journalists’ accreditation will be held by the Federation Council
press service.
Federation Council press service telephone numbers: 292-1877,
292-7525 or 292-5604; fax: 292-4305.

The Times (London)
May 5, 2004, Wednesday
Il trovatore
by Hilary Finch
Il trovatore. Covent Garden. ***
ELIJAH MOSHINSKY has returned to direct the first revival of his
visually spectacular Il trovatore, new to the Royal Opera two years
ago. With Dante Ferretti (designer for the likes of Pasolini, Fellini
and Scorsese) in charge of the sets, it’s still a banquet for the
eye. Except, that is, for the monochrome landscape images which act
as curtain projections between the overlong scene changes.
Verdi’s four musical canvases -the Duel, the Gypsy, the Gypsy’s Son
and the Punishment -are realised in monumental tableaux, each one
beautifully lit by Howard Harrison. Every entrance in the dark
shadows of the first is framed by a line of lofty pillars; Azucena
and her band of Risorgimento partisans hide out among four massive,
glowing furnaces; exquisite Piranesi-like perspectives of glass and
steel house the convent.
But there’s a price to pay for this visual magnificence. Tableaux
they may be; but Verdi’s are tableaux vivants, and Moshinsky’s
staging, seduced by its own beauty, does too little to empower this
cast beyond formulaic body language. There’s simply too little
impassioned engagement with the music, with each other or with the
audience.
This is very much in the nature of the beast. While Moshinsky’s
production admirably realises the form of Verdi’s opera, it can too
easily stifle its beating heart. The individual seems trapped within
the massive set pieces: the emotional charge at the meeting of Di
Luna, Manrico and Leonora in the convent is diffused by the fearful
symmetry of the stagecraft; the sparring of the Count’s leather-clad
soldiers in Part III is almost risibly “choreographed”.
Dwarfed by their environments, a strong new cast stand and deliver
goods of considerable quality. Three Eastern European singers
contribute effectively to Verdi’s dark palette in this opera.
The opening narrative is compellingly and elegantly shaped by the
Ferrando of the Armenian bass-baritone Arutjun Kotchinian. And the
Georgian baritone Lado Ataneli brings menace, if too little ardour
and anger to the role of Di Luna. In the Russian mezzo Irina Mishura,
Azucena, Verdi’s own favourite, has both the high flare of flame and
a dark anguish within her true chest voice. She simply isn’t
exploited enough on stage.
Marco Berti’s coarse-edged and tirelessly robust Manrico and Fiorenza
Cedolins’s Leonora sing feistily, but too seldom to each other.
The Royal Opera Orchestra play superbly for the veteran Verdian
Edward Downes; but on the first night, even he was unable to provide
quite the elan and momentum this show still needs.
Box office: 020-7304 4000

RIA OREANDA, Russia
Economic News
May 5, 2004 Wednesday
New Minister of Culture Appointed in Armenia
YEREVAN
The other day Ovik Sveyan, Writers Union Secretary has been appointed
Armenian Minister of Culture and Youth, Robert Kocharyan has already
signed the correspondent decree.
Tamara Pogosyan was reportedly dismissed from the post of Minister of
Culture by the presidential decree, according to the Armenian
President press-service.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

South China Morning Post
May 5, 2004
Money before morality
The dead, wrote German novelist W.G. Sebald, are forever returning to
us. Unhappily, some governments continue to deny them, in the name of
trade, realpolitik or revisionism. Even as the Dalai Lama was leaving
millions of Canadians light-headed last month with his mantra of
gentleness and compassion, the federal government shrugged off a
genocide. It came after Canada’s parliament voted to recognise the
slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks 89 years ago. One
US president called it “the great crime of the first world war”. But
Canada’s minister of foreign affairs repudiated the vote, effectively
apologising to Turkey, a trading partner. So much for compassion and
altruism.
“Turkey is an incredibly important country,” wrote columnist Jeffrey
Simpson in the Globe and Mail, the country’s national newspaper.
Parliamentarians, he said, have no business meddling in foreign
policy, especially when it concerns a “disputed” atrocity nearly a
century ago. “Canada should mind its own business,” the headline
read.
“Business” is what this is all about. Canadian companies are trying
hard to sell subway cars and engineering services to Turkey. Hundreds
of millions of dollars are at stake, and a Canadian cabinet minister
warned that the genocide vote could have “negative consequences” on
trade.
It is not the first time Canada has put money ahead of morality. A
Canadian oil company operated for three years in Sudan with Ottawa’s
approbation, pumping out profits for a Muslim government that was
bombing civilians in Africa’s longest civil war. And with the Dalai
Lama here seeking support for his people’s struggle against Beijing
rule, Ottawa gave Tibet only the barest official nod. China, of
course, is Canada’s second-largest trading partner. Enough said.
Half a dozen other countries have already recognised the 1915
genocide. They, like the Canadian parliamentarians, felt it was
important to do so because Turkey continues to deny that a genocide
even happened. This denial is offensive to Armenians, and to anyone
who believes that history matters. We deny it at our peril. Hitler
told his generals: “Kill without mercy. Who today remembers the
extermination of the Armenians?”
So why is it important that civilised nations condemn genocides past
and present? “It’s easy for the international community to say,
‘never again’,” says Robert Adamson, of the Global Justice Programme
at the University of British Columbia. “But there has to be some
recognition of what went wrong and who was responsible. People have
to be brought to account for these injustices.” The moral is: if you
ignore yesterday’s barbarity, you risk ignoring what is happening
today.

Associated Press Worldstream
May 4, 2004 Tuesday
Armenians protest, demand authporities fulfill European recommendations
YEREVAN, Armenia
Thousands of Armenians took to the streets Tuesday for the latest in
a series of protests against the government, calling on authorities
to release people who were detained during previous demonstrations
organized by the political opposition in the Caucasus Mountain
country.
Protesters also called on the government to carry out other
recommendations made last week by Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights watchdog. The
assembly urged authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations,
investigate any reported rights abuses and create fair conditions for
the media.
About 8,000 people turned out for the rally, which was not approved
by authorities in Yerevan, whose mayor said frequent rallies and
marches deter investment.
After the rally, several thousand protesters marched toward the
headquarters of the police and chief prosecutor, demanding the
release of opposition activists.
Police forcefully broke up a rally outside the presidential palace on
April 13, detaining more than 100 protesters. Most were released, but
some remained in custody.
Opposition supporters have held several protests this month, calling
for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests, including nearly daily demonstrations between
the first round of voting in February 2003 and the runoff in early
March. Opposition groups alleged widespread violations in both rounds
of the election.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
May 4, 2004
IMF Approves $15 Million Disbursement to Armenia; Fund completes
fifth review of three-year, $100 million program
TEXT: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the fifth
review of Armenia’s economic performance under a three-year program
designed to reduce poverty and spur economic growth, and on May 3
announced another disbursement to Armenia of about $15 million.
The IMF also approved a request to extend the arrangement by seven
months to December 31.
IMF Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chairman Agustn Carstens
commended Armenia for the “satisfactory implementation of
macroeconomic policies and structural measures” under the program,
which contributed to a strong economic performance in 2003.
Carstens also suggested further measures Armenia should take in its
economic reform program.
Following is an IMF press release with Carstens’ statement:
(begin text)
International Monetary Fund
Washington, D.C.
May 3, 2004
IMF COMPLETES FIFTH REVIEW UNDER PRGF FOR THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA,
APPROVES REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF THE ARRANGEMENT THROUGH DECEMBER
2004
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today
completed the fifth review of the Republic of Armenia’s economic
performance under a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
(PRGF) arrangement, and approved a request for the extension of the
arrangement by seven months to December 31, 2004. The completion of
the review enables Armenia to draw an amount equivalent to SDR 10
million (about US$15 million).
Armenia’s PRGF arrangement for the equivalent of SDR 69 million
(about US$100 million) was approved on May 21, 2001 (see Press
Release No. 01/25). So far, the equivalent of SDR 50 million (about
US$73 million) have been disbursed.
The PRGF is the IMF’s concessional facility for low-income countries.
PRGF-supported programs are based on country-owned poverty reduction
strategies adopted in a participatory process involving civil society
and development partners, and articulated in a Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper, or PRSP. This is intended to ensure that each
PRGF-supported program is consistent with a comprehensive framework
for macroeconomic, structural, and social policies, to foster growth
and reduce poverty. PRGF loans carry an annual interest rate of 0.5
percent, and are repayable over 10 years with a 5 1/2-year grace
period on principal payments.
Following the Executive Board discussion, Agustn Carstens, Deputy
Managing Director and Acting Chair, said:
“The Armenian authorities should be commended for the satisfactory
implementation of macroeconomic policies and structural measures
under the PRGF-supported program. These policies have contributed to
an improved business environment and a strong economic performance in
2003.
“Raising revenues and reforming tax and customs administration remain
critical objectives in the period immediately ahead. The recent
reduction in VAT exemptions and reform of the profit tax are welcomed
steps in this regard, but further efforts are needed to improve the
tax system and generate resources for poverty reduction. In
particular, it will be important to improve the transparency of tax
and customs operations, ensure the equal treatment of taxpayers, and
implement risk-based audit systems. Additional steps are needed in
the medium term to strengthen the overall coherence of the tax system
and the management of the tax and customs agencies.
“Recent increases in bread and utility prices pose the risk of
rekindling inflationary expectations, and the central bank will need
to maintain a tight monetary policy to bring inflation down to its
goal of 3 percent by end-2004. To further develop Armenia’s financial
system, it will be important to build capacity and promote sound
corporate governance in the banking system, and strengthen the legal
framework and the judiciary.
“The recent process of fiscal decentralization has the potential to
improve the quality and efficiency of services delivered by
state-owned noncommercial organizations in the health, water, and
education sectors. Complementary capacity building initiatives and a
properly functioning reporting framework remain essential to ensure
transparency and accountability in the operations of these entities.
“Other structural reforms will be important to sustain growth and
reduce poverty in the medium term. The anti-corruption strategy needs
to be implemented forcefully and in consultation with civil society.
The authorities are encouraged to move forward with their plans to
reform the energy and water sectors, including establishing market
rules for electricity trading, and liquidating the state-owned
company Armenergo,” Mr. Carstens said.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia
to the United Nations
119E 36th street, New York, NY 10016
Tel.: 1-212-686-9079
Fax: 1-212-686-3934
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
May 5, 2004
PRESS RELEASE
Armenia’s Re-election to the UN Commission on Human Rights
On May 4, 2004 the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC),
New York, unanimously re-elected Armenia to the Commission on Human Rights
(CHR). Thus, Armenia will continue its membership in the Commission for
three more years after its current term is over on December 31, 2004. So
far, Armenia has been the only country from the South Caucasus to be a
member of the CHR.
Armenia considers the promotion and protection of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms as a cornerstone for international peace, security
and development. During its ongoing term Armenia is bringing its active
participation to the deliberations of the Commission and has extended its
support and co-sponsorship to more than 150 resolutions adopted by the
CHR. As a newly independent country with only 12 year-old experience in
international affairs, Armenia has been able to formulate a balanced
approach to the country-specific resolutions, taking into consideration
both its national interest and universal values. Given its strong
attachment to the principle of the punishment of the crime of genocide,
Armenia has continuously introduced resolutions signifying the importance
of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide and emphasising the need for its universal application.
Commission on Human Rights, composed of 53 States, is the major UN body to
deal with human rights issues. It is entrusted to elaborate human rights
standards and to monitor their implementation. During its regular annual
sessions the Commission examines a wide range of human rights issues:
civil and political rights, as well as economic, social and cultural
rights. The main themes include the right to self-determination, the right
to development, human rights of women, children, minorities, displaced
persons, etc. The Commission particularly focuses its attention on
violations of human rights in specific countries or territories and on
situations of specific human rights violations worldwide. It considers
such issues as torture and detention, freedom of expression, religious
intolerance, as well as the issues of relationship between globalisation,
poverty, terrorism and human rights.
[END]

ARKA News Agency
May 5 2004
WB to make serious efforts for improvement of business sphere in
Armenia
The office of Children of Armenia Fund opened in Yerevan
*********************************************************************
WB TO MAKE SERIOUS EFFORTS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF BUSINESS SPHERE IN
ARMENIA
YEREVAN, May, 5. /ARKA/. WB will make serious efforts for improvement
of business sphere in Armenia, Director of WB Yerevan Office Roger
Robinson stated today. According to him, for improvement of business
sphere Armenia needs to make large amount of works. Robinson said
that the results of the analysis of business atmosphere will be
prepared soon, however it is already obvious that some sphere have
problems. Particularly, businessmen complaint on tax and custom
administration. `Business sphere in the country is improving, however
it does not mean that the process is over’, Robinson said.
Talking about the role of Diaspora in the economy of the country,
Robinson said that recent 5-10 years its contribution in Armenia was
high as in the view of humanitarian aid, so other assistance. L.D.
–0–
*********************************************************************
THE OFFICE OF CHILDREN OF ARMENIA FUND OPENED IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, May, 4. /ARKA/. The ceremony of opening the office of
Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) took place in Yerevan. According to
the COAF Chairman Garo Armen, the organization aims at working out
programs concerning the areas of development of children in Armenia
and alleviating their economic conditions. According to Armen, first
of all these programs concern the children, living in rural areas,
for whom COAF is going to create a simpler access to education and
health systems. He stated that within 2004, COAF together with UNDP
will implement the program in Karakert village (Armavir region)
estimated at about $1 mln. According to Lise Grande, the Resident
Representative of UNDP in Armenia, `UNDP has successfully implemented
some projects aimed at decentralization and development of the RA
communities for the recent years. COAF is going to become such
organization’. COAF NGO was founded in 2000. A.H. -0 –
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress