ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Bordyuzha arrives in Yerevan for talks on situation in region
By Tigran Liloyan
Secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
(CSTO) Major-General Nikolai Bordyuzha arrived in Yerevan on Thursday
for talks with Armenian leaders on the situation in the region, key
security problems and prospects for the creation of a collective
security system.
“This is a planned trip to prepare a June session of the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation, including sessions of the councils of
foreign ministers, defence ministers and the committee of secretaries
of the security councils,” Bordyuzha told Itar-Tass upon arrival in
Yerevan.
Earlier, Bordyuzha visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The CSTO
secretary-general is also expected to visit Kazakhstan and Belarus.
He will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and representatives
of power-yield structures.
He said, “Armenia is one of the most active and interested
participants in the work of the CSTO. Armenian leaders join efforts
to step up cooperation with the CSTO and make this organisation more
effective and competent.”

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Karabakh crisis should be settled by compromise, dialogue – CE
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman
BAKU
Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer said the
Karabakh conflict should be settled on the basis of compromise and
dialogue.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Schwimmer said the
Karabakh problem is a problem for all Europe and not only for
Azerbaijan,
Armenia and the region.
The CE secretary-general stressed that the conflict affected over one
million Europeans – Azerbaijani and Armenian refugees.
He noted that the Council of Europe was ready to help the OSCE Minsk
Group search for ways to settle the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. He
is convinced that it is possible to solve the problem on the
principles of humanism, through compromise and dialogue.
Schwimmer recognised that it was very difficult to reach a
compromise. At the same time, he pointed out that there was no
alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The CE secretary-general called on the sides to refrain from mutual
accusations. This will not lead to peace, he said, adding that the
return of refugees was one of priority tasks.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Cultural exchanges in CIS space bring peoples closer
By Galina Gridneva, Valery Zhukov
DUSHANBE
The restoration of the tradition of cultural exchanges in the expanse
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) promotes spiritual
enrichment and rapprochement of peoples, holds Mikhail Shvydkoi, the
chief of the Russian Culture and Cinematography Agency.
Russian culture days that began in Dushanbe on Thursday sum up the
results of the work over the past 12 years to preserve cultural unity
of ex-USSR republics, Shvydkoi told Tass in the Tajik capital on
Thursday.
“Russia has preserved normal working friendly relations with cultural
figures of virtually all Commonwealth countries,” Shvydkoi said. He
sited the examples of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and a number of
other countries.
“A favourable cultural climate for us has been created in Azerbaijan
and Armenia,” he said. “Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili made a
request to Russian leaders for Russian culture days in Georgia,”
Shvydkoi said. “We plan to hold these days in the second half of the
year”.
Shvydkoi said Russia has retained high quality artistic school. “It
is not accidental that most leaders of culture of ex-USSR countries
had been educated in the best establishments in Moscow and other
Russian cities. We will continue the tradition for training
specialists in our higher educational establishments,” he said. There
are plans for the exchange of creative collectives and art
exhibitions.
Shvydkoi believes Russian pedagogues will be needed in Tajikistan
where a conservatory and a ballet school opened last year. Following
the talks with the leaders of Tajikistan’s Culture Ministry it is
planned to sign the agreement on cultural cooperation up to 2006,
Shvydkoi said.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Armenia govt has enough legal means to curb extremism
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
The Armenian government has enough legal means to curb political
extremism in Armenia, President Robert Kocharyan said in an interview
to Armenian public television on Thursday.
“The opposition must be careful or else its actions can boomerang on
it,” the president warned. He believes people will not tolerate
provocations. Wisdom will help them make the right appraisal of the
situation.
Kocharyan understands “the indignation of those who elected him when
they constantly hear members of the opposition say that the backbone
of power must be broken, that blood must be spilt”.
He called on his supporters “to show restraint and ignore
provocations of the opposition”. “People have elected me, so I should
fulfil their expectations, not the vice versa”. “People have
authorised me to use levers of power to ensure law and order in the
country,” the president said. He believes opposing one part of the
people to the other would be “the worst scenario”.
The president “gets the impression” he “became the target for the
competing leaders of the opposition”. He said the situation would
ease as soon as the opposition, the “aggressive political minority”,
names its leader.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
CIS official arrival in Armenia not linked with opposition moves
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary-general of the Collective Security
Treaty Organisation, denied assertions that his arrival in Armenia is
linked with the fact that the local opposition stepped up its
activities.
Bordyuzha said in an exclusive interview to Tass upon his arrival
that the Collective Security Treaty Organisations is not going to
interfere in the events in Yerevan. “This will be decided by
political instruments, not by clashes,” Bordyuzha believes.
The opposition that became more active in the recent days urges the
Armenian authorities to fulfil the decision of the country’s
Constitutional Court, made last year, about a referendum on the vote
of confidence for the president. The opposition convenes a “national
rally” on Friday, wishing to compel the president to resign.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Armenia is no Georgia, president tells opposition
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan told the opposition it would not
succeed in importing the revolution scenario from neighboring Georgia
and he would remain in office.
The opposition plans to stage a rally Friday in Yerevan and demand
the president to step down.
“The situation in Armenia was influenced by the developments in
Georgia. The change of authority there incited hope in the Armenian
opposition. However they did not take into account that the countries
are different and the strength of authorities is different as well”,
Kocharyan said.
The opposition Justice bloc and the National Unity party said in a
statement their aim was to make the president resign. Opposition
leaders Stepan Demirchyan and Artashes Gegamyan urged to fulfill last
year recommendation of the Constitutional court to hold a referendum
on trust to authorities.
Demirchyan said the opposition will do its best so that the “process
is under control and peaceful”. He warned the authorities will be
responsible for any use of force.
Kocharyan responded by saying “Armenia has enough resources to curb
political extremism by lawful means”. He ordered police to be
“extremely reserved, to interfere only in extreme cases so that there
are no reasons to accuse authorities of brutality”, the president
said.
“The opposition should be cautious in its actions as they may
boomerang back”, he warned and called on his supporters to be
reserved and avoid provocations. Kocharyan said the reported beating
of some opposition leaders “can only be denounced”.
The Mayor’s office of Yerevan has not allowed to hold the opposition
rally and security in the capital has been enhanced.
“They will either have to resort to unlawfulness, and they know what
the response will be, or retreat, which will mean they will lose
face”, Kocharyan said branding the opposition as “aggressive
political minority”.

Associated Press Worldstream
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Belgium: citing North America as site of worst genocide is not
anti-U.S. gesture
BRUSSELS, Belgium
A display praising the merits of peacekeeping that cited the
decimation of native North Americans as the world’s worst genocide
was based on a historical study and shouldn’t be considered a jab at
the United States, Belgian defense officials said Thursday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Gerard Vareng denied criticism that the
display carried an anti-American message.
The display, shown at the monument of the Unknown Soldier in Brussels
this week, was meant to honor Belgian soldiers who died in
humanitarian missions.
It included a panel listing “North America” as the continent of the
world’s worst genocide with a death toll of 15 million, starting with
Christopher Columbus’ 1492 arrival in the New World but giving no end
date.
The daily De Standaard called the display – that was also covered
extensively in a defense ministry publication – insulting to
Washington.
It said Defense Minister Andre Flahaut, who has tangled with U.S.
officials in recent months, effectively blamed the United States for
killing 15 million people “in a genocide that continues to this day.”
The newspaper complained about a “curious” list of genocides that
mentioned Nazi Germany, Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenia and other countries
but ignored killings in the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin and
Europe’s colonial past in Africa, including Belgium’s role in the
Congo.
Vareng said “the peacekeeping display was the work of historical
experts. They took the list of genocides and the numbers of people
who died in them on the Encyclopedia of Genocide” by Israel W.
Charny, head of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in
Jerusalem.
He said the two-volume encyclopedia, published in 1999, is a “very
serious book that deals with all kinds of genocides.”
The ceremony this week at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier
coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in which
up to 1 million people died.

City News Service
April 7, 2004 Wednesday
Burbank Parade Set for April 24, but Future Events May Be Shifted
BURBANK
The annual Burbank on Parade celebration will take place April 24 as
scheduled, but organizers agreed to shift future events to avoid a
day that marks a dark period in Armenian history. In mid-February,
members of the Burbank on Parade organizing committee scheduled the
parade for a Saturday that falls this year on Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day. For the Armenian community, April 24 is a solemn day
commemorating the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman
Turkish Empire from 1915-23. Many of Burbank’s estimated 10,000
Armenian-Americans will not join the 23rd annual parade because they
will spend the day at homes, churches or rallies. But the event, a
celebration of the local community traditionally held the last
Saturday in April, cannot be rescheduled this year because of the
challenge of coordinating youth bands, drill teams, equestrian
entries and representatives from local organizations, event
coordinators said. In an attempt to avoid future conflicts, Burbank
Vice Mayor Marsha Ramos organized an informal meeting last week
between representatives of the city’s Armenian community and parade
organizers. “I believe the goal of this meeting was to allow everyone
to have a better understanding of the importance of April 24 to the
Armenian community,” Ramos said. “I felt it was important that people
meet face to face in order to facilitate a dialogue, and to foster
and strengthen community. “I believe we accomplished that goal
Thursday night. We plan to build on this first meeting and meet again
some time in May,” she said. Those attending the meeting agreed
future parade dates would be selected so they do not conflict with
Armenian Genocide commemorations. Joanne Miller chairs this year’s
parade effort. “The parade has been the same weekend for the 23 years
of its existence,” she said. “It’s extremely unfortunate that the two
events coincide this year. We have committed to an alternate and
permanent solution in the future to work better for everyone in our
community,” she said.

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
April 7, 2004
Journalists Attacked in Armenia at Opposition Rally; Committee to
Protect Journalists release based in part on RFE/RL report
Journalists covering an opposition rally April 5 in Yerevan, Armenia,
were attacked by two dozen men in civilian clothes while hundreds of
police stood by, says the New York-based media freedom advocacy
organization Committee to Protect Journalists.
CPJ based its account of events in part on a report by Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Following is a press release by the Committee to Protect Journalists:
(begin text)
Committee to Protect Journalists
New York, New York
April 6, 2004
ARMENIA: JOURNALISTS ATTACKED AT AN OPPOSITION RALLY
New York, April 6, 2004 – Journalists covering yesterday’s opposition
rally in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, were attacked by two dozen men
in civilian clothes. The men smashed journalists’ cameras, assaulted
several reporters, and destroyed filmed footage of the events, the
U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported.
The men attempted to disrupt the rally by throwing eggs at Artashes
Geghamian, the opposition party National Unity leader, who addressed
a crowd of about 5,000 people from atop a van.
Several hundred policemen present at the rally stood by passively as
the assailants smashed the videocameras of three Armenian television
stations — Kentron, Hay TV and Public Television — and the still
cameras of two opposition dailies — Aravot and Haykakan Jhamanak.
According to RFE/RL, the assailants forced reporters with the private
television station Shant to surrender their videotape of the rally.
Several reporters and cameramen were physically injured in the clash,
the Association of Investigative Journalists in Armenia (Hetq)
reported.
According to RFE/RL, Onnik Krikorian, a British freelance
photojournalist, who was hit in the face by one of the assailants,
approached the police for protection, but an officer advised him to
complain to the British Embassy.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 8 2004
WALK ANOTHER FIVE YEARS
For ten years already S. Martirossian has been travelling in the world
on foot carrying the flag of Artsakh with him. Starting his pilgrimage
at his own initiative on August 16, 1993, Sergey Martirossian set an
aim to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh problem
through his pilgrimage. `I have been to 67 countries, including
Scandinavia and the countries of South America, the Middle East,’ says
the Artsakh-born traveler. `I have told everywhere who are Armenians,
where is Karabakh, what the people of Karabakh want. In Strasbourg,
New York and a number of other big cities I organized press
conferences and, answering the questions of journalists, tried to
introduce to them the past of the Armenian nation starting with the
period between 1918-1920. In my opinion, many people understand
us. Let it not seem immodesty, the way I chose is not easy. In
particular, I mean my personal security. Can you imagine, I also
visited Muslim countries, but twice my life was endangered in Poland,
a country considered civilized?’ On December 15, 1993 Sergey
Martirossan entered the UN office in New York although he knew the
entrance there with flags was forbidden (it is considered a
protest). But the consistency of the Karabakh man won. He was
provided with a special reference by the UN allowing to pass all the
borders of the world without obstacles. According to S. Martirossian,
in the world only 4-5 people received such references, all of them
travelers. When passing through Moscow in 2001, in the competition
`Healthy People’ our compatriot won the title`The Healthiest Man of
the Planet’. In ten years our compatriot met with many delegations,
diplomats. He thinks that our propaganda for the settlement of the
Karabakh problem is weak. `In some countries I noticed that certain
our diplomats do not even recognize the Karabakh flag. I am not afraid
of saying this. I said this by the television of Armenia. As different
from the Turks, we are not professionals in propaganda,’ says the
pilgrim. This year was the 70th birthday of the traveler. On this
occasion the government of NKR conferred on him the medal
`Gratefulness’. `I had decided to travel tillthe age 70 but I have to
walk for another five years. First because the medal obliges, and
second, as long as Karabakh is not recognized de jure I cannot
consider my pilgrimage completed.’ This year the traveler will walk to
Athens where the Olympic games will take place in August. `In Athens
if 10-20 journalists shoot me and write about me with my flag, it is
not little, I think. I want the flag of Artsakh to have a place beside
the flags of other countries during the Olympic games. We must
struggle for justice and final victory by all means. In this reference
the international chess tournament organized recently in Artsakh is
also our big achievement,’ says Sergey Martirossian. The traveler has
problems with sponsorship. So far his sponsors were from Armenia,
mainly businessmen. From Artsakh Edward Verdiyan, Samvel Hakobian
sposored him. This time too he is expecting the assistance of
benefactors. Walking 35-40 km every day S. Martirossian has already
passed 45 thousand km. The travel to Baku was also planned, but it is
postponed because his security is not guaranteed in Azerbaijan. Let us
wish our compatriot good health and success in his difficult mission.
LAURA GRIGORIAN