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05/24/2006
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1) Bush Nominates New Ambassador to Armenia
2) Azeri Statement Does Not Correspond to Ongoing Negotiations
3) OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to Arrive in Armenia May 25
4) Greece Condemns Turkey over Fighter Jet Crash
5) Western Prelacy Elects New Council Members And Delegates
6) Second Black Box from Crashed Armenian Airbus Recovered

1) Bush Nominates New Ambassador to Armenia

(Combined Sources)–The White House announced on Tuesday that President George
W. Bush will ask the US Senate to endorse his nomination of Richard E.
Hoagland
as the new US Ambassador to Armenia to replace outgoing Ambassador John
Evans.
Hoagland is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of
Minister-Counselor. Currently, he is serving as the US ambassador to
Tajikistan.

2) Azeri Statement Does Not Correspond to Ongoing Negotiations

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded Wednesday to a
statement made by Azeri Foreign Affairs Minister Elmar Mamedyarov, in which he
advocated a step-by-step solution to the Karabagh conflict.
“We are once again surprised that the Azerbaijani side tries to present such
an approach to the public, which does not correspond to the content of the
negotiations over the Karabagh conflict regulation,” said spokesman for the
Armenian Foreign Affairs Ministry Vladimir Karapetian.
Azeri media outlets reported Tuesday that Mamedyarov stated that the optimal
regulation of the Karabagh conflict would be a “stage-by-stage” solution and
that only after the return of the refugees it will be possible to discuss
status of Karabagh.
“We have stated many times that to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,
Azerbaijan should first recognize the right to self-determination of Nagorno
Karabagh’s people,” said Karapetian, adding that only then will it be possible
to discuss eliminating “consequences of the war.”

3) OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to Arrive in Armenia May 25

YEREVAN (Armenpress/Yerkir)The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairmen Yuri Merzlyakov, Steven Mann, and
Bernard
Fassier will visit Armenia on May 25.
The delegation will also include Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister
Grigori Karasin, Director of the political affairs department at the French
Foreign Affairs Ministry Stanislaus De Labouillet, and US Assistant Secretary
of State Daniel Fried, reported the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The delegation will meet with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Foreign
Affairs Minister Vartan Oskanian to discuss the current round of the Karabagh
conflict regulation process and the possibility of another meeting between the
Armenian and Azeri presidents.
The Russian, French, and American co-chairs also visited Baku and Karabagh
prior to their visit to Yerevan.

4) Greece Condemns Turkey over Fighter Jet Crash

PARIS (Reuters)The Prime Minister of Greece Costas Karamanlis condemned Turkey
on Wednesday for its part in a crash involving Turkish and Greek fighter jets
over the Aegean and said such incidents did not tally with Ankara’s
ambition to
join the European Union.
NATO members Greece and Turkey have blamed each other for the crash in
disputed air space on Tuesday.
“Yesterday’s incident should be a signal… to persuade Turkey to abandon
such
tactics which do not tally with its European perspectives,” Karamanlis told a
news conference in Paris.
A warming in relations between the two long-time foes has been vital to
Turkey’s drive to join the European Union. Athens’ backing of Ankara’s
candidature in 1999 opened the door to negotiations now taking place with
Brussels.
Asked whether the incident would prompt changes in Greece’s strategy
regarding
Turkey’s EU path, Karamanlis said: “All this is taken into consideration
vis-a-vis the European perspectives of Turkey. All behaviors are taken into
consideration.”
The two countries, who came close to war as recently as 1996, have improved
ties but have yet to resolve territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea and over
the divided island of Cyprus.

5) Western Prelacy Elects New Council Members And Delegates

The Western Prelacy held its 34th National Representative Assembly on Friday
and Saturday, during which new Religious Council members and Delegates for the
Catholicosate’s General Assembly were elected.
The Assembly, conducted under the auspices of Prelate, Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, also discussed the activities of the Religious and Executive
Councils of the previous year and various other issues. The Assembly then
proceeded to conduct elections. The following is the list of the newly elected
members:

Religious Council Members:

Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian, Very Rev. Fr. Barthev Gulumian, Rev. Fr. Vahan
Gosdanian, Rev. Fr. Vazken Atmajian, Rev. Fr. Ardak Demirjian, Rev. Fr. Razmig
Khatchadourian, and Rev. Fr. Gomidas Torossian.

Executive Council Members:

Dr. Garo Agopian, Dr. Hagop Der Megerdichian, Mr. Vahan Bezdikian, Mr. Boghos
Sassounian, Mr. Garbis Bezdjian, Mr. Garo Avakian, Mr. Mher Der Ohanessian,
Dr.
Navasart Kazazian, Mr. Nerses Melkonian, Mr. Vahe Havaguimian, and Mr.
Varoujan
Der Simonian.

General Assembly Delegates:

Mr. Khajag Dikijian, Mr. Hrair Balian, Mr. Armand Keosian, Esq., Mr. Peklar
Pilavjian, Dr. Hagop Der Megerdichian, Mr. Vahan Bezdikian, Mr. Garbis
Bezdjian, Mr. Boghos Sassounian, Mr. Hagop Yedalian, Mr. Garo Avakian, Mr.
Noubar Demirjian, Dr. Hagop Dickranian, Dr. Garo Agopian, Mr. Khatchig
Yeretzian, and Deacon Mark Shirin.

Substitute Delegates:

Mr. Krikor Sulahian, Mr. Sarkis Kitsinian, and Mr.Vartan Minassian.

6) Second Black Box from Crashed Armenian Airbus Recovered

(AP)–Russian search teams recovered Wednesday the second flight recorder from
an Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea three weeks ago, killing
all 113 people aboard, local media reported.
The flight data recorder was lifted by a diving apparatus from a depth of
about 1,640 feet (500 meters) after it was separated from a thick layer of
silt, said Transport Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Kryshtanovskaya, according
to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
The black box was discovered within 16 meters (50 feet) from the spot where
workers on Monday found the plane’s cockpit voice recorder. Russian television
channels showed footage of a yellow, remote-controlled apparatus lifting the
red recorder from the sea surface.
Investigators hope the two recorders will help determine why the Armavia
Airbus A-320 plane plunged into the sea on May 3 amid heavy rain and poor
visibility. The flight was en route from Yerevan to the southern Russian sea
resort Sochi. All passengers and crew members on board were killed.
Prosecutors almost immediately dismissed the possibility that terrorists had
brought the plane down, and officials point to rough weather or pilot error as
the likely cause. Armavia officials have suggested, however, that air traffic
controllers were at least partly to blame.

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