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PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Youth Federation
Western United States
104 N. Belmont St. Suite 206
Glendale, CA 91206
Contact: Vicken Sosikian
Tel: 818.507.1933
Fax: 818.240.3442
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

AYF to Hold Second Annual Little Armenia Clean Up

Los Angeles – The Armenian Youth Federation Western United States Garo
Madenlian Public Affairs Office announced Thursday that it has began the
planning and organization of the Second Annual Little Armenia Clean Up
scheduled to take place on September 25.

The clean up, which is cosponsored by Council Member Eric Garcetti’s Office,
will begin at 8:30 am with an opening ceremony, including remarks by Council
Member Garcetti. Volunteers for the clean up will work to remove litter and
unwanted weeds from the streets and sidewalks.

The clean up, a project of the AYF Little Armenia Beautification Program,
will include the renewal of the `Welcome to Little Armenia’ banners placed
on various major intersections of Little Armenia.

`It is an honor to the Armenian American community to have an area of the
City Los Angeles named after our homeland,’ said Vicken Sosikian, Chairman
of the AYF Western Region. `Since October of 2000 we have enjoyed this
honor, and feel that we not only need to give back to Little Armenia and its
residents, but also to the city of Los Angeles.’

The AYF counts on the support of the Armenian community to make this
community outreach event a success. Those who are interested in volunteering
for the clean up or contributing to the effort in anyway should email the
AYF at [email protected].

The Armenian Youth Federation strives to serve Armenian American communities
west of the Mississippi through education, athletics, political activism,
cultural activities, and social settings. To learn more about the AYF please
log on to

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DOZENS OF TREES CUT DOWN IN YEREVAN FOR CONSTRUCTION OF ENTERTAINMENT HOUSE
BELONGING TO ARMENIAN MINISTER OF TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION

14.07.2004 19:18

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Several dozens of trees have been cut down in the center
of Yerevan in the park area in Isahakian Street today. According to the data
provided by Arminfo agency, an entertainment house belonging to Armenian
minister of territorial administration and infrastructure activities Hovik
Abrahamian is to be built in this place. Despite the alerts of the
journalists and public organizations, which appealed to the City
Administration, Center community and ministry of ecology, the trees were cut
down. As head of the department for planting of greenery of the Kentron
community told Arminfo agency, the construction works are carried out
without corresponding permission.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN EXPLAINS WHY ARMENIA SIGNED OSCE CRITICIZING
STATEMENT

YEREVAN, JULY 14, ARMENPRESS: In response to an Armenpress question
why Armenia decided to join Russia and eight other ex-Soviet states in
accusingthe Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
of unjustly meddling in their internal affairs and why Azerbaijan
refused to sign it and whether it will not impede the OSCE’s efforts
to regulate the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, Hamlet Gasparian, a
spokesman for the Armenian foreign affairs ministry, said Armenia like
other signatories has its own reservations regarding the activity of
the OSCE in general and some of its bodies, in particular. He said
these reservations did not result in one day and came as the public
manifestation of unresolved problems that have been piled up over the
years and therefore they should not be given a special attention, and
neither a novelty should be sought in the statement.

He said that the nine CIS member countries, which signed the
statement and which are also full members of the OSCE, listed their
positions on such issues as, for example, the explicit violation of
the balance between the so-called “three dimensions” of the OSCE , not
objective and frequently unconstructive assessments of the OSCE
monitoring missions, use of double standards, selected criticism of
some countries and ignoring issues in some others. “These concerns
were at the bottom of the statement,” he said.

The spokesman said the issues raised in the statement were not new.
According to him, they are of conceptual character and concern largely
the reform inside the OSCE. He said part of these issues were raised
by Armenian and other CIS member countries delegations before the OSCE
during discussions on improvement of its work and in other
bodies. “The signatories of the statement are full members of the OSCE
and have the right to express their opinions with regard to this or
that aspect of the OSCE’s activity for the sake of its improvement,”
he said.

The spokesman said that Armenia’s decision to sign the statement
does not mean that Armenia is not committed to responsibilities it
assumed within the frameworks of the OSCE. “Armenia remains committed
to all its obligations and is dedicated to this organization’s values,
and defends the principle of solidarity among all its members,” he
said.

According to the spokesman, there is a necessity that all members
of the OSCE try to join efforts for seeking ways to correct the
violation of the balance within it and the best way is to reform it
that should be the result of an impartial analysis of its work and a
frank dialogue.

“As to speculations that it can have a negative impact on the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict regulation process, it should be noted that
the issues raised in it have no relations at all to the regulation
process, neither to the work of the OSCE Minsk group and its
co-chairmen,” he said.

He said also that according to Azerbaijani mass media, Azerbaijan’s
decision not to join other ex-Soviet states was not because of its
approvalof the OSCE work, as it often criticized harshly the Minsk
group, but because other CIS countries refused to incorporate into its
text some wordings, proposed by Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Favorable conditions developed for settling Karabakh conflict – Minsk group

15.07.2004 12:20:00 GMT

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Favorable circumstances have been developed to
settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said OSCE Minsk group
co-chairman Yury Merzlyakov.

“The co-chairmen think that we should take advantage of the favorable
situation that has currently developed, and if the Karabakh issue is
to be resolved, it should be done now,” Merzlyakov told a press
conference in Yerevan on Wednesday.

He said the fact that presidential elections in Azerbaijan and Armenia
have concluded creates a favorable situation for settling the
conflict. “The new aspect of the situation is that, after a 1.5 year
recess, the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have
restarted,” Merzlyakov said.

The French co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Henry Jacquelyn, said that
it would take time to achieve a long-term peace and settle the
conflict.

U.S. Minsk group co-chairman Stephen Mann said the main responsibility
for settling the conflict lies with the conflicting sides and the
Minsk group is ready to aid their efforts. For example, the question
of inviting Nagorno-Karabakh to negotiations is to be decided by the
conflicting sides themselves, he said.

Merzlyakov noted that “the Karabakh side signed the cease fire
agreement that has remained in effect from 1994 until today.”

Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas in
bitter fighting with Armenia in the 1990s. The UN Security Council has
denounced the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and demanded the
withdrawal of Armenian troops from the area. Co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk group representing the United States, Russia and France are
attempting to help resolve the conflict.

The Minsk group’s co-chairmen also reported that the next meeting of
the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will take place in
August, and the next negotiations between the two countries’
presidents will take place during the September summit of CIS
presidents in Astana.

The Minsk group co-chairmen will leave Yerevan for Baku on Thursday to
meet with Azerbaijani authorities.

The international mediators visited Stepanakert on July 13-14, where
they met with the authorities of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-
Karabakh.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GEORGIA TO BY IRANIAN GAS

Azer Tag
[July 15, 2004, 16:22:28]

Georgia has arranged to start importing natural gas from Iran as early
as January-February next year in a bid to guarantee its energy
security and to avoid force majeure, Niki Gilauri, the Georgian energy
minister, referring to ITAR-TASS, AzerTAj reported.

The agreement was reached during Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili’s visit to Iran last week, Mr. Gilauri said.

Georgia currently receives gas produced in Turkmenistan via Russia
under contracts with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and the Itera energy
group.

Above all, Georgia is worried about accidents occurring along the gas
pipeline that links Georgia with Russia. Gilauri said the
infrastructure to import gas from Iran existed but needed to be
rehabilitated. The pipeline runs across Azerbaijan and used to supply
Georgia with gas in Soviet times. Georgian experts think it would only
take four months at the most to renovate the line at a cost of
approximately $1.8 million.

Gilauri said Iranian gas was of high quality and cost more than
Russian gas. “But from the point of view of diversification it is
very important to find an alternative supplier of this fuel to
Georgia,” he said.

An agreement was also reached to supply Georgian mineral water to
Iran, so Georgia might be able to barter this for gas, Gilauri said.

Georgia received 1.009 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in 2003 – 257
million cu m of it from under contracts with Gazprom’s export arm
Gazexport and 752 million cu m under contracts with Itera.

In other development, Georgian Daily ‘Akhalgazrda Ivereli’ in its
Tuesday edition quoted Niki Gilauri as saying that the country is
interested in purchasing electricity from Iran. “We have the
opportunity to buy electricity from three countries,” Gilauri said
adding, “presently, we are purchasing electricity from Russia and
Armenia.”

He allude to Iran as the third country which is in a position to sell
electricity to Tbilisi.

Iran has rendered a good proposal for exports of 100 megawatts of
electricity to Georgia, he added.

“If Iran electricity’s quality and price are suitable compared to that
of the two other countries, then we will definitely be interested in a
deal,” he said.

The daily further said the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to
Tehran signed a contract between Iran and Georgia in the recent trip
for transfer of electricity from Iran to the Black Sea nation.

The volume of transactions between Iran and Georgia in 2001 stood at
dlrs 31.2 million, of which dlrs 19.5 million made up Iran’s exports
to Georgia and dlrs 11.7 million being the republic’s exports to Iran.

It reached dlrs 53.8 million in 2003, as Iran’s exports to Georgia
stood at dlrs 38.6 million and imports from the country to Iran toped
dlrs 15.1 million.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WCU student recognized for genocide thesis
PAMELA BATZEL , Staff Writer

Daily Local News
07/15/2004

Standing in front of a barracks at a former death camp in Poland, with
a survivor in front of him recalling the horrors he experienced and
witnessed, a question hit Jonathan Coull.

Coull, a West Chester University student, wanted to know: “Where did
the Nazis get their ideas?”

The question gnawed at him.

After that two-week trip to Poland and the Czech Republic in the
summer of 2002, he stayed in Europe to backpack but found himself
interviewing residents and researching in museums, hoping to learn who
taught the Germans how to kill millions.

After he returned to West Chester, Coull abandoned plans to teach high
school history and enrolled in the university’s Holocaust and genocide
studies master ‘s of arts program and doggedly pursued an answer to
his question.

After two years of research, which included interviews with a local
survivor of genocide and research of primary documents, Coull had a
thesis that argued Germany had practice in the science of genocide
that preceded Adolf Hitler and World War II.

His efforts were recently recognized by the Pennsylvania Association
for Graduate Schools. He won “Distinguished Thesis Award” this spring
from the association representing 45 colleges and universities from
across the state. Coull was also one of the runner-ups for the
association’s outstanding graduate student of the year.

Brenda Sanders Dede, co-chairwoman of the committee that selected the
winner, said that Coull’s topic was unique and timely and his
recommendations from West Chester professors and project directors
excellent.

William Hewitt, a professor of history at West Chester who helped
advise Coull, said the work was “above and beyond the expectations of
the (Holocaust and genocide) program,” which was created five years
ago.

A master’s level thesis is typically about 100 pages. Coullâ=80=99s
touches 300. And his scholarship, which was strong, calls attention
to what is little known, Hewitt said.

Coull’s paper argues that the German government nearly exterminated
the Herero, a tribe in the African nation of Namibia that Germany
colonized. The Germans used that experience to help the Turks kill
between 1.5 and 2 million-plus Turkish Armenians in 1915, he argued.

By the time Hitler came to power, genocide had been institutionalized,
said Coull, who is 33.

“When you’re going to kill 6 million Jews in a residential complex,it
takes a lot of know-how,” Coull said. “If you practice killing groups
of people that are pariah — supposedly inferior groups — over a
period of 40 years, you’re going to get better at it.”

Coull’s work shows that genocide “doesn’t happen in a vacuum, there’s
a lineage to these horrors. They’re connected,” Hewitt said. “That
connection hadn’ t been made by many people.”

Coull acknowledged that some scholars do not agree that the Germans
played a central or leadership role in the Armenian genocide, but he
maintains that they did. “The documents I found support direct
involvement, they were involved in the killing. I found an
eyewitness.” His eyewitness, Charles Mahjoubian, lives in Paoli.

The Turkish government does not acknowledge the genocide, nor does the
United States, he said.

Coull said it is important to acknowledge and understand the
connection and progression of genocide.

In Germany, he said, “The whole government was created around the idea
that foreign policy is conducted by committing genocide.”

In each instance, the country justified the killings by arguing racial
superiority, Coull said, adding that the effort to wipe people out was
partof government plans to access resources and land.

In Turkey, for instance, several nations, including the United States,
were angling for access to mineral and railway rights as they saw the
Ottoman Empire crumbling, Coull said. Germany saw it could get closer
to the Turks by offering to help them kill the Christian Armenians.

“A lot of so-called inferior groups have been caught in between power
brokers in the world for a long time,” he said.

The Carter administration backed the Khmer Rouge after the Vietnam War
because the Khmer Rouge opposed the Vietnam War, Coull said. The Khmer
Rouge, who were Communists, is reported to have killed nearly 1.9
million people.

In 1989, Coull said, the United States backed Saddam Hussein who,
recent reports indicate, then killed between 600,000 and 1 million
Kurds. The Kurds were fighting for autonomy.

“It’s a real problem. It keeps happening over and over again. People
don’t even know it,” said Coull. “We live in an age of genocide. It’s
happening right now. It’s wrong.”

Coull, who hopes to enroll in a doctoral program in the fall of 2005,
said he wants to conduct research in Sudan.

A recent report from Reuters said as many as 30,000 black Darfur
Africans may have been killed by the Janjaweed, the Darfu militia,
with support from Sudan’ s military. Humanitarian officials say the
violence has made 1.2 million people in Darfur homeless, living in
barren areas.

Coull said he is in particular interested in the role missionaries
play in genocide.

“They need to be aware of their role and they need to be aware that
spreading their faith only instigates more killing,” he said. “Their
role needs to be redefined.”

Coull said he is interested in doing human rights work and developing
a model of intervention.

Coull said his passion for pursuing truth and humanitarianism has its
roots in his childhood.

He said he was about 11 years old when his father took him to see
“Gandhi,” which he described as the first “real” film he ever
saw. Shortly after he saw “Victor Victoria,” another movie with “a
universalist ideal of what people are,” he said. And, around the same
time, he read “The Rise and Fall of theThird Reich,” by William
Shirer, a well-known American journalist who covered Nazi Germany for
the American press.

“Right away there’s a system that’s being put in my head that’s
humanistic, individualistic and universalist,” he said.

His dad was a dean at the Haverford School and his mom was a reading
teacher. His stepmother has taught art and special education students
and several other family members teach.

In 1993, he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps, carrying on a
family tradition of offering service to the armed forces. Coull said
he was quickly disillusioned.

He said he went in believing that the United States was the “bearer of
true, high-minded values” but that his experiences changed that
perception. He said he saw the Army as abusing its power.

After college and his service in the Army, Coull went into social
work. But the work was exhausting and it seemed never to solve the
underlying causes of incarceration, rape and child abuse.

“It was a burn-out and I felt I was capable of doing more,” he said.

He decided to go back to school to get a certificate to teach
history. He said he wanted to relate his humanistic outlook. How
people understand history defines how they perceive the world today,
he said.

But after his first year, he participated in the two-week tour of
ghettoes and death camps from World War II in Poland and the Czech
Republic and was confronted with the question that led to his thesis
and his pursuit of a doctoral degree.

Dede, of the association for graduate schools, said that another
reason the committee chose Coull’s project over other candidates’ was
because he plans to continue his research in a doctoral program.

Coull added he hopes as more and more scholars bring attention to the
problem the public will take more notice — and interest.

“This topic is gaining momentum,” he said, referring to Anne
Applebaumâ=80=99s “The Gulag” which won a Pulitzer Prize in
2003. “It’s gaining currency.”

“If we (scholars) keep kicking at this door we’re going to kick it
in,” he said. “It’s going to become an issue.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GIBRAHAYER
e-newsletter
[email protected]
http: //gibrahayer.cyprusnewsletter.com

ARMENIAN CITIZEN ARRESTED IN LIMASSOL FOR BRUTAL RAPE AND MURDER

* girl’s bruised naked body found on her bed in a pool of blood
* suspects apprehended had scratches on their bodies and streaks of blood of
the victim

By Katya Diogenous – Cyprus Mail – July 13

TWO men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering Lyudmila Zipir, 34 from
Ukraine, who was found dead in her apartment in Limassol on Sunday.Zipir was
found by police after her employer called concerned at her failure to turn up
for work on Saturday and Sunday.

Police yesterday arrested Armen Grigorian, 25 from Armenia, and Dionysis
Tokalides, 26 from Georgia, who lived next door to Zipir. They were taken to court
yesterday and given an eight-day remand.

Zipir’s employer told police the victim had repeatedly complained that the
two men used to harass her with sexual innuendoes. He had even visited the men
on several occasions to ask them to leave her alone.

When police arrested the two suspects, they appeared to have scratches on
their bodies as well as streaks of blood, believed to belong to the victim.Blood
was also found in the apartment building.

Police noticed there had been no forced entry into the apartment via the
front door, but that the balcony door connecting the victim’s apartment with that
of the suspects was closed but not locked.

The suspects deny any involvement in the murder, but cannot give a clear
story or confirm where they were at the time of the murder.

Zipir had lived in Cyprus for three years and worked in a bar in Limassol.
Pathologist Panicos Stavrianos, said the girl’s bruised naked body was found on
her bed in a pool of blood. He confirmed her death was criminal.

Turkish Cypriot teenager murdered in Limassol

In a separate incident a Turkish Cypriot teenager was stabbed to death by a
Greek Cypriot after a scuffle on the Limassol docks.

Turkish Cypriot newspapers in the occupied north rushed to characterise the
incident as “Barbaric”. Seven of the nine dailies carried the news on their
front page. Cyprus police characterised the killer as a man with deep
psychological problems eyed by the police in the past and believed to have committed the
crime under the influence of heavy drugs.

AZERBAIJANI POLITICAL ANALYST CONSIDERS IT NECESSARY TO PREPARE FOR WAR
AGAINST ARMENIA

“Armenia has no intention to return anything to us.
We must achieve justice by ourselves”

Parallels with Cyprus drawn

YEREVAN, 12.07.04. (Arminfo) Americans like West Europeans are absolutely
unaware of the Karabakh conflict, Ex-State Adviser, analyst Vafa Guluzade said in
his interview to the Zerkalo newspaper.

He said that the USA thinks that Azerbaijan can easily leave these
territories to Armenia and that we must do it. The USA must understand thatAzerbaijan
will never agree with unjust settlement-scheme, even if it satisfies the
interests of the White House in oil, the analyst added. He said that such an attempt
will destabilize the situation in the whole region and endanger America’s
interests.

Speaking of the “Cyprus settlement scheme,” the analyst said that its
application to the Karabakh conflict “would mean inclusion of Karabakh and Lachin
into Armenia’s territory and return of the Azerbaijani “minority,” which has
become such due to the Soviet authorities, to Nagorny Karabakh. That is, he
explained, Azerbaijanis will receive an autonomy as part of Karabakh and will be
included into Armenia. “There is no other understanding of the Cyprus
settlement-scheme,” he said. Guluzade pointed out that only liberation of the occupied
territories and return of Karabakh under sovereignty of Azerbaijan is possible.

Guluzade said that Azerbaijan must either restore its sovereignty or it will
loose Karabakh and Lachin forever for liberation of the six regions.

He pointed out that “if a country part of whose territory is occupied does
not prepare for war, it is a criminal country.” Azerbaijan must prepare forwar
even more than the country which occupies its territories, he said, adding
that he means Russia and not Armenia. “Armenia has no intention to return
anything to us. We must increase the public awareness of this idea, in order that
everyone understands that we must achieve justice by ourselves,” the analyst
said.

CYPRUS FM HOLDS MEETINGS REGARDING EU COMMISSION’S 260 MIL. EURO AID TO
TURKISH CYPRIOTS
by Nicos Bellos

Brussels, Jul 12 (CNA) – Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou held here a
series of bilateral meetings with seven European counterparts, among them,
British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane, within the framework of the EU
General Affairs Council meeting.

Iacovou discussed among other issues, the European Commission’s package of
measures that include financial assistance of nearly 260 million euros to the
Turkish Cypriots, a regulation governing direct trade between Brussels and the
Turkish occupied part of Cyprus and rules on inter-island trade.

ARMENIA AT THE ATHENS OLYMPICS WITH 16 ATHLETES

Armenian tennis-player Sarkis Sarkisian has become the 16-th Armenian
qualifying for Olympic Games in Athens this summer. David Nalbandian from Argentina
and Magdalena Maleyeva-Berberian from Bulgaria, have also qualified for Athens
Games.

ACE IN THE HANDS OF ARMENIA

14 July 2004-Touching upon the statement made of RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian made in the U.S. recently, saying that Armenia canuse its
right of “veto” and prevent Turkey’s becoming a PACE presiding country in
2007, Haruth Sasunian, publisher of “Californian Courier” writes that “During the
conversation with the journalists RA Foreign Minister exploded a bomb, stating
for the first time that Armenia will use its right for veto, as Turkey is not
on the relevant level, height.”

“Turkey is the only candidate for that year. The presiding country has
certain privileges and rights that can be used against Armenia. Taking intoaccount
the policy conducted by them (the Turks) in the region in the course of the
past 12 years, that was too misbalanced and its support to Azerbaijan, Armenia
merely can’t stand Turkey as a presiding country for a year even if it wished,
” Vartan Oskanian said.

“It is a courageous decision and I think it’s a right one. Such decisions
can’ t please the American authorities, that will try to exert pressure and
demand to reconsider the decision, as well as, we should evade contradicting the
U.S., but I think, that notwithstanding all this, Armenia should make decisions
taking into consideration its own national interests and not the interest of a
foreign country (the U.S., Russia, France, China and Turkey),” Sasunian said.

The American -Armenian community should show resistance to the members of
Bush ‘ administration that will try to exert pressure on Armenia. Particularly,
in this year of elections, we should use all our force as an electors to resist
the people that will demand from us
to make favour to Turkey. We should undertake a firm position in this issue.
We hope that the Armenian authorities will not repeat the
mistake committed in 1999.

If the U. S. and Turkey really want the latter become a presiding country at
PACE, they should stop the blockade of Armenia or recognize the Genocide of
the Armenians. This is one of the rare cases, when the ace is in the hands of
Armenia. And Armenia should use it in the best way.

PYUNIK HAVE ONE FOOT IN THE SECOND ROUND AFTER 3-1 AWAY VICTORY IN F.Y.R.O.M.
() Armenian Football champions FC Pyunik have one foot in the
second qualifying round after a convincing 3-1 victory in Skopje on Tuesdaynight
against FK Pobeda of F.Y.R Macedonia.

Edgar Manucharyan was the hero for the visiting side, scoring twice and
making his side’s other goal for Zhora Hovhannisyan. All of this came in the first
half but the last action of note in the opening 45 minutes was the dismissal
of Pyunik’s Sargis Hovsepyan. Pobeda were able to pull one back in the second
half but their chances of progression after the return in Yerevan a week on
Wednesday look slim.

NEWS IN BRIEF
– Agricultural minister David Lokian said that Armenia is set to receive two
new credits in 2005 for agricultural development worth $10 million.
– Janez Potocnik, a junior EU commissioner ended a four-day tour of the of
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to talk about the EU’s “new neighborhood”
policy.
– Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian is on a two-day official visit
to Moscow. On the first day, the Minister met with Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov.
– Atom Egoyan’s “Ararat” won top prize at the Golden Apricot Film Festival of
works by Armenian directors. The festival included 57 movies by directors
from 20 countries.

g i b r a h a y c a l e n d a r

* THE TEKEYAN YOUTH MOVEMENT OF CYPRUS is organizing a unique excursion to
Armenia, 7-14 August. Participants will exclusively be Armenian youth (ages13
to 35) from all over the world. The one-week programme is specially organized
to include an optimum amount of sightseeing, led by expert guides. Trips to
Shushi, Stepanakert, Noravank, Gladzor, Lake Sevan, Dilidjan, Barz Lidj, Khor
Virab, St. Etchmiadzin, Zvartnots, Sartarabad, Garni, Keghart, Dzidzernagapert
are included in the meticulously prepared programme. Lodging will be at the
“Lousakert” Hotel, 20 kilometres North of Yerevan, ideally situated in an orchard.
The hotel rooms are fully equipped with all the necessary facilities. The
price of the WHOLE PACKAGE, including FULL BOARD, all the excursions, transfers
from and to the airport, return air fare from Cyprus and visa to Armenia is
only 335 Cyprus pounds. Those interested should immediately call 99747798 or
99929343, as availability is very limited.

* The Armenian Youth Federation is organising a youth gathering at Aktea
Beach in Ayia Napa for the weekend of 17-18 July. Participation is open for all.
Contact: Marie Louise Kouyoumdjian on 99889768, Ani Tavitian on 99749784 and
Jijo Sarkissian on 99445018. Join the weekend fun !

* CHANGE OF VENUE Khanasor and Lisbon 5 Expeditions commemoration at Troodos
Picnic site of “Loumada ton Aeton” (last year’s site and the site of
1981-1982 AYF Camps, one mile before the American Academy Camp site. As always follow
the tricolours) Sunday July 25, 2004, organised by AYMA, Dashnaktsoutiun
Cyprus Committee, The Armenian National Committee of Cyprus, AYF, Larnaca and
Limassol Armenian Clubs, Hamazkayin and ARS (HOM) Cyprus Chapters. Hayer hishek
nviragan ayn ore, Houlis amsoun ksanhinkin gadaretsek mer done. Commemorative
Programme begins at 12:00 noon.

* The Armenian Youth Federation is organising its Annual Summer Camp at the
Camp Site of Morphou Prelature from 9-15 August 2004. To receive more
information or to register please contact the following: Nareg Tavitian, Nora Sarian or
Simon Aynedjian.

* A Tour to Armenia is being organised by the Central Executive of Hamazkayin
from August 20-September 3, 2004 with the participation of members and
friends from Armenian diaspora communities. Trips to Karabagh are also scheduled. To
receive more info and to apply for the trip please contact the Cyprus
Hamazkayin committee members immediately.

* POSTPONED The Annual General Meeting of The Hamazkayin Cultural and
Educational Association “Oshakan” Cyprus Chapter has been postponed for Tuesday
September 14, 2004.

* Sakis Rouvas LIVE in Cyprus at Tsirion Stadium on July 23, 2004 at 9:00
p.m. If you are wondering why this ad has been included… vorovhedev Sakinhay e
!

The Armenian Prelature announces that the next permit for the Armenian
Cemetery visitation at Ayios Dhometios on the Green line, is scheduled for Sunday 26
July, 2004.

* Armenian Radio Hour on The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation can be heard via
real audio on . Broadcast times 17:00-18:00 local Cyprus time
(14:00-15:00 GMT) News bulletins at 17:15 local time on Sundays, Tuesdays,
Fridays. Armenian Cypriots can also tune in on the following radio frequencies
91.1 FM (Mount Olympus – for Nicosia listeners) 94.2 FM
(Paralimni/Protaras/Agia Napa) 92.4 FM (Larnaka) 96.5 FM (Pafos).

* FUNERAL: The Funeral Service of legendary football striker of AYMA Garabed
Kalfayan, who passed away on Monday July 12, 2004 in Nicosia, took place at
Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in Nicosia on July 14, 2004 at 4:00 p.m. The deceased
was 76 years old. On behalf of his team-mates and AYMA Levon Sarian delivered
the last farwell. In his speech he said that the deceased carried two pictures
in his wallet. One of his family and one of his football team. May he rest in
peace.
By request of the family, pokhan dzaghgebsagi donations to AYMA.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PolitInfo.com, Germany
July 14 2004

Congressman Arrested Protesting Sudan Regime’s Actions in Darfur

Jul 14, 2004 Washington
Representative Charles Rangel (Democrat of New York) was arrested
Tuesday as he blocked the entrance to the Sudanese Embassy to protest
the Khartoum government’s support for militia groups that have killed
between 15,000 and 30,000 people in Sudan’s Darfur region while
making a mockery of international efforts to stop what the lawmaker
termed “genocide.”

Standing with crossed arms in front of the embassy’s door on
Washington’s Massachusetts Avenue at high noon, Rangel and a band of
about 50 protesters sang the defiant civil rights anthem “We Shall
Overcome,” evoking similar protests against racism in America during
the 1960s and against apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s.

The protesters, joined by Armenian-Americans who claim their people
suffered a similar genocide under the Turks last century, also
unfurled a large banner that proclaimed: “Slavery & Genocide = Sudan”
while they chanted: “Stop the Genocide. Free Darfur Now” and “Every
Life Is Precious. Stop the Genocide in Sudan.”

Rangel told the crowd: “I am protesting today to urge the United
States government and the United Nations to take immediate action to
stop the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.”

Showing impatience at recent efforts by the United Nations and a
“troika” of nations including the United States, the United Kingdom
and Russia to rein in the Khartoum regime’s support for the Jingaweit
militias, Rangel said, “While I applaud Secretary [of State Colin]
Powell for his efforts, I am worried that our government is not
constructively engaging a government who has, by almost all accounts,
been the primary sponsor of genocide in Sudan.”

According to the influential lawmaker: “The situation in Sudan has
clearly reached the level of a genocide. U.S. Agency for
International Development Administrator Andrew Natsios has declared
that at least 300,000 people will be dead by year’s end in the
best-case scenario, and over a million will perish if things continue
on their present course. We must take immediate actions to condemn
the government of Sudan for their complicity and save the lives of
these innocent people.”

Rangel warned: “We acted too late to save million of Jews during
World War II. We didn’t act at all when hundreds of thousands of
innocents were slaughtered in Rwanda. We have the opportunity now to
stop a genocide and we must act.”
After being asked several times by uniformed members of the Secret
Service to step aside, Rangel declined to do so and was handcuffed
and carried away in a police van.

It was almost 20 years ago to the day that the congressman was
arrested down the street at the South African Embassy while
protesting against the apartheid regime.
The Reverend Walter Fauntroy, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, vowed to continue
the protests, with more arrests of prominent African-Americans in the
offing. “We will prick the conscience of the American people and
their elected officials to declare it what it is and then go in to
stop the genocide,” he declared.

Fellow protester, radio talk show host and social activist Joe
Madison said he would begin a hunger strike that would not end until
the Sudanese government stops its obstruction of humanitarian aid to
the stricken Darfur region.

The crisis in Sudan has become a hot foreign policy issue in a humid
and steamy Washington. While Rangel was being arrested on Embassy
Row, across town on Capitol Hill Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of
Kansas) told a news conference that Congress would introduce
resolutions that day declaring the Khartoum government’s actions in
Darfur to be genocide.

Meanwhile, at a White House ceremony in which he signed the latest
African Growth and Opportunity Act earlier in the day as Congressman
Rangel looked on, President Bush said: “I’m deeply concerned about
the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Darfur, Sudan. For the
sake of peace and basic humanity, I echo the sentiments of the
secretary of state. I call upon the government of Sudan to stop the
Jingaweit violence.”

The president added: “I call on all parties of the conflict to
respect the cease-fire, to respect human rights, and to allow for the
free movement of humanitarian workers and aid. The United States and
the United Nations and the leadership of the African Union are
working to bring relief to the suffering people of that region.
America will continue to strongly support these efforts for peace.”

Russian premier informs Putin of rising industrial production

Radio Russia, Moscow
14 Jul 04

Russian President Vladimir Putin has conducted a working meeting with
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Fradkov informed the president that
the increase in industrial production in the first half of 2004 was
7.4 per cent in comparison with the same period of 2003. Moreover,
Fradkov said that in June 2004 this index grew up by 9.2 per cent in
comparison with June 2003. Fradkov also informed Putin about the
results of talks with the Armenian prime minister Andranik Markaryan .

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
07/14/2004
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1. ANCA Joins Washington, DC Protest to Stop Genocide in Sudan
2. Karabagh’s Inclusion in Peace Negotiations up to Sides, Say OSCE Mediators
3. Armenian Official Meets with MCC, Details Work on MCA Proposals
4. Georgia Urges West to Help Resolve Regional Crisis
5. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Clarifies Armenia’s Decision to Criticize OSCE
6. BRIEFS

1. ANCA Joins Washington, DC Protest to Stop Genocide in Sudan

“When human lives are in jeopardy, there should be outrage.”
–New York Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) who was arrested during
demonstration at Sudanese Embassy.

WASHINGTON, DC–Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) staff and
activists joined with Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and leading African
American and human rights activists at a demonstration on Tuesday outside the
Sudanese Embassy calling for US and international pressure to end the genocide
in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The protest, organized by the Sudan Campaign, featured the arrest of
Congressman Charlie Rangel, a senior New York legislator who serves as the
Ranking Member on the influential US House Ways & Means Committee. He was
arrested for trespassing by the police after stepping to the door of the
Embassy. He was released within hours from a Washington, DC jail after paying
bail of fifty dollars. Former member of Congress and current president of the
National Council of Churches Robert Edgar, was
arrested at the Sudanese Embassy, on Wednesday.
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, Government Affairs Director Abraham
Niziblian and the ANCA “Leo Sarkisian” Internship program participants, led by
Director Arsineh Khachikian, joined the noon-time protest which included some
hundred and fifty activists and representatives from a diverse coalition of
Sudan Campaign partner organizations including the Congressional Black Caucus,
Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, Institute on Religion and
Democracy, American Anti-slavery group, Wilberforce Project, and Christian
Solidarity International, among others.
“We marched today, in the name of all Armenians, to do our part to help end
the cycle of genocide,” said Hamparian. “As the descendants of survivors of
the Armenian Genocide, we bear a special burden to fight intolerance and to
demand moral leadershipand decisive actionfrom our government to prevent
hundreds of thousands of deaths in Darfur.” Niziblian, in an interview with
the
Associated Press (AP), was quoted as saying that, “A lot more people should be
protesting and taking to the streets now.”
The Sudan Campaign is led by Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus, and Joe Madison, a civil rights activist and radio
personality in the Greater Washington, DC area. The group has been holding
noon-time protests in front of the Sudanese Embassy for the past month, during
which several leading human and civil rights activists have been arrested.
During his remarks, Madison announced that he is launching a hunger strike
until the Sudanese government takes action to end the obstruction of
humanitarian assistance from reaching hundreds of thousands in need in Darfur.
Over the past month, the ANCA has called attention to the atrocities in Sudan
through a series of letters to Congressional offices, urging them to take a
stand to stop the cycle of genocide through support of Congressional
initiatives regarding Sudan as well as for the Genocide Resolution (H.Res.193,
S.Res.164), which reaffirms US commitment to the principles of the Genocide
Convention. On June 23, Niziblian participated in a press conference organized
by the Congressional Black Caucus and Africa Action. The ANCA has urged
Armenian Americans to add their names to the Africa Action petition drive for
Sudan, by visiting
Some 30,000 have already perished over the past 18 months in Darfur, Sudan,
with approximately one million forced to flee their homes. If the Sudanese
government does not allow for the distribution of international humanitarian
assistance, the death toll could rise to 350,000, according to conservative
estimates.

2. Karabagh’s Inclusion in Peace Negotiations up to Sides, Say OSCE Mediators

YEREVAN (Noyan-Tapan/RFE-RL/Yerkir)–In a press conference held on
Wednesday in
Yerevan, OSCE’s Minsk Group mediators announced that they would not bring any
new proposals for the conflicting sides. “I did not think the Minsk Group
should make new proposals. We are working with the sides to help them find
practical and stable solutions to the problem,” explained US Co-chair Stephen
Mann.
Speaking about the possibility of Karabagh’s participation in the peace
negotiations, the mediators made clear that the conflicting parties themselves
must decide.
“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the responsibility for
the Karabagh settlement lies with the sides. We leave the question of
Karabagh’s inclusion in the talks to the sides. They must solve and specify
this problem by themselves,” said Mann.
After meeting with the co-chairs in Stepanakert on Tuesday, Mountainous
Karabagh Republic president Arkady Ghukassian emphasized that no final
settlement of the conflict is possible without Karabagh’s full
participation in
negotiations.
French co-chair Henry Jacolin meanwhile said that it is not the OSCE and its
Minsk Group that have exhausted all resources to resolve the conflict, hinting
rather that the conflicting sides have done so. “This is a good format of
negotiations, although it has been criticized a lot. The format is fully
acceptable for the Armenian president,” Jacolin said.
Last month the OSCE co-chairs held another round of negotiations in Prague
between Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers trying to break a deadlock.
The Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov rejected the criticism of the “Prague
Process,” saying that the initiation of the Prague talks between the Armenian
and Azerbaijani foreign ministers would not necessarily mean that the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are less interested in resolving the
conflict.
“The meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Warsaw made possible
the Prague meetings between co-chairs and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan,” said Merzlyakov.
The Russian co-chair also did not rule out that the next meeting between
Kocharian and Aliyev could be held in September when leaders of CIS meet
again.

3. Armenian Official Meets with MCC, Details Work on MCA Proposals

WASHINGTON, DC (Embassy of Armenia)–Chief Economic Adviser to the
President of
Armenia, Vahram Nercissiantz, and Armenian Ambassador to the US, Dr. Arman
Kirakossian met with Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) CEO Paul V.
Applegarth on Tuesday to present Armenia’s progress in targeting for MCC
funding.
The MCC is a US government corporation designed to work with some of the
poorest countries in the world to administer funds from the Millennium
Challenge Account (MCA) designed to help poor countries spur the economic
growth and attract the investment necessary to further development. Congress
has appropriated $1 billion for the MCC for this fiscal year. Armenia was
deemed eligible, along with 15 other countries, to apply for development aid.
Nercissiantz, who serves as the deputy chairperson of an ad-hoc coordinating
group for MCC Armenian Program, said it had met with national and local
Armenian NGO’s, experts, and other concerned parties, to solicit advice,
develop public awareness, and to target the directions for developmental
assistance under the terms of MCA.
Nercissiantz said that a draft proposal would be complete by the end of
August
for approval and formal submission to the MCC for consideration in September.
Applegarth stressed the need for proposals to address issues on strengthening
democracy in Armenia, and asked about details of consultations with interested
parties.
Nercissiantz noted that all groups involved–government agencies, NGOs, and
experts, have agreed to target poverty reduction in Armenia’s rural areas by
promoting economic growth.
The program foresees their greater integration in Armenia’s economy, and
increasing economic opportunities for rural and small farming communities.
A significant by-product of such economic empowerment, Nercissiantz said,
is a
strong local self-governing system and civil society in Armenia.
The program proposal to the MCC will, therefore, likely include, but not be
limited to, rehabilitation of rural roads and transport infrastructure; soil
amelioration (drainage and desalination); improving irrigation system; and
investing in the social infrastructure.
Nercissiantz stressed that Armenia’s Government will adhere to MCC’s
principle
that aid is most effective when it reinforces sound political, economic, and
social policies that promote economic growth.

4. Georgia Urges West to Help Resolve Regional Crisis

LONDON/MOSCOW (Interfax/Reuters)–The president of Georgia said on
Wednesday he
believed a mounting crisis in the breakaway region of South Ossetia could be
resolved in about six months if the West put pressure on Russia.
“There should be continued pressure from the West and we must make Russia
realize we will not be pushed around,” Mikhail Saakashvili said during a visit
to London which has included a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“I am sure within six months or more these few thousand people (in South
Ossetia) will be fully integrated (into Georgia).”
Saakashvili has made restoration of central power over restive regions a key
policy plank since his landslide election victory in January.
He has since succeeded in removing a local strongman in Ajaria on the Black
Sea. But bringing back into the fold mountainous South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
also on the Black Sea, is certain to be a much tougher task.
Stability in the Caucasus region is critical to Western interests as a major
pipeline is being built through Georgia to transport oil from the Caspian Sea
to the Mediterranean.
South Ossetia’s co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission on the
settling of
the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, Boris Chochiyev, said on Wednesday that all
sides present at the Commission’s session in Moscow are currently preparing
their versions of the session’s final protocol.
“Currently, the Russian, North Ossetian and the South Ossetian sides are
working on the project, but the final protocol can only be approved if the
Georgian side takes part [in the production of the final protocol],” Chochiyev
told journalists.
He said that the Russian, North Ossetian and South Ossetian chairmen of the
commission have doubts about the return of Georgian State Minister on
Separatist Conflicts Goga Khaindrava, who left the session.
Representatives of North and South Ossetia, Georgia and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are taking part in the Joint Control
Commission’s session.
Tension in South Ossetia, where separatists broke away from central control
after a conflict in the 1990s, has increased in recent weeks.
Russia accuses Georgia of violating a 1992 deal overseeing a truce and of
trying to trigger a new military confrontation. Georgia in turn accuses
Russian
peacekeepers in the region of siding with separatists and of trying to arm
them.
The situation came close to a climax last weekend when Russians said
peacekeepers in the area had the right to use force to impose peace and
Georgians said they were prepared to resort to arms to repel Russian
aggression.
Saakashvili said US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice had helped ease the situation by speaking to Russian
President Vladimir Putin. And he acknowledged the EU had spoken up for
Georgia.

“I wouldn’t expect Britain to have a confrontation but it is a matter of
being
part of a multilateral mechanism,” he said.
Britain’s Foreign Office said: “We support the territorial integrity of
Georgia and support the OSCE in its mediation efforts.”
Saakashvili said 160 British military staff were helping to train the
Georgian
army and had taken part in joint exercises. US forces have also been involved
in training.
The president said signs of Georgia’s closer ties with the West and NATO had
prompted Russia to stir up tension in South Ossetia. Moscow, he said, had no
strategic interest in the region.
“South Ossetia is not the price Georgia is willing to pay for anything, for
closer relations with NATO,” said Saakashvili.

5. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Clarifies Armenia’s Decision to Criticize OSCE

YEREVAN (ARMENPRESS)In response to reporter inquiries as to why Armenia joined
Russia and seven other countries in accusing the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of unjustly meddling in their internal affairs,
Hamlet Gasparian, a spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, said the
Armenian government, like the other signatories, has a number of reservations
about the activities of the OSCE and some of its bodies.
Gasparian explained that the decision was not made overnight and that the
government had been discontent with various aspects of the OSCE for a
number of
years. He said that similar criticism had been made by Armenia and other CIS
member countries during official OSCE discussions aimed at improving the work
of the organization.
“The signatories of the statement are full members of the OSCE and have the
right to express their opinions with regard to any aspect of OSCE’s activity
for the sake of its improvement,” Gasparian stated. He clarified some of
OSCE’s
failures, including, the use of double standards, biased assessments of OSCE
monitoring missions and the explicit violation of the balance between the
organization’s “three dimensions.”
Despite the criticism, Gasparian noted that Armenia will remain committed to
the responsibilities it assumed within the OSCE framework. “Armenia remains
committed to all its obligations and is dedicated to this organization’s
values, and defends the principle of solidarity among all its members,” he
said.
The statement released last week was not signed by Azerbaijan, prompting
reporters to speculate about the negative affects Armenia’s stance may have on
the Mountainous Karabagh settlement. “It should be noted that the issues
raised
in [the statement] have no relation at all to the regulation process, nor to
the work of the OSCE Minsk group and its co-chairmen,” Gasparian stated.
The spokesman said that according to Azeri media sources, Azerbaijan declined
to sign the statement when other CIS countries refused to incorporate wording
it had suggested. He made clear that Azerbaijan has often criticized OSCE and
its Minsk group.

6. BRIEFS

Council of Europe Says No Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan

STRASBOURG (ARMENPRESS)In a report released on July 13, Council of Europe
Secretary General Walter Schwimmer, noted that virtually all persons
considered
to be political prisoners in Azerbaijan have either been released or retried.
The report was compiled and published by Professors Stefan Trechsel and Evert
Alkema.
“This demonstrates the good cooperation established with the Azerbaijani
authorities; it also illustrates the usefulness of the work of my experts
[Trechsel and Alkema]. The procedure established was indeed confidential and
quite lengthy but it allowed for possible settlements to the satisfaction of
all those concerned.” In appreciation of their efforts, Schwimmer last week
awarded both Trechsel and Alkema the Pro-Merito medal.

Azeri Opposition Party Demands New Presidential Election

BAKU (ARMENPRESS)Last Saturday, the main Azeri opposition party, Musavat
(Equality), released a statement in which the demand for new presidential
elections was made. The statement, which was adopted at the party council’s
session, accused the Aliyev family and its allies of “usurping” power by
rigging the October 15, 2003 presidential elections through fraud and
merciless
repressions.
Another statement by the Musavat party demanded the immediate release of over
100 opposition activists that were convicted shortly after the election. With
several of its leaders on trial, the party also expressed its concern that
Musavat members will not receive fair trials under the present judicial
system.

United States Cuts Off Aid To Uzbekistan

WASHINGTON DC (EURASIANET.ORG)The United States has announced that it will
withhold millions of dollars in security and economic assistance to
Uzbekistan,
citing “disappointment” over Tashkent’s human rights practices. Human rights
advocates have praised the US decision, expressing hope that it increases the
pressure on Tashkent to implement long-promised reforms to improve
civil-society conditions in the country.
American law requires the US State Department to review the democratization
performance of aid recipients. In Uzbekistan’s case, Secretary of State Colin
Powell decided that Tashkent is not fulfilling the terms of a 2002 Strategic
Partnership Framework agreement that mandated “substantial and continuing
progress” on democratization, a July 13 State Department statement said. As a
result of Powell’s decision to deny certification, Uzbekistan could lose up to
$18 million in aid, the statement added.
In recent years, Uzbekistan has faced sharp criticism from human rights
groups
over the government’s clampdown on freedom of speech and religious expression.
Human Rights Watch has estimated that roughly 7,000 independent Muslims have
been improperly imprisoned. The crackdown intensified this spring after
Tashkent was rocked in late March by clashes between Islamic radical
insurgents
and security forces. In addition to human rights transgressions, Uzbek
authorities have frustrated US and European officials by failing to fulfill
economic reform commitments.
The Uzbek government has made “encouraging progress over the past year” in
the
human rights sphere, the State Department statement noted. However, the
country’s overall performance could not justify certification, it added. In
its
country report on Uzbek human rights practices, released in early 2004, the
State Department characterized the country as “an authoritarian state with
limited civil rights.”

24 People Die in Iran Road Accident

TEHRAN (ARMENPRESS)Twenty-four people died and 13 others were injured when
the
driver of a heavy truck smashed into a passenger bus on a road in southern
Iran. The accident occurred shortly before dawn between the towns of Darab and
Fasa in the Fars province. “The driver had fallen asleep and lost control,” a
police official was quoted as saying.
Iran’s roads are already considered to be among the most dangerous in the
world. More than a quarter of all cars on the road are over 20 years old.
Close
to 100,000 people have died in road accidents in the past five years. 25,772
individuals were killed during the one year period between March 2003 and
March
2004.

Engineering University Introduces Religious Counseling

YEREVAN (ARMENPRESS)The Armenian Church has accepted an invitation from the
state-run Yerevan Engineering University to provide religious counseling
sessions to its students. The university has designated a room in which
students will be able to hold private discussions with clergymen. The church
announced that it is ready to establish similar programs at other
universities.

Pyunic FC Beats Pobeda of Macedonia

SKOPJE (ARMENPRESS)On Tuesday night, Armenian champions FC Pyunik moved into
the second qualifying round after a 3-1 victory over FC Pobeda of Macedonia.
Edgar Manucharyan of Pyunik dominated the field, scoring two goals and
assisting Zhora Hovhanesian for a third.

Senior Military Officer’s Son Fights with US Citizen

YEREVAN (RFE-RL)The Interior Ministry press service confirmed on July 13 that
Arsen Harutyunyan, the 30 year old son of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mikael
Harutyunyan, attacked David Becker (29) on July 10 in the “Bunker” club in
downtown Yerevan. Police officials confirmed that Backer has appealed to the
central department of the police complaining that someone named Arsen beat him
severely, causing injuries. Officials also said that according to Becker,
Harutyunyan attacked two women.
General Mikael Harutyunyan refused to comment on the incident. “It would be
improper for me to comment,” the general said, adding that his children were
brought up properly.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress