Author: Babajanian Karo

BAN KI-MOON CALLS FOR SWIFT RESOLUTION OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

AZG DAILY
03-06-2011

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the meeting with Azerbaijani FM
Elmar Mammadyarov called for swift resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. “Rapid and peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is necessary, and results are expected in this direction,”
UN Secretary General said. On 1 June, the Azerbaijani mass media
reporting this news as a resource were mentioning the press service of
the country’s MFA. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister presented the UN
Secretary General Azerbaijani viewpoints on the negotiation process
of the conflict settlement.

IAEA EXPERTS TO CONDUCT RECURRENT INSPECTIONS AT ARMENIAN NPP

news.am
June 2 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- The experts from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
will conduct recurrent inspections at the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant
(NPP) within 18 months to check implementation of recommendations
and proposals, said Gagik Markosyan, NPP’s director.

He hailed positive the current monitoring conducted by IAEA experts
in terms of improving NPP’s safety.

The IAEA’s team, consisting of 11 experts from 8 countries, has
monitored state of Armenian NPP’s equipment and working processes. The
experts also interviewed the NPP’s staff. They gave recommendations
on improvement of power plant’s work in six directions.

Head of the team Gabor Vamos noted the Armenian nuclear power plant
operation period may be technically extended after 2016.

ARMENIANS SEND A PROTEST MESSAGE TO “NEW YORK TIMES” NEWSPAPER

Times.am
June 2 2011
Armenia

A message is spread by Facebook social network, which informs about
an anti-Armenian article published in New York Times on May 31. The
article is named “Frozen Conflict Between Azerbaijan and Armenia
Begins to Boil” and aims to present Azerbaijanis as victims,
confirms Azerbaijani moral right to restart war against NK and
“restore Azerbaijani territorial completeness”. The initiators offer
Facebook users to send many messages to NY Times editorial and tell
them truth about NK issue and Azerbaijan. Here is a text of message
which is offered to be edited, changed somehow, may be shortened.

“Mr. Bill Keller, I have read Ellen Barry’s recent article which caused
me great frustration. Mrs. Barry’s biased approach in the article
makes me think that the article was written under the influence of
the Azerbaijani propaganda.

This article is mostly dedicated to the description of undesirable
consequences for Azerbaijan that were caused as a result of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But the author is silent about the fact
that it was Azerbaijan first to launch an aggressive war against
Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as to organize the bombing of some border
areas of Armenia itself. Moreover, both international and Soviet law
did allow Nagorno-Karabakh to achieve its independence. The fundamental
human rights of Karabakh Armenian population had been violated for
decades, and the culmination of violations was the ethnic cleansings
of late 1980s. The population of Karabakh had the right to exercise
remedial secession, just as the Eritrea, East Bangladesh, East Timor,
Kosovo, South Sudan and other cases.

There are also detailed sad stories of Azerbaijani refugees,
but the author is tacit about Azerbaijan’s brutal policy towards
its own population. Azerbaijan, unlike Armenia, views its refugees
only as a tool of its policy. For many years refugees in Azerbaijan
were not allowed to leave their tent camps as if they were kept in
concentration camps.

Mrs. Barry repeats the official position of Azerbaijan and insists
that the current framework of the OSCE Minsk Group negotiations
have exhausted itself. But she is silent about the fact that
the main barrier of progress in the negotiations is Azerbaijan’s
destructive approach of failing the negotiation (incidentally she
talks as if the international community is negotiating with Armenia
(yet, the negotiations are between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with the
participation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and mediated by the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs)). The point is that Azerbaijan has been poisoning
its own population with Armenophobia and revanchism for about two
decades, and now the government doesn’t know what to answer to the
people of Azerbaijan, when the OSCE Minsk Group mediators insist
that the status of Karabakh should be decided through a legally
binding free expression of will of its people. Moreover, calls for
a new aggression are repeatedly cited in the article, and the author
treats those calls quite normally.

However, the OSCE Minsk Group mediators in their statements
clearly point out that the resumption of war is unacceptable for the
international community, that the settlement of the conflict should be
based on a comprehensive application of the three basic principles:
the prohibition of threat or use of force, self-determination and
territorial integrity. Mediators also stress that all conflicting
parties should prepare their people for peace and not for war. In fact,
the citations of aggression used by the author in fact endorse the
fact that the international mediators’ calls for peace are directed at
Azerbaijan. Any use of force is clearly prohibited in international
law, and this time the international community is determined to
prevent the repetition of such actions by Azerbaijan.

But from the New York Times’ article from May 31 one gets the
impression that it is natural that Azerbaijan is preparing for war,
as if it is a party that has been treated unjustly.

Mr. Keller, I sincerely hope that your editorial would be more
careful in printing such biased articles in the future. Azerbaijan
spends millions of dollars for its PR campaign abroad. And I hope
the New York Times’ esteemed reputation can not be marred by the
petrol-dollars from the Caspian Sea.

Best Regards”

MOSCOW “PREPARES SERIOUSLY” FOR ARMENIAN, RUSSIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS’ MEETING IN KAZAN

news.am
June 2 2011
Armenia

Russia is ready to make every effort to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Andrei Kelin, Head of the Caucasus Department, Russian
Foreign Ministry, stated in an interview with ANS agency.

According to him, preparations are underway for impending meeting of
Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Kazan. “The presidents,
foreign ministers are preparing relevant materials and the mediators
are involved in the process. We are also making preperations for
the forthcoming meeting. This is a very serious and delicate work,”
Kelin stressed.

The Russian official emphasized that breakthrough in the Karabakh
peace process depends on the on the will of the conflicting parties.

“We believe that it is necessary to step up efforts for the peaceful
resolution of the conflict. It is necessary to work in this direction
in the future as well,” he said.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, Presidents of Russia,
France and Armenia issued a joint statement on Nagorno-Karabakh within
the framework of G8 Summit, on May 26.

“We, the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries —
France, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America
— are convinced the time has arrived for all the sides to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to take a decisive step towards a peaceful
settlement.

“We reiterate that only a negotiated settlement can lead to peace,
stability, and reconciliation, opening opportunities for regional
development and cooperation. The use of force created the current
situation of confrontation and instability. Its use again would only
bring more suffering and devastation, and would be condemned by the
international community. We strongly urge the leaders of the sides
to prepare their populations for peace, not war.”

“We therefore call upon the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to
demonstrate their political will by finalizing the Basic Principles
during their upcoming summit in June. Further delay would only call
into question the commitment of the sides to reach an agreement. Once
an agreement has been reached, we stand ready to witness the formal
acceptance of these Principles, to assist in the drafting of the
peace agreement, and then to support its implementation with our
international partners,” they said in a statement.

‘MAXIMUM EFFORTS SHOULD BE EXERTED TO SOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT PEACEFULLY’

news.az
June 2 2011
Azerbaijan

Russia is ready to make every effort to solve the Karabakh conflict.

Director of Caucasus Department of Russian Foreign Ministry Andrey
Kelin has commented on the upcoming trilateral meeting of presidents
on which OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs pin great hopes in terms of
resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Preparations are underway for the upcoming meeting, the Russian
Foreign Ministry said.

“The Presidents are working on this. Ministers are drafting necessary
documents. Even co-chairs are involved in this process. We are also
doing preparations for the upcoming visit. This is very serious and
delicate work,” Kelin added.

Russia is ready to make every effort to solve the conflict, he noted.

“However, it requires the parties to show a will to reach progress. We
believe that now there is a need to exert maximum efforts for
peaceful resolution of the conflict and it is necessary to work in
this direction after this.”

ARMENIAN AMERICAN WINS RECOGNITION WITH HOW-TO BOOK ON THRIVING

Published: Thursday June 02, 2011

Author and psycho-therapist Charlette Mikulka.

Newton, N.J. – Newton businesswoman, Charlette (Kerbeykian)
Mikulka, earned recognition in two national book awards this week. A
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she is the author-publisher of the
newly-released Peace in the Heart and Home: A Down-to-Earth Guide to
Creating a Better Life for You and Your Loved Ones.

The book received a Silver Medal from the Independent Publisher Book
Awards in the parenting category. Mikulka’s book also won a Bronze
Medal from the Living Now Book Awards in the personal growth category.

Charlette is the daughter of Charles and Virginia Kerbeykian, both
deceased, who attended St. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church in
Ridgefield, New Jersey. She maintains a full-time private psychotherapy
practice in Newton and will be celebrating a forty year relationship
with her husband Joe this June.

They have parented two sons, Michael and Christopher. Born, raised and
educated in Teaneck, Mikulka attended her 40th high school reunion
last October with her classmate and dear friend since fifth grade,
Lisa Torrieri. In a never-anticipated turn-of-events, graphic artist
Torrieri created the cover art work for Peace in the Heart and Home.

According to ForeWord Reviews, “Charlette Mikulka joins the fray of
doctors and other professionals spinning out self-help books but
she rises above the crowd, providing real answers, solutions and
recommendations….The author tackles a huge subject in a concise
way.” Rick Hanson, co-founder of the Wellspring Institute for
Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom and author of Buddha’s Brain,
calls Peace in the Heart and Home, “A wonderful book that offers
hard-won, useful lessons about inner well-being and outer harmony
that drip with authenticity.”

Mikulka says she created Peace in the Heart and Home to be a resource
that would clearly spell out the common denominators of the diverse
problems that plague the average person, couple and family. With
anxiety, depression, addictions, physical dysfunction and marital
strife running rampant, she believes that too many people aren’t
thriving. Mikulka observes, “Most people use a “band-aid” approach to
fix their problems. They look for peace in all the wrong places. When
those who suffer are parents, their children breathe in the stress
and pain and inherit the legacy.”

Peace in the Heart and Home offers a wealth of explicit, compassionate
and seasoned professional guidance through cutting edge information,
real-life stories, resources, skills and healing methods. Elana Katz,
senior faculty member of the Ackerman Institute for the Family,
calls Peace in the Heart and Home “A one-stop shopping handbook for
life…folksy, straight-talking…a wise and comforting hand.” The book
is available as a paperback, e-book and unabridged MP3 audio-book,
read by the author. The audio-book also has bonus tracks of lyrical
music written by Mikulka’s composer son, Michael, which reflects the
emotional content of the book.

According to Mikulka, “This is a wonderful time to be alive because
clinicians and their clients are benefitting from the cross-pollination
between science, research, clinical practice and ages-old wisdom
traditions. We are now able to replace futile branch trimming with deep
and powerful natural methods that go right to the roots of personal
and relationship problems. No matter how bad things have gotten,
we all possess healthy human longings and inherent capacities that
can be cultivated so that we feel whole, connected and secure. We
can learn how to heal, feel compassion for our self and others and
feel fully alive.”

Further information about the book and author can be obtained at

ROCK CLIMBING FESTIVAL IN ARMENIA STIRS GREAT INTEREST AMONG ALPINISTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 2, 2011 – 18:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On May 21-31, Armenia hosted the second international
rock climbing festival organized by Up The Rocks club through the
financial assistance of the National Competitiveness Foundation
of Armenia.

Founder of the club Mkhitar Mkhitaryan told a press conference in
Yerevan that the festival was better organized this year and stirred
great interest among alpinists.

“The festival participants have not left the country yet, as they want
to visit some other gorges. The event brought together 17 alpinists
this year,” Mkhitaryan said, adding that 24 alpinists were expected
to participate in the festival, but the Iranian group has not arrived.

Head of the tourism project of the National Competitiveness Foundation
of Armenia (NCFA) Syuzanna Azoyan said for her part that foreign
alpinists are admired by Armenia’s nature.

Alpinists from Russia, the U.S., Poland, Germany, Switzerland,
Ukraine and Austria participated in the festival.

ISSUE ON RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL PARLIAMENT

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 2, 2011
YEREVAN

The Armenian Genocide is crime against humanity. This statement was
made by the member of the Australian House of Representative Scott
Morrison. He pledged to add his voice to the call for recognition
of the Armenian Genocide during the national Armenian Genocide
Commemorative Evening in Sydney during April.

“Today, as a member of this House, I join others in this place, and in
parliaments around the world, to place on record that I believe the
Armenian genocide was one of the greatest crimes against humanity,”
said Morrison.

“We do not seek to lay blame, this is not an indictment of the modern,
secular, Turkish state that we know as a friend, but it is important
that we recognize the Armenian genocide for what it was.”

ANC Australia Executive Director Varant Meguerditchian described the
statement as the first step in Morrison’s advocacy efforts.

He said: “Mr. Morrison has now placed on parliamentary record his
affirmation of the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide and
added his voice to calls for recognition of the Armenian Genocide
in Australia.”

“We thank Mr. Morrison and trust that he will continue to champion
the cause for Armenian Genocide recognition in the Federal Parliament
of Australia.”

Morrison’s statement was followed just days later by a parliamentary
sitting dominated by calls for Armenian Genocide recognition when
MPs Joe Hockey, John Alexander and Paul Fletcher raised the matter
on the floor of the House of Representatives.

TURKEY IS GRATEFUL TO RUSSIA

yerkir.am
16:12 – 02.06.2011

Turkey expressed its gratitude to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev
for all the efforts of Karabakh conflict.

The ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic said during his
press conference.

According to him, Turkey looks forward to some agreement during the
presidential meeting in Kazan that is to take place with mediation
of Russian president.

He added that the time for the settlement of the conflict is up and
it needs to be regulated.

EXPERT: ASSAD RULE FAVORABLE FOR SYRIA’S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 2, 2011 – 16:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Noravank Foundation expert Arax Pashayan said the
Armenian community of Syria gains from Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Armenians of Syria consider the current authorities to be the
guarantors of their security, Pashayan told a press conference
in Yerevan.

“Armenians supported the incumbent President, what was a grounded
decision. They had no alternative,” Pashayan said, adding that
the Armenian community has no problems currently, despite the
anti-governmental protests.

Nevertheless, the expert did not exclude the possibility that Armenians
will emigrate from Syria to Lebanon, the U.S. or Canada, following
the unrest in the country.

According to Pashayan, it will affect the weakened positions of the
Armenian community in Middle East countries.