Author: Badalian Vardan

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 10 2006

4.3 BILLION EUROS INVESTED BY EBRD IN 2005

YEREVAN, March 10. /ARKA/. European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development invested 4.3 billion euros in 2005under under 151
projects made, the EBRD press service told ARKA News Agency.
According to the press service, this amount exceeds the bank’s
previous investments and targets 27 South-Eastern Europe, Caucasus
and Central Asia countries as well as Russia.
The press release says 2.46bln euros or 58% of total amount of
investments are sent to transition-economy countries (in 2004
1.93bln), 1.12bln euros or 26% were given to Russia (1.24bln euros in
2004) and 699mln euros or 16% to successfully developing transition
countries (in 2004 964mln euros).
The EBRD investments are focused on encouraging market economy in the
region where the bank runs its activity. 85% of the bank’s new
projects were qualified in 2005 as having good and excellent
potential impact, the press release says.
The EBRD attracted 2.6bln euros from commercial banks export credit
organizations and other international financial institutions as
co-financing. Donors gave 75mln euros for preparation and
implementation of projects. The money was also given for
strengthening investment environment.
The EBRD works in 60 countries and 2 non-governmental organizations.
Its activity is focused on promotion of transfer from central
planning to market economy in Eastern and Central Europe and CIS
countries.
Armenia with its share of 10mln euros became EBRD member in 1992.
The bank allocated 39.3mln euros for 24 programs implementation in
Armenia. M.V. -0—

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
March 11 2006

Int’l conference on preparations for 14th economic forum of OSCE due in Baku

11/03/2006 08:45

An international conference dedicated to preparations to the 14th
economic forum of OSCE member-countries will be organized in Baku on
16-17 March 2006.

Baku office of the organization told Trend that the conference which
will focus on removal of risks in the sphere of transport security
within the OSCE will bring together over 100 delegates from foreign
countries.

Attending the conference will be an envoy of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, the OSCE coordinator on economic and
environmental issues and UN experts.

Baku for the first time will host a conference of such scale, which
is one of three preparatory events to be held under the 14th economic
forum of OSCE due in Prague in May 2006.

Meanwhile, Ulvi Akhundlu, spokesman for the Baku Office of OSCE,
noted that invitations for the conference had been sent to 55
ember-states of the organization, including Armenia.

`The conference is organized by the OSCE and the leadership of the
organization sent invitations to all member-countries of the
organization,’ Akhundlu, noting the absence of information on the
participation of the Armenian delegates at the event.

MERCENARY CLAIMS ACQUIRE NEW TWIST
By Graham Kirwa ( Monday, March 13, 2006)

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya
March 13 2006

One Artur Sargsyan who was alleged by Langata MP Raila Odinga as
being part of mercenaries operating in the country Monday denied
the allegation accusing Raila of trying to defraud him of over 100
million shillings he lent him.

Speaking at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Sargasyan who claims
to be an uncle to Armenian president alleged that Raila and Kalonzo
Musyoka approached him for a loan of 3 billion shillings to finance
a vote of no confidence in the government which he and his brother
Artur Margaryan declined.

He claimed that he owns vast business empires in Dubai and various
investments in other countries.

Sargsyan said he come to Kenya last year to seeking investment in
Hotel industry upon which he was introduced to Kalonzo and Raila.

He has now threatened legal action against Raila and Kalonzo for
tarnishing his name and reputation.

He said he jetted to Kenya Monday to demand his money from Raila
Odinga and clear his name.

Meanwhile Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka have refuted Sargasyan
claims saying allegation that they had sought 3 billion shillings to
fund a vote of no confidence in the government as bassles and lacking
in authenticity.

Raila claimed that he has never met Sargasyan and has never transacted
any business with him. He has challenged Sargasyan to table prove
that he lent him 1.5 millions US dollars and where the business
was transacted.

Raila alleges that was a conspiracy to malign his name. Kalonzo Muyoka
on his part claimed that he might have met Sargasyan but has never
sought a loan of 3 billion shillings from any quarter.

Kalonzo also denied discussing the acquisition of bullet proof jacket
with Sargasyan. Kalonzo dismissed the allegation as a ploy to taint
his name.

PHANTOM-GRAVE SELLER NABBED
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
March 13 2006

GLENDALE – A former Forest Lawn employee who sold phantom grave
plots to unsuspecting buyers has been charged with grand theft and
embezzlement in a scheme that cost the alleged victims more than
$67,000, authorities said.

Robert Ovsepyan, 34, of Burbank was extradited from Armenia over the
weekend and is being held without bail. Prosecutors filed charges
against him while he was on the lam abroad, alleging he ripped off
people in 10 fraudulent sales of nonexistent grave plots.

Armenian authorities agreed to extradite Ovsepyan because he is a
U.S. citizen and overstayed his visa in Armenia. He faces a maximum
of 35 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

“It’s good for the victims. … They’re going to feel good, they’re
going to feel satisfied that justice prevailed,” Glendale police Sgt.
Ian Grimes said.

“But I think it sends a larger message to people in Glendale and people
in Armenia that you’re not going to be able to use one place to hide,
commit a crime in one place and hide in another.”

Starting in November 2004, Ovsepyan allegedly supplemented his income
from Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, where he sold grave plots for a living,
by selling nonexistent plots as well. All the victims who bought them
from him were Armenian-Americans he knew.

The buyers complained to Forest Lawn when they never received paperwork
for the sales, and Forest Lawn cooperated with police when they
suspected fraud. Ovsepyan stopped showing up for work in October 2005.

The buyers were different ages and included individuals and entire
families. Their losses ranged from $3,000 to $14,000.

One elderly woman had been saving two years to buy a plot for herself,
hoping to keep from burdening her children, police said.

In a prepared statement, Forest Lawn officials said they are
cooperating with the Glendale Police Department.

“We are working with the families to achieve a swift resolution and
are taking all necessary steps to protect against future wrongdoing,”
read the statement attributed to John Warren, the senior vice
president of marketing for Forest Lawn. “Forest Lawn maintains a
strict confidentiality policy and wishes to reserve comment at this
time to protect the privacy of the families we serve.”

Police are unsure how Ovsepyan decided who to engage in legitimate
sales and who to target for fraud.

“Some of them trusted him because of past association or relationship,”
financial crimes Detective Tigran Topadjhikyan said.

“One of the victims had a husband that was deceased, and Ovsepyan
was a friend of the husband’s. So it was the association that built …
the trust.”

DE JURE RECOGNITION OF KARABAKH – POLITICAL ACTION TO BE HELD AT EXACT MOMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2006 20:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is no need to state that Yerevan agreeing
to talks with Baku is the biggest concession by Armenia, Armenian FM
Vartan Oskanian stated when answering questions of Azg Daily readers.

In his words Armenia taking part in talks and Karabakh’s de facto
independence for already 15 years show Armenia is ready to compromise
option of settlement. As of recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh
independence de jure, the Armenian MFA head said, “De jure recognition
is a political action. It should be held at the exact moment, if a
decision is made to do it so as to have a positive outcome, not a
negative effect.”

Answering a question on the probability of the script, in compliance
to which Armenia will return territories that form the security belt
during the short war, Oskanian said, “No. These theories of plots
should not be believed to, one should not trifle with war. I rule
out a script like that.”

FORUM EXPLORES IRAQ WAR
By Rick Malwitz
Staff Writer

New Brunswick Home News Tribune, NJ
Oct 18 2005

Home News Tribune Online 10/18/05

RUTGERS – No matter what form of government is created by the
constitution approved by Iraqi voters over the weekend, do not expect
it to look familiar soon.

“We are not going to install Jeffersonian democracy overnight,”
said U.S. Army veteran Gregg Bumgardner, who joined U.S. Rep. Frank
Pallone, 6th Dist., and Prof. Lloyd C. Gardner at a forum on the war
yesterday at the Student Center.

Listening to the three-man panel were about a 12 students and a
half-dozen members from the community. Based on what the panel had
to say, and questions they were asked, everyone in the room agreed
the United States is committing a major blunder in Iraq.

The most immediate cost is borne by the soldiers, according to
Bumgardner, a Collingswood resident who left the military after
12 years.

“We broke it and we are going to buy it, unfortunately, with the cost
of our troops,” he said.

Bumgardner, who can speak Arabic and Persian Farsi, served in
psychological operations, with the task of providing information to
the local citizens.

“They do not share our world view. They are an Islamic society, and
you are never going to be able to separate Islam from the government,”
said Bumgardner.

He recalled speaking to women prior to an election in January. “I asked
them if they were going to vote. They said, “No, it’s not my place.’ ”

The irony of his observations was not lost on Kay Tsurumi of Highland
Park, a member of the Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War,
discouraged that the proposed Iraqi constitution does little to protect
the rights of women. “George Bush is the first Christian to establish
an Islamic nation,” she said.

The linkage between religion and the state is not uncommon in the
Middle East. Pallone, the co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus
on Armenian Issues, noted Armenia is 95 percent Christian and that
Armenians “don’t want to separate Christianity from the state.”

Beyond religion, there are other factors Americans find difficult to
understand, said Gardner, who has written 15 books on foreign policy.

He noted how the boundaries of modern Iraq were dictated by the British
at the fall of the Ottoman Empire, who declared: “You are Iraq.”

Gardner noted that the United States, with 172 bases worldwide, is
seen as an occupation force. The United States ought to declare it
will not create permanent bases in Iraq, although he said he did not
believe this is possible. “If they aren’t permanent, we have poured
an awful lot of concrete for no reason,” said Gardner.

Asked if Iraqis would believe the United States if it vowed to
leave Iraq without planting permanent bases, Bumgardner said no:
“They don’t believe anything we tell them.”

He said it’s far easier to get Iraqis to believe rumors, such as a
common rumor that the Americans have imported snipers from Israel.

He said for many Iraqis the greatest challenge is a simple one: Getting
a job to support a family. On some projects, civilian employees have
been brought in from places like Pakistan and Syria, while Iraqis
are on the outside of the fence, looking at foreigners getting paid
for work.

The problem is, said Bumgardner, “nobody trusts the people outside
the wire,” not knowing who is an insurgent and who is not.

Pallone, who said we now have an obligation to mend the broken Iraq,
said his preferred solution is to enlist international organizations –
such as the United Nations and NATO – which formed the broad coalition
that fought the Gulf War in 1991.

“It will dispel the notion that the U.S. is a permanent occupying
force, a theme used by the insurgents to justify their continued
attacks,” said Pallone.

He said that would require the Bush administration to “admit they
were wrong” after embracing a “go-it-alone approach.”

Gardner lamented that so few Rutgers Unviersity students seem
interested in the war. Pallone said the war is not given enough
attention in Washington.

“The hurricane dominated the conversation and the war is no longer
on the front burner,” said Pallone.

e?AID=/20051018/NEWS02/510180397/1001

MILITARY ATTACK AT NALCHIK FORCE STRUCTURES

A1+
| 22:44:10 | 13-10-2005 | Politics |

October 13 the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria was attacked. Armed
forces attempted to capture the force structures of Nalchik. Several
hundreds of military rushed into the city.

According to the latest data, 50 hirelings were eliminated, 12
civilians were killed and 88 taken to hospital.

INSURANCE FIRM TO PAY OUT ON OTTOMAN ARMENIAN POLICIES

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 13 2005

The French insurance company Axa on Thursday agreed to pay $17
million to settle a case brought by the descendants of Armenian policy
holders the claimants say were killed during the First World War by
the Ottoman Empire.

Guncelleme: 10:31 ET 13 Ekim 2005 PerºembeLOS ANGELES – Turkey has
strenuously rejected suggestions that the Ottoman Empire carried out
a policy of genocide against its Armenian citizens.

Under the settlement, Axa is to pay at least $3.0 million to a
number of Armenian charitable groups based in France, with another
$11 million set aside for the descendants of the original policy
holders of insurance policies with companies that were subsidiaries
of Axa operating in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Many of the claims
were never met.

Some Armenians claim that up to 1.5 Armenian Ottoman citizens were
killed in 1915 and in the years following in what they describe as
a deliberate act of genocide.

Turkey denies that there was any policy of mass killings, though
does acknowledge that some 300,000 Armenians and many Ottoman Turkish
citizens died during the conflict of the First World War.

–Boundary_(ID_xrnvX+M9pfKE0MQigA3x8g)–

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

OCTOBER 7-13, 2005

HIGHLIGHTS:

COURT OF APPEALS SECURED THE APPEAL OF “FEMIDA” CHAIRWOMAN

“THE OTHER HALF”: ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN RADIO TEAM REPORTING PROJECT

JOURNALIST CONVICTED FOR THREE YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED CHEATING

SUBSIDIES TO PUBLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

COURT OF APPEALS SECURED THE APPEAL OF “FEMIDA” CHAIRWOMAN

On October 11 the RA Court of Appeals secured the appeal of the chairwoman
of “Femida” NGO Julietta Amirkhanian, challenging the ruling of the court of
primary jurisdiction of Center and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan of
July 25, 2005. As it has been reported, in late May Julietta Amirkhanian
addressed the court with a suit against Lia Revazian to protect honor and
dignity. The plaintiff demanded to refute the invalid and discrediting
information, contained in the letter of Lia Revazian, addressed to the
senior officials of the country, editorial offices of several media and the
mission of some international organizations. The letter, in particular,
contained insulting remarks to the address of “Datakan Alik” (“Judicial
Channel”) program, hosted by Julietta Amirkhanian on the Second Armenian TV
Channel. On July 25 the court ruled to partially secure the suit of the
“Femida” Chairwoman. The information quoted in Lia Revazian’s letter was
recognized to be invalid. However, the demand of the plaintiff – to
disseminate the prepared refutation text among the recipients of the letter
– was rejected by the court (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 25 –
September 1, 2005).

At the session of October 11 the Court of Appeals obliged Lia Revazian to
refute the information that discredits Julietta Amirkhanian, by sending the
refutation to all addressees of the letter that was the reason for the
litigation.

“THE OTHER HALF”: ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN RADIO TEAM REPORTING PROJECT

On October 1-10 in Armenia a team reporting project of Armenian and Georgian
radio journalists was held by London-based Media Diversity Institute. The
events was organized under “Minority Empowerment and Media Development in
South Caucasus” program, supported by the European Commission and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The project trainers were
Lily Poberezhska and Tim Grout-Smith (Media Player International”
consultancy partnership, UK), Harutiun Mansurian (producer, Internews
Armenia), Akakiy Gogichaishvili (author and host of “60 minutes” program,
“Rustavi-2” TV Channel, Georgia), and its participants were 8
representatives of Armenian and Georgian radio stations, 4 from each
country.

During the first two days, on October 1 and 2, a seminar “Covering
Diversity: How to Make Difference” was held, during which an interactive
discussion of diversity reporting of various minorities and vulnerable
groups of society was held. The practical continuation of the seminar was
“Woman in Armenia and Georgia” radio magazine, made up of pieces that were
prepared by the participants of a team reporting project from two South
Caucasus countries. On October 10 this 25-minute radio program, titled “The
Other Half”, was heard and discussed.

JOURNALIST CONVICTED FOR THREE YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED CHEATING

On October 6 in Vanadzor the court of primary jurisdiction of Lori region
completed the trial on the case of employee of the press center of the
Armenian Writers Union, member of the Journalists Union of Armenia Theresa
Asatrian. The court convicted Theresa Asatrian to 3 years’ imprisonment and
a fine of 400,000 AMD (about $ 900) for attempted cheating (cl. 2 p. 2 Art.
34-178 of RA Criminal Code) and involvement in bribery (cl. 1 p. 3 Art.
38-312 of RA Criminal Code). As it has been reported, the hearings on the
case started on August 31 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 25 – September
1, 2005). As reported in the press release of the General Prosecutor’s
Office, on May 17, 2005 Theresa Asatrian provoked the notary of Vanadzor
notary region Arusiak Azarian to give a bribe of $ 3,500 to prevent the
submission to the court of the materials against the notary gathered by the
RA National Security Service, and the publication of a revelatory article
written by the journalist herself.

SUBSIDIES TO PUBLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

On October 6 at the session of the Government of Armenia it was decided to
allocate subsidies to the RA Ministry of Education and Science to assist
newspapers and magazines for children and adolescents under the state budget
of 2005. According to the report of the Department of Information and Public
Relations of the RA Government, subsidies will be allocated to “Aghbyur”,
“Tsitsernak”, “Nakhashavigh”, “Armenian Language and Literature”,
“Lusapsak”, “Khatutik” magazines, “Mankants Yerkir” almanac and newspapers
“Kanch” and “Peri” for children and adolescents.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
375002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

OFFICIAL ARMENIA NEGOTIATING WITH INDONESIA

A1+
| 16:30:30 | 12-10-2005 | Official |

October 12 in the capital of Indonesia Jakarta RA Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan meet the Foreign Minister of the country Pak Hassan
Wirajuda. This was the first visit of a High Armenian delegation
to Indonesia.

During the meeting the sides discussed the perspectives of developing
the relations between the countries. A reference was also made to the
regional problems. Mr. Wirajuda gave details about the signature of the
agreement about the settlement of the Ache conflict. Vardan Oskanyan in
his turn gave details about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict underlining
that the conflict has nothing to do with religion, but it is only the
expression of the right of self-determination of the Karabakh people.

At the end of the meeting the Foreign Ministers signed an inter
governmental agreement about avoiding double tax and a memorandum
about the creation of a Consultation forum. Tomorrow Vardan Oskanyan
will leave for Singapore where he will meet the Foreign Minister of
the country.