Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 29 2004

Gul Says EU, NATO Keen to Stabilize Caucasus

Baku Today 29/06/2004 13:24

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday said both NATO and
the EU are keen to stabilize the conflict-torn Caucasian region,
Agence France Press reported.

According to the report, Gul said following a meeting with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanian in
Istanbul that the three had agreed to hold further trilateral
meetings later in the year.

Armenia’s Oskanian reportedly said, referring to the enlargement of
the EU and NATO: “We need to shape a new strategic vision for the
Caucasus so that we can keep pace with the developments around us.”

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mamedyarov added: “We will try to do our
best to bring peace and stability to the region.”

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that the sides decided to
continue their trilateral meeting in September.

ArmenPress
June 25 2004

ALEXANDER TREGER TO PERFORM IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 25, ARMENPRESS: Alexander Treger – a noted US
violinist, accomplished conductor and gifted educator, has arrived in
Armenia at the invitation of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra to
perform a concert here on June 25. He will play the works by
Bernstein, Dvorak, Beethoven. His visit to Yerevan and the concert
are also sponsored by the US embassy in Yerevan, Alexander Treger was
appointed Music Director of the acclaimed American Youth Symphony in
1998. He succeeded Mali Math and is only the second conductor to lead
the ensemble since it was founded in 1964. One of the nation’s top
pre-professional orchestras, the American Youth Symphony provides
hands-on training in orchestral performance.
Prior to being named Music Director of the American Youth
Symphony, Treger guest conducted the orchestra in 1994 and 1996. An
inspiring teacher, who enjoys working with promising young musicians,
he has given numerous master classes around the world and held the
position of Professor of Violin at the UCLA Music Department for two
decades from 1977 to 1997.
A musician with many interests and talents, Treger has served as
Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1985, although he
continually devotes more of his time to conducting. During the past
two seasons, he guest conducted the Turk Philharmonic in Finland and
will return during the 2002-2003 season to once again guest conduct
the esteemed orchestra. Several years ago, he stepped in at the last
minute to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, successfully
replacing the indisposed Franz Welse-Most.
He has also appeared as a guest conductor with the Santa Barbara
Chamber Orchestra, California’s Music in the Mountains Festival
Orchestra, the New World Symphony and the Santa Monica Symphony. In
addition, he served as the interim conductor of the UCLA Symphony in
1992 and was appointed the Music Director/Conductor of the Crossroads
Chamber Orchestra in 1993, where he has developed a youth orchestra
of the highest caliber.
Treger began his musical training at the age of five in his native
Russia, where he studied violin and piano. By the age of thirteen, he
had won numerous music competitions in his country, and was later
chosen by the renowned violinist David Oistrakh to study at the
prestigious Moscow Conservatory. He describes the six years he spent
at the Conservatory being mentored by Mr. Oistrakh “among the most
influential on my development as a musician.” While a student there,
he also took a great interest in conducting.
After graduating, Treger became a member of the Moscow Radio
Symphony and, subsequently, left Russia to become the
Concertmaster/Soloist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
Treger arrived in the United States in 1973 and joined the Los
Angeles Philharmonic in 1974. He was appointed Assistant
Concertmaster in 1978, promoted to Second Concertmaster two years
later, and appointed Concertmaster in 1985, a position he still
holds. Treger has won high praise for his numerous solo performances
with the orchestra at the Music Center and the Hollywood Bowl, which
have included concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok,
Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Shostakovich, and Prokofieff under the
direction of Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Simon Rattle, Pierre
Boulez, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, and
Esa-Pekka Salonen.
He has also appeared as soloist with a number of major U.S.
orchestras including the San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, and Houston
Symphonies. An avid chamber performer, he has collaborated in
concerts with such well-known artists as Radu Lupu, Yefim Bronfman,
Andre Previn, Bernard Greenhouse and Emmanuel Ax.

Armenian Grids seeks $38 Mln from JBIC

Interfax
June 21 2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenian Grids expects to sign an agreement with
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) later this month for
a loan worth $38 million to finance energy projects, company General
Director Yevgeny Gladunchik said Friday.

He said $30 million would be used to reconstruct low-voltage power
plants acquired during privatization and $8 million would be used to
buy and install 150,000 electric meters.

JBIC representatives will visit Yerevan June 21 – 28. Gladunchik said
the loan would be used by the end of 2006.

The Armenian government and JBIC signed a loan agreement in 1999 to
finance the reconstruction of 33 power substations. The money was
never received because Armenia began privatizing its power grids.

The loan will be used to modernize just 30 substations since prices
for energy equipment have risen substantially in the past five years,
he said.

Armenian Grids must pay $2 million on the loan each year. The loan
will be provided for 30 years at 1.8% annually. Britain’s Midland
Resources Holding Ltd bought 100% of Armenian Grids for $12.15 million
in November 2002.

AEROFLOT SET TO SPREAD ITS WINGS INTO GEORGIA
by Tracey Boles Transport Editor

The Business
June 20, 2004

Empire building is alive and well in Russia – at least in its aviation
sector. Aeroflot Russian Airlines has opened tentative talks with
Georgian flag carrier Air Zena with a view to purchasing it outright
or taking at least majority control of the airline.

As well as developing its presence outside Russia, Aeroflot is looking
to enhance its domestic services and is courting various Russian
airlines as potential purchases. The national carrier is understood to
be interested in Samara Airlines and Kuban Airlines, with the aim of
establishing new regional bases at Samara and Kransnador. In addition
it has not ruled out an investment in Siberia’s Arkhangelsk Airlines.

Air Zena was formed as a charter airline in 1994 and has established
a strong network into Europe from its base at Tbilisi. Acquiring flag
carrier status in 1999 following the demise of Georgian Airlines,
it has played an important role in developing the country’s economy
and its links with the west. A private airline, it operates three
Boeing 737-500 and two Antonov 2 aircraft on routes connecting Tbilisi
with Moscow, Prague, Paris, Athens, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt, Amsterdam,
Vienna and Kiev.

Aeroflot believes an equity investment in the Georgian carrier will
help expand its activities in the Commonwealth of Independent states
(CIS) and prove a boon to the SkyTeam alliance, which the Russian
airline will join within the next two years.

“We confirm that we are in talks for Air Zena , but this is a
preliminary stage and it is too early to talk about results,” Lev
Koshlyakov, deputy general director of Aeroflot, said. “We have
an interest in the CIS market and we are building up contacts and
relations as this could be our trump card in the SkyTeam alliance.”
If Aeroflot buys up Air Zena, it will be following the example of
Russia’s number two carrier Sibir, which acquired Armenia’s Armavia
airline in 2002. Sibir has used Armavia not only to expand its network,
but also to import Airbus 320 planes duty-free and to gain experience
operating them on the CIS market.

Sibir has already imported four such aircraft and is only required to
pay a small registration fee in Armenia. But the aircraft cannot be
used on the routes of Sibir proper due to government restrictions on
using imported planes; Aeroflot is allowed to operate only 27 foreign
jets in its fleet of 78.

Last month Aeroflot signed a preliminary agreement to join the Air
France-led SkyTeam airline alliance, a deal that could take a year
to be finalised.

Aeroflot intends to increase market share on Russian-US routes
with what it bills as an improved service – supposedly gone is the
unfriendly and unreliable image of Soviet times, to be replaced with
new uniforms and an la carte menu. The first North American office
for frequent fliers opened recently.

But Aeroflot’s ability to revamp its much-maligned fleet is limited
by the measures designed to protect Russia’s aircraft industry;
value-added-tax and import duties that increase the price of
foreign-made jets by up to 40%. As a result, Boeing, which has 500
engineers in Russia and has invested $ 1.3bn (715m, E1bn) into joint
ventures with the country since the early 1990s, sells more planes
to Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

The good news for both manufacturers is that the Russian airline
plans to double its fleet to 150 jets by the end of the decade;
the lack of sufficient Russian aircraft may play straight into their
hands. Of 110 foreign-made jets flown by CIS airlines, 88 are Boeings.

Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers see Prague talks on Karabakh as “positive”

MPA news agency
22 Jun 04

Baku, 22 June: Different aspects of and prospects for resolving
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict have been discussed in Prague by the
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers.

Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanyan expressed concern about the
recent cease-fire violations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,
MPA reports. The sides pointed out that the situation was being dealt
with in an atmosphere of mutual understanding.

The ministers said that the meeting was useful and positive. It was
attended also by the cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group from the USA,
Russia and France, and the special representative of the OSCE chairman,
Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Be very afraid: There’s a term for every fear
By PAULA LaROCQUE / The Dallas Morning News

Dallas Morning News , TX
June 19 2004

The horror genre has a concept that seems far more laughable than
horrifying – the concept of the “Invisible Man.” I mean: An empty
suit – how scary is that? Yet terrified folks flee, shrieking:
Aiieee! There’s nothing there! Literally, running from nothing.

Only those afraid of everything would run from nothing, if you follow
me. And there is in fact such a fear – pantophobia, which means fear
of everything. Fear of nothing – unless it’s the kind of “nothing”
presented by the Invisible Man – also has a name. It’s hypophobia,
or the absence of fear.

Fear of everything and fear of nothing are equally irrational,
of course. And there’s a difference between a simple fear and
a full-blown phobia. But judging from the huge number of “phobia”
words, there’s much to fear.

A few better-known terrors are claustrophobia, agoraphobia,
ochlophobia, ophidiophobia, musophobia and brontophobia – more
commonly known as fear of closed spaces, open spaces, crowds, snakes,
mice and thunder.

Certain fears are so prevalent that popular culture capitalizes on
them. The 1990 film Arachnophobia took fear of spiders to a comic
extreme, for example. Acrophobia, or fear of heights, was a central
theme in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 movie Vertigo. Fear of heights
also afflicted British TV’s beloved Inspector Morse. Aviatophobia
lent novelist Erica Jong the richly symbolic title of her 1973 book,
Fear of Flying.

The Oxford English Dictionary lists many odd, even outlandish phobia
words. Such words also can be found in the Insomniac’s Dictionary of
the Outrageous, Odd, and Unusual by Paul Hellweg; Crazy English by
Richard Lederer; and Words at Play by O.V. Michaelsen.

For some, apparently, hell really is other people. Anthropophobia
is fear of people; androphobia is fear of men; gynephobia, fear of
women; pediophobia, children; parthenophobia; young girls; xenophobia,
strangers or foreigners.

But do we really need a word such as armenophobia? Is fear of Armenians
a viable category?

Some fears are understandable even if you don’t share them
– dentophobia, for example, fear of going to the dentist. Or
agrizoophobia (fear of wild animals), algophobia (pain), poinephobia
(punishment), pyrophobia (fire) and hematophobia (blood).

And a biggie, thanatophobia – fear of death.

One can understand policophobia (fear of the police) in certain
circumstances, and even more readily politicophobia (fear of
politicians). But blennophobia, alliumphobia and arachibutyrophobia ?
Fear of slime, of garlic, of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof
of the mouth?

There’s no shortage of curious phobias. Tridecaphobia, fear of the
number 13, is well-known. I was surprised to find we need such a word
as porphyrophobia – fear of the color purple – until I discovered
chromophobia, fear of color in general. There’s a word for those who
can’t stand prosperity – chrematophobia, fear of wealth – and another
for those afraid of getting good news – euphobia.

One group of phobias makes you wonder if folks have been reading too
much DaVinci Code. Paterophobia, for example – fear of the Fathers of
the early Church. Ecclesiophobia means fear of church; hagiophobia,
fear of holy things; and homilophobia, fear of sermons.

Hard on the heels of those phobias may be hadephobia, fear of hell.

Could Franklin D. Roosevelt have had phobophobia in mind when he said,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”? Phobophobia is fear
of fearing.

Wordsmiths have fears, too. Metrophobia, for example, is fear of
poetry. And don’t mention “Madam I’m Adam” to sufferers of aibohphobia,
fear of palindromes. (A palindrome is something that reads the same
backward as forward. Notice that the cleverly named aibohphobia is
a palindrome).

There’s even phobologophobia – a malady that could make reading this
column a nightmare. It means fear of phobia words.

Paula LaRocque, former Dallas Morning News writing coach, is author
of “The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well” and
“Championship Writing.” Send e-mail to plarocque @sbcglobal.net.

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
 
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]

Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Reviews Nomination of
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

Washington, DC -The Armenian Assembly welcomed the Senate Subcommittee on
European Affairs’ consideration Wednesday of John Marshall Evans’ nomination
as the next United States Ambassador to Armenia. Evans is set to replace
Ambassador John Ordway, who has completed his tour of duty. Ordway’s next
assignment will be Ambassador to Kazakhstan.

“We congratulate John Evans on completing the first phase of his nomination
process and look forward to working closely with him in strengthening
relations between our two countries,” said Assembly Board of Directors
Chairman Anthony Barsamian. “It is our strong hope that the incoming
Ambassador will continue community consultations initiated by America’s
first Ambassador Harry Gilmore, and expanded by outgoing Ambassador Ordway.”

Evans’ nomination will next be considered by the full Senate.

During the hearing, subcommittee Chairman Sen. George Allen (R-Va) indicated
that the United States should remain engaged in the South Caucasus and,
should retain “strict parity” with respect to military assistance to Armenia
and Azerbaijan. He also indicated that the US government should do more to
end the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockade of Armenia. Evans, in his prepared
remarks, said he would work to help Armenia continue to build up its
democracy and economy.

In that framework, Evans said, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
presents a unique opportunity for Armenia.

Chairman Allen also asked Evans to comment on the effects of the Turkish and
Azerbaijani blockades of Armenia. Evans responded by saying that opening the
border between Armenia and Turkey would increase Armenia’s trade by an
estimated 50 percent, and also help reduce Armenia’s energy costs.

He said he planned to have frequent discussions with Turkey to encourage
Ankara to open its borders with Armenia.

Chairman Allen also reiterated his wholehearted support of efforts aimed at
opening the Turkish border with Armenia without preconditions.

Since 2002, Evans has served as Russian Affairs Director in the Bureau of
European and Eurasian Affairs. Prior to that post, Evans handled Russian
and Eurasian affairs for four years in the State Department’s Bureau of
Intelligence and Research. From 1997 through 1999, he was head of the OSCE
Mission to Moldova and in the mid-1990s, Evans was principal officer in the
U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Evans joined the U.S. Foreign Service as a political officer in 1971. He
served in diplomatic missions in Iran, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, at
NATO headquarters and the Czech Republic.

Born in 1948 in Newport News, Virginia, Evans earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Yale College and attended Columbia University Graduate
Facilities. He is fluent in Russian, Czech, French and Farsi. He is married
to Donna Chamberlain who is executive director of the World Affairs Council
of Washington.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

NR#2004-056

Azerbaijan’s “Black Colonel” Killed

Baku Today
June 14 2004

Fatulla Huseynov, first vice-president of the Azerbaijan Football
Federations Association (AFFA), who also was known by the appellation
“Black Colonel,” was shot to death early Monday.

According to ANS, Huseynov got seven bullets from the Russian-made
Makarov pistol while getting into his car in front of his house at
around 7 a.m. Motives of the killing was not clear yet.

The murdered had been working for law enforcement bodies for long
years. He had gained the appellation “Black Colonel” during the
1991-94 war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

A1 Plus | 21:46:36 | 10-06-2004 | Politics |

COURT PUNISHES ATTACKERS BY FINING THEM

Criminal case on the April 5 skinheads’ assault on journalists during
National Unity party rally was heard today at the first instance
court of Center, Nork-Marash.{BR}

The accused refused to speak at the court session. That’s why their
testimonies given at preliminary inquiry were read up now.

It has become clear that the skinheads, who has severely beat
journalists and broken their cameras, appeared on the scene that very
day “by chance”.

The court took the stories invented by the accused to justify their
appearance on site for granted and fine both accused 100,000 drams
each.

Journalist Anna Israelyan though being aware of faulty justice system
in Armenia was deeply disappointed with the court decision.

State-owned Public Television correspondent Vahe Kostandyan, who
was also attacked by skinheads that day, testified that he had seen
nothing, heard nothing and only found his camera broken. It also became
known that Public Television refused from 290,000-dram compensation.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA MOURNS PASSING OF RONALD REAGAN

— President Reagan was the Last U.S. President
to Properly Commemorate the Armenian Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
mourns the passing of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and extends
its deepest condolences to the Reagan family as the nation prepares
to lay the respected statesman to rest this Friday.

“We join with all Americans in mourning the loss of President Reagan
and in sending our condolences to his wife and family,” said ANCA
Chairman Ken Hachikian. “We will remember President Reagan as the
last U.S. President to properly commemorate the Armenian Genocide, the
U.S. leader who initiated humanitarian aid to the survivors of the 1988
earthquake in Armenia, and a leader who believed deeply, throughout
the dark years of the Cold War, in the independence of Armenia.”

Ronald Reagan began his years in politics a close friend and supporter
of Armenian American interests. As California Governor from 1966
through 1974, Reagan reached out to the Armenian American community
and joined in their annual commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
Most notably, in 1969, Reagan joined His Holiness Khoren I, Catholicos
of the Great House of Cilicia, a host of state and local dignitaries
and over 10,000 Armenian Americans at the Armenian Genocide Memorial
in Montebello, where he gave a rousing 15-minute speech honoring the
victims of that crime against humanity. “I am proud and appreciate
this opportunity to participate in this event,” said Gov. Reagan.
“Today, I humbly bow in memory of the Armenian martyrs, who died in
the name of freedom at the hands of Turkish perpetrators of Genocide.”

Following his election to the presidency in 1980, Reagan distinguished
himself as the last U.S. President to properly acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide as “genocide.” In Proclamation 4838, issued on April 22,
1981 to proclaim April 26-May 3 as “Days of Remembrance of Victims of
Holocaust,” Reagan stated, “Like the genocide of the Armenians before
it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it and like too
many other such persecutions of too many other peoples­the lessons
of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.” Later in his first term,
the Reagan Administration, at the urging of Secretary of State George
Schultz and Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, retreated from this
stand and opposed successive Armenian Genocide Resolutions in 1985
and 1987.

Armenian Americans will also remember President Reagan as a primary
force in encouraging the U.S. Senate to ratify and implement the United
Nations Genocide Convention. Adopted by the United Nations in 1948,
the Convention languished on the Senate docket for some 40 years,
despite the heroic efforts of Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire
(D) and later Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell (D) to obtain
passage of the measure. In 1986, President Reagan urged the Senate
leadership to take up the bill and, after a number of modifications,
the Convention was signed into law by Reagan in 1988.

Congress is currently considering legislation (H.Res.193 and
S.Res.164) marking the 15th anniversary of the implementation of
the Genocide Convention. Introduced in the Senate in June, 2003
by Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ), S.Res. 164
currently has 39 cosponsors. Its companion House measure, H.Res.193,
led by Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA),
and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), was adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary
Committee in May, 2003, and has 111 cosponsors. The resolution cites
the importance of remembering past crimes against humanity, including
the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, in
an effort to stop future atrocities. Support for the measure has been
widespread, with a diverse coalition of over 100 ethnic, religious,
civil and human rights organizations calling for its passage, including
American Values, National Organization of Women, Sons of Italy, NAACP,
Union of Orthodox Rabbis, and the National Council of La Raza.

In the last days of his second term, President Reagan led a U.S.
effort to help the victims of the devastating December 7th,
1988 earthquake in Armenia. Reversing a 40-year standing policy
that lasted throughout the Cold War, President Reagan airlifted
several planeloads of humanitarian assistance to Soviet Armenia
within weeks of the tragedy. In his December 25th radio address to
the American people, Reagan stated that, in the time of tragedy,
“the real differences that divide us and will continue to divide us
fall away.” He went on to note the tremendous outpouring of U.S.
assistance in light of the Armenian earthquake. “From the United
States the response has been staggering,” he said. “Relief workers,
tens of millions of dollars in private contributions, food, clothing,
a cascade of good will and fellow feeling.”

President Reagan will be given a state funeral on Friday, June 11th.

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