Author: Jidarian Alex

KOCHARIAN VISITS LOCAL FACTORY

ArmenPress
May 21 2004

YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian visited
today a local Hayasa Group company. It was established in 1981 to
produce stockinet. Today it operates on local capital manufacturing
goods mainly for export, sold in France, USA, Russia. Among its
products are clothes and uniform for women and children, hunters,
military. Orders are coming also from China as well but the company
fears that it is not yet ready to expand production. It employs 240
people with 35,000 average salary. It has a division for deaf people
where 25-30 people work.

According to Hayasa executive director, Eduard Harutunian, last year
200 million drams worth output was produced, 80 percent of which
was exported. It is not profitable to work with the domestic market
as it is small with lots of imported goods, the company director
said. He also said that light industry has always been prospective
in Armenia. It demands lots of investment. One of current challenges
are high interest rates at the banks, Harutunian said.

After the meeting, Robert Kocharian spoke to reporters. He said that
the company has increased its production volumes 3 times compared to
the last year. In general, a rise of 90 percent is observed in the
light industry, he said. One of the aims of this visit was to learn
about the difficulties and challenges that the company is facing and
to understand what are the ways to boost it.

“Step by step working with each sector today we have 9 percent
economic growth in 4 months,” Kocharian noted. Armenian president
said they are trying to boost Armenian export through participation
in international exhibition. He also said that no question was raised
about the influence of political development on the economy during
the meetings with the business people. “Business people intuitively
feel that no serious development are expected and are concerned with
more practical issues,” he said.

“Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund Convenes its Annual Summit

FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE
May 21, 2004

CONTACT: Sarkis Kotanjian
Phone: (818) 243-6222
Fax: (818) 243-7222
E-mail: [email protected]

Glendale, CA – The Board of Trustees of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund
held its annual general meeting in Yerevan on May 6, 2004. The meeting
was part of a week-long summit (May 4th-May 11th) which brought together
representatives of the Fund’s eighteen overseas affiliates from Canada,
South America, Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
President of the Republic of Armenia and Chairman of the Board of
Trustees of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund, H.E. Robert Kocharian, and the
President of Nagorno Karabakh Republic H.E. Arkady Ghoukasian
participated in the sessions and activities. The key objective of the
summit was to assess the Fund’s current programs and to chart out the
5-year and 10-year plans to enhance the Fund’s activities.

Armenia Fund, Inc. (AFI), the Fund’s affiliate in the Western United
States, was represented by its Chairperson, Maria Mehranian and
Vice-Chairman Ara Aghishian, Esq. In her report, Mehranian discussed
the challenges facing AFI and outlined the organization’s development
strategy for the upcoming five years. She said that while the Western
U.S. has a sizable active Armenian population, it also has the
responsibility to create and maintain a complex network of its own
cultural, educational, religious and administrative institutions that
cater to its local communities. Recognizing this reality, she stressed
that the Fund’s key messages should emphasize the inseparable link
between Armenia and the Diaspora. The diversity of the Armenian
communities in the Western U.S. necessitates a strong public outreach
program that establishes and maintains the credibility of the Fund,
while staying connected to its constituency.

“AFI does not view these challenges as obstacles rather as factors
that offer unique opportunities that can enhance our activities”, said
Mehranian. For example, the expansive geographic area and the diverse
population in the Western region are powerful sources of assets and
capabilities for specialized assistance to the Fund’s programmatic and
targeted projects. At the same time, the large number of single and
multi-purpose organizations in the region offer opportunities for
strategic partnerships to sponsor specific projects.

Presenting AFI’s strategic development plan for the upcoming five years,
Mehranian stated that the organization’s Board of Directors will
concentrate its efforts on achieving several important goals: expand and
diversify the donor base by developing a multi-level fundraising
strategy, educate the public about Armenia’s critical needs and the
range of the Fund’s projects that target those needs, and establish
strategic partnerships to implement joint projects with other Armenian
organizations currently involved in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. She
emphasized that these goals can only be achieved by maintaining
political independence and neutrality, adhering to strict accountability
and financial transparency, and by professional management of
fundraising and fund allocation at the executive level.

During an interview with Ara Aghishian, Esq., Vice-Chairman of AFI,
Inc., upon his return from the Summit, he stated that “I was very
pleased with the rate of progress our projects in general are being
implemented in Armenia. I was there at the last Summit in September of
2003, and observed a tremendous amount of improvement the Fund has done
from September 2003 to May of 2004. I am certain that the leadership
will continue this important task with the same vigor and dedication.”

Armenia Fund, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, is
the West Coast affiliate of the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund
headquartered in Yerevan, Armenia. Since 1994, AFI has generated over
$20 million for various large-scale humanitarian and infrastructure
development projects in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

May 20, 2004
___________________

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES ASKS FOR INTERVENTION IN SUDAN

Joining efforts by the U.S. government, the United Nations, and a
variety of international aid organizations to stop the violence in
Sudan before it becomes genocide, the National Council of Churches
(NCC) this week issued a call for intervention in the troubled region.

During its meeting in Chicago, the NCC’s executive board passed a
resolution on Tuesday, May 18, 2004, urging member churches to push
for cessation of the apparent attempt at ethnic cleansing in the
Darfur region of western Sudan.

The violence has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and
displaced a million people.

A NEW GENOCIDE?

The year-long battle in the Darfur region is being propagated by the
majority Arab population which controls most of the nation’s wealth
and power. U.N. officials report a systematic attempt to rid the
Darfur region of non-Arab residents.

News reports tell of bombings from government airplanes followed by an
invasion by the Jinjaweit — a government-backed nomadic Arab tribe
which has been promised the land in Darfur — who are using rape,
killings, and arson to force the surviving black residents to leave.

Those able to flee the Sudan — which was recently elected to a
three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Commission — have been
pouring into neighboring Chad, where food, water, and shelter are
growing scarce. American officials have unsuccessfully called on
Sudan to allow humanitarian aid to flow into the Darfur area.

“My family is victim of the first genocide of the 20th century,” said
Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer of the Diocese
of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) and a member of the NCC
executive board. “I am very much concerned when I see that people in
other nations now are being massacred as well, simply because they
are black. Ten years ago, in Rwanda, in front of the civilized world,
one million people were slaughtered. The same thing is happening now
in Sudan. The NCC must take this very seriously and do something.”

The first NCC resolution dealing with the Sudan was approved in 2002.
This recent resolution “affirms and extends” the calls to action made
in the earlier statement of the NCC Executive Board — an 80 member
body representing leaders from the NCC’s 36 Protestant, Orthodox,
and Anglican member churches.

— 5/20/04

# # #

UEFA.com
May 19 2004

Delura double galvanises Germany

Germany continued their bid to reach the UEFA European Under-19
Championship finals with an impressive 5-0 win against Armenia in
Bratislava in their opening match in Group 3.

Early lead
A young Armenian side was comprehensively out-manoeuvred by a
disciplined German team, who were physically and tactically stronger
and took a 2-0 lead early in the match thanks to two goals from
Michael Delura at the FK Rapid Ruzinov stadium.

Well-taken goals
The FC Schalke 04 striker opened the scoring in the 15th minute,
bursting on to Sahr Senesie’s pass and shooting into the top corner.
The same player doubled the lead four minutes later as he broke clear
down the right and escaped the attentions of two defenders to score
with his left foot.

Penalty third
Armenia had a brief spell of pressure at the end of the first half
but struggled to to find a way through to Rene Adler’s goal. It was
Germany who started the second half the stronger and Armenian
goalkeeper Edel Apoula Edima Bete was forced into three good saves
but there was nothing he could do to stop Senesie’s penalty after
Mkhitar Grigoryan had handled.

Substitutes strike
Germany added gloss to the scoreline with two goals in the last five
minutes. First, substitute Enis Alushi dribbled past four defenders
and his high shot somehow evaded Bete to make it 4-0, before
Senesie’s clever back-heel allowed another replacement, Christian
Gentner, to make it five.

‘Team display’
“We played really well as a team today,” said Germany coach Dieter
Eilts. “Everybody wanted the ball, wanted to go forward and it
brought a reward. We had seen Armenia’s games from the first
qualifying stage and knew if they lost the ball in midfield they’d
have problems getting back. So we tried to hit this weakness and
succeeded rather well. Now we have to play Portugal and this will be
a totally different game.”

Portuguese test
Slovakia defeated Portugal 2-1 in Wednesday’s other fixture in the
section and Eilts’ team will go into Friday’s meeting with the
Portuguese in Bratislava in good heart. Armenia meet mini-tournament
hosts Slovakia the same day.

Turkish Press
May 17 2004

Two Important Visits
BYEGM: 5/17/2004
BY ERDAL SAFAK

SABAH- Ankara will host two stars this week, but while one of them is
on the verge of fading the other is still rising. The falling star is
British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He says that he likes his job and
is hopeful for a third term, but Britain’s ruling Labour Party has
started to prepare itself for the post-Blair era. Deputy Prime
Minister John Prescott has even said that the search for a successor
has gained momentum.

Blair’s visit is based on a decision made in the wake of last
November’s terrorist attacks in Istanbul under which the two
countries’ premiers will meet twice a year. Blair is the first to do
so. The visit’s agenda is already set: next month’s NATO summit in
Istanbul, the Greater Middle East Initiative, recent developments in
Iraq, the Cyprus issue and of course Turkey’s European Union
membership bid. Blair has been clear on his policies towards Ankara
from the beginning, plus he is honest and has taken a favorable
attitude towards Turkey. In March he said that the EU has to show its
will to accept Turkey – describing it as a proud country with a
Muslim majority – under the same conditions as its other members. He
reiterated this on May 9, adding that it has already decided that
Turkey will become an EU member, but he urged Ankara to fulfill the
conditions which other members also had to complete. There are rumors
that Blair will surprise Ankara by announcing his government’s
decision to allow direct flights to the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC). We’ll see.

The second guest, a rising star who came to power after a revolution,
is new Georgian President Mihail Saakasvili. He has pledged to do
whatever is needed to preserve Georgia’s territorial integrity, which
means that two revolutions are on the way. Sakasvili will visit
Ankara on May 20-21. It is said that he will offer his help in
mediating between Turkey and Armenia.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS
AND INFORMATION

Turkey wants good relations with Armenia – spokesman

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
12 May 04

Ankara, 12 May: Turkey wanted good relations with Armenia, Turkish
Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said on Wednesday 12 May .

Tan told a weekly press briefing that the Caucasus and Armenia were
important regions for Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tan stated that there were chronic
problems in the region.

Everybody should fulfil his responsibilities, Tan noted. Tan added
that only Turkey’s efforts would not be sufficient to overcome those
chronic problems.

POLICE PREVENT AZERI PRESSURE GROUP’S MARCH TO KARABAKH

Lider TV, Baku
8 May 04

(Presenter) Today marks the 12th anniversary of Susa’s occupation. The
plans of the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) to hold a peace
march to Karabakh have failed. The members of the organization, who
gathered at the Martyr’s Avenue at 1100 (0600 gmt), first commemorated
the martyrs and laid a wreath at the memorial complex.

(Video shows crowds of people visiting the Martyrs’ Avenue)

KLO chairman Akif Nagi said they would march as far as Karabakh and
that citizens from districts along the route would join them.

The march scheduled for 1200 (0700 gmt) did not take place. Police
officers did not allow the KLO members to hold their march. They
explained this by the fact that the action was unsanctioned.

The KLO members, who gathered at the Martyrs’ Avenue, agreed with the
police and gave up on the march in order to avoid a conflict on this
day.

Associated Press
May 8 2004

Armenian Church offers to buy St. Francis in Nashua
The Associated Press

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) – The Catholic Diocese of Manchester hopes that a
$1 million offer from a representative of the Armenian Orthodox
Church to buy the century-old century-old St. Francis Xavier Church
will put residents’ minds at ease.

Architectural preservationists and former parishioners of the church
filed suit against Bishop John McCormack last month to stop their
closed church from being sold. They wanted the court to prevent any
sale and have the diocese maintain the building as a functioning
church.

Diocesan officials hope a probate court will recognize their intent
to transfer ownership to another church, thus following a provision
in a 119-year-old deed that lies at the center of the parishioners
lawsuit.

The deed states that if destroyed, the church building must be
replaced with another. It also requires that the land always hold a
place of religious observance and nothing else.

“We hope this proposal is consistent with the charitable condition”
of The Jackson Co., a textile manufacturer that donated the land on
which the building sits, said the Rev. Edward Arsenault, chancellor
of the Manchester diocese. “It’s our goal to resolve any civil legal
issue before transferring the title.”

The identity of the Armenian churchs representative is unknown. It is
also unclear if the individual would personally finance the purchase,
or if it would be funded by contributions from the Armenian
community. The buyer could donate the building outright to the
Armenian church, court documents suggest.

The diocese closed the church last year, citing a declining
parishioner base, dwindling donations and a clergy shortage.

“It was meant to be a church. Im very grateful the Armenian people
see its value as a house of worship, and a magnificent one at that,”
said Georgi Hippauf, a member of the St. Francis Xavier Church
Foundation.

The foundation – a group that wants St. Francis to remain a religious
institution – and several former parishioners of the church sued
McCormack, attempting to strip the diocese of its supervisory power
of the building.

The suit boils down to the question of who owns a church: the
parishioners or the bishop?

The diocese filed several court motions Friday, including petitions
to suspend and ultimately dismiss the suit in Hillsborough County
Superior Court. The diocese instead wants the Hillsborough County
Probate Court to issue a final ruling on the deed.

Gerald Prunier, a Nashua attorney representing the interested buyer,
would also not reveal the persons identity. He said the new church
would “be the parish of New Hampshire.”

“My client has strong interest in the church,” Prunier said. “Anyone
(who) takes the time to go around in the church realizes what a great
building it is.”

Mail & Guardian , South Africa
May 7 2004

In key for a new season

The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s (JPO) fourth birthday is on
June 21 – an unbelievable feat, because the months between January
and June 2000 were some of the blackest for orchestral musicians in
Johannesburg. Paul Boekkooi looks back on four years of the
Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra and previews its new season

he Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s (JPO) fourth birthday is on
June 21 – an unbelievable feat, because the months between January
and June 2000 were some of the blackest for orchestral musicians in
Johannesburg.

At the end of January 2000 the old National Symphony Orchestra was
disbanded owing to a lack of funds. That orchestra gave two
heart-rending free performances to the Johannesburg public in
Parktown’s Linder Auditorium without a conductor. Both houses were
brimful. Many thought it the final death knell for orchestral music
in Africa’s richest city.

The musicians thought differently. They started forming committees to
investigate the possibility of establishing a new orchestra where
each member would be a stakeholder in the company they collectively
own. The JPO gave its inaugural concerts on June 21 and 22 that year
in the Linder with Finnish maestro Hannu Lintu conducting. The
sustainability of regular symphony seasons was one of the challenges
facing the new orchestra. It met only sporadically during the first
30 months of its existence. However, since 2003 it presented four
symphony seasons annually. With ample corporate funding, the JPO is
now able to plan seasons at least a year ahead. After an excellent
first season in 2004 with only a couple of artistic disappointments,
lovers of symphonic music can look forward to an arguably better
second symphony season, starting on May 12 at the Linder. The
five-concert season on Wednesdays and Thurdays at 8pm ends on June
10.

Although United States composer Alan Hovhanness’s Mysterious Mountain
(1955) is apparently popular on Classic FM, a live performance of
this work by the composer of Armenian and Scottish parentage might
have a different impact.

Only a minority might appreciate the composer’s New Age sounds and
his sometimes boringly conservative harmonies. The orchestration is
colourful and mystical, but unfortunately at times, also wearisome.

However, the same concert presents French pianist Jean Dubé (23) who
won the International Liszt Competition in Utrecht, The Netherlands,
two years ago. He’ll be playing the Liszt Piano Concerto No 1 in E
Flat Major.

But how adroit will conductor Michael Hankinson be and what kind of
exoticism will he be able to evoke in the full score of Stravinsky’s
Firebird Ballet?

The week after that, on May 19 and 20, a new conductor will take his
bow with the JPO – Pretoria-born Conrad van Alphen, who already has
an international reputation. He will conduct Russian master pianist
Boris Petrushansky in a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No
4 in G Op 58, while he will also bring us one of the 20th century’s
most celebrated symphonies: the Shostakovich No 10 in E Op 93. In
terms of formal analysis, few of the composer’s symphonies have had
more written about them than this one.

For the three remaining concerts, the JPO has contracted a maestro
who has had a special relationship with it from the very first year –
Germany’s Bernhard Gueller. He or the riveting Charles Ansbacher from
the US, who conducted during this year’s first season, is the kind of
orchestra trainer the JPO needs to continually grow as an symphonic
entity. Gueller brings us three stimulating, divergent programmes.

The first, on May 26 and 27, are by Czech, Hungarian and Russian
composers, opening with a selection of Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances,
followed by a rare performance of Bartok’s Viola Concerto as prepared
for performance from the composer’s original manuscript by Tibor
Serly.

The brilliant, Russian-born violinist, who lives in Pretoria but is
often one of the JPO’s sub-principals, will be the soloist. The
concert ends with Rachmaninov’s swansong, the broodingly melancholic
Symphonic Dances, Op 45.

The following week Anton Nel (piano) is the soloist in music by
Viennese composers: Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture, the Brahms Piano
Concerto No 1 in D Op 15 and Beethoven’s Symphony No 3 in E Flat Op
55 (The Eroica), also performed at the JPO’s inaugural concert.

The theme for the final concert on June 9 and 10 is The Planets. Not
only will Gustav Holst’s famous suite be heard, but the June concert
opens with Mozart’s last and arguably greatest symphony, No 41 in C
K551 (The Jupiter). Book at Computicket.

A1 Plus | 19:38:52 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |

ARMENIAN JUSTICE MINISTER ATTACHES LITTLE IMPORTANCE TO PACE RESOLUTION

Justice Minister David Harutyunyan, speaking at a news conference on
Tuesday, failed to answer journalists’ question whether Armenian authorities
are going to comply with PACE-adopted resolution, demanding to refrain from
applying administrative detention to rallies’ and demonstrations’
participants, or not.

“There is some misunderstanding between us and the CE”, the answer was.

He pointed out that the facts submitted for the PACE consideration were not
accurate, that’s why value of the document based on them is not so great.

He is concerned about the fact of such kind of documents’ existence. It
would be better, if Armenia wasn’t be a subject of discussion in PACE
sessions, Harutyunyan said.

He is convinced the situation created by some legislative faults. In his
opinion, “administrative detention” conception is inherited from soviet-era
legislation.

But, at the same time, he said the “administrative detention” term can be
replaced by another one. But even so, such a punishment will remain in
practice and can be placed in Penal code.