Author: Kafian Jirair

Today, Azerbaijan
June 18 2005

UNESCO recommended official Baku to appeal Armenia for stopping
archaeological excavations in Shusha

18 June 2005 [09:53] – Today.Az

The minister of culture Polad Bulbuloglu appealed to the several
international organizations including the general director of
UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura few time before in connection with stopping
archaeological excavations held by the Armenians in Shusha.

According to the information entered APA from the press-service of the
ministry, the deputy on culture of the general director of UNESCO Munir
Bushenaki has already sent a letter in reply to the culture minister.

It is informed in the letter that all information given by the
Secretariat of UNESCO was investigated in every detail: “I must inform
with the feeling of regret that the secretariat of UNESCO was warned
not to send any mission to the region in the frame in connection with
the work of other agencies of UNO. That is why the authorities of
the organization in rendering assistance on protecting the cultural
values are limited to the last extent at the present time”.

It was also noted in the response letter that the excavations violating
the Hague Convention were illegal: “As to this question, I would like
to inform that the Secretariat does not have such special authority as
elucidating its existence to the convention. Except the truce procedure
considered in the 22nd article of the convention, there is no special
mechanism for solving the conflicts related to its propositions and
commentary. Even this article can not also be applied in definite form
as the protector state was not appointed. If there is a need of urgent
interference in the territory damaged and occupied as the result of the
military operations for protecting such values located in the territory
and the authoritative national government of the occupied territory can
not provide it, the invader country is required to cooperate closely
with the government of the occupied territory in the direction of
realizing most urgent measures for protecting these values”.

M.Bushenaki informed with the feeling of regret in the end of the
letter that the Secretariat would not be able to help Shusha city to
enter the International Register of the Culture Values being under
Special Protection. He explained this step according to the 13(2)
article of the Execution Regulations of the Hague Convention such
inquiries had to be made by the country which had occupied the
territories where the culture values were situated.

/APA/

URL:

AZG Armenian Daily #112, 18/06/2005

Economy

FARMERS TO GET INVOLVED IN IRRIGATION MANAGING

20.000 More Irrigated Hectares in One Year

200 thousand hectares of Soviet Armenia’s territory used to be
irrigated. But by mid-1990s this number reduced to 100 thousand
hectares. What’s the reason and what should the state do to cut short
this tendency threatening agriculture’s development?

As a result of land privatization, almost 450.000 hectares of
agricultural lots got denationalized and divided into 1.4 million
small areas. Consequently, it became difficult to supervise the
irrigation network built in the Soviet times. They were built to pump
water to huge ground area (up to hundreds of hectares) and now they
had to serve thousand of tiny lots.

On the other hand, the irrigation system underwent almost no
repair. These two factors had their impact on water supplying. The
peasants constantly complained of water supply being late, of
insufficient water or high fees, and the water supplying organization
complained of the farmers failing to pay which resulted in money
scarcity for the system’s normal functioning.

Not only did the network’s repair on World Bank’s finances help the
sphere but also implementation of reforms in the management of the
sphere. The Office of Development and Reforms in the Water Industry,
which carries out credit projects financed by the WB, arrived at a
conclusion that the best way of managing irrigation system in Armenia
is by the farmers’ involvement.

This policy of water management is well accepted by states on different
levels of development. Along with such countries as the USA, Italy,
Spain and other EU states, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia have also adopted this system of water managing.

The first precedent of handing the irrigation water managing over
to consumers took place in 1996. The organization that spring up at
that time proved this principle to be functional but the loopholes in
the legislation and the absence of state support turned the attempts
futile. Additional examination and specialists’ discussions lasted
a few years before the law was drafted. Afterwards, in 2004, 54 such
organizations were created.

The purpose of these organizations is to provide the farmers as much
water as they need and whenever they need. For that, the farmers are
suggested to take up the management of the irrigation system. This
is the mechanism that will guarantee fairness and productiveness of
water supply. But the farmers are still to get acquainted with their
new rights to make them more active in protecting their rights. The
Office of Development and Reforms expressed readiness to support the
farmers and their organizations in this issue.

By Ara Martirosian

Duke researcher arrested on suspicion of smuggling books

Lexington Dispatch, NC
June 17 2005

The Associated Press

A Duke University researcher was detained at Yerevan airport on Friday
on suspicion of smuggling antique books out of Armenia, the National
Security Service said.

An official for the security agency, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said that Turkish citizen Yektan Turkyilmaz had been
arrested in possession of books dating from the 17th to 20th
centuries and was suspected of seeking to take them secretly on a
flight to Turkey.

Turkyilmaz, of Duke University in Durham, N.C., is likely to be fined
although the offense he is accused of carries a maximum five-year
jail term, the security official said.

Books older than 50 years cannot be taken out of Armenia without
special permission. Turkyilmaz was in Armenia to carry out research in
the Armenian national archives, the first Turk to be allowed to do so.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations because of dispute
over the killings of Armenians during World War I, which Armenians
say was genocide.

Armenians say some 1.5 million of their people were killed as the
Ottoman Empire forced them from eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923
in a deliberate campaign of genocide.

Turkey says the death count is inflated and insists that Armenians
were killed or displaced in the civil unrest during the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire.

Today, Azerbaijan
June 16 2005

Azeri Foreign Ministry made statement denouncing the elections to
fake “parliament of UGR”

15 June 2005 [10:13] – Today.Az

Foreign Ministry made statement denouncing the fake “parliamentary
elections” in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

According to the statement received by APA from the press service
of Foreign Ministry that Azerbaijani side evaluated these separatist
actions for several times legally and announces again that such policy
will not lead to successful perspective.” Holding fake “elections”
in the territories under occupation and in which the policy of ethnic
cleaning is pursued contradicts the international juridical norms and
the principles of Azerbaijan Constitution and has no legal force. Such
steps taken by Armenian side does not coincide with the spirit of the
recent positive talk’s process. Permanent peace can not be mentioned
until the principles of cooperation and peaceful living condition
are not established between Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in
the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Republic.

Therefore, Azerbaijan supports the calls of the international unity
on establishing direct relations for forming confidence and respect
between the communities.

The dialogue between the communities will provide opportunity
for establishing normal relations between the Armenians living in
Karabakh and Azerbaijanis who had to leave their own homes, involving
the all layers of the population of the region into the legal, peace
and democracy process as well as the process of forming legitimate
structures”.

URL:

Armenian religious leader visits Scottsdale
By Andrea Falkenhagen, Tribune

East Valley Tribune, AZ
June 16 2005

Whenever Hasmik Takoushian walked into a church in her native Armenia,
the scent of incense and burning candles inspired her soul.

“It’s like really you are walking into a spiritual place,” she said.
“I feel a connection with my ancestors.”

Soon, the Scottsdale resident and hundreds of other Armenians in
the Valley will have a much closer place to worship their brand of
Christianity, one of the oldest denominations in the world.

By early 2006, construction is expected to start in Scottsdale on
the first Armenian church in Arizona. The state is home to some 2,500
Armenians, most of whom live in the Valley.

The Armenian pope, Karekin II, will visit the congregation today to
bless the ground where the church will stand. The congregation has
raised two-thirds of the $1.5 million needed for the church, which
still requires city approval.

Church member and architect Arvin Knadjian designed the building in
the spirit of an ancient Armenian church, with a cross shape and a
large dome centered above the cross.

“Preserving the religion the way it was, and striving to build a
church in the same way of our ancestors in a foreign country – it’s
incredible,” said Takoushian, who moved to the United States eight
years ago.

The church will be built adjacent to the Armenian Church Cultural
Center near 90th and Cholla streets, where members have been holding
services since 1992.

“The church is very central to Armenian identity. In the United
States, a church really shows that the community has a presence,”
said Barlow Der Mugrdechian, a professor in the Armenian Studies
Program at California State University, Fresno.

Armenia, located between Turkey and Azerbaijan, is an ancient country
with religious customs dating back to 301, when it became the first
country to formally adopt Christianity.

Victoria Manoogian, an active church member, said it sometimes is
hard to explain her religion – Christian, but neither Roman Catholic
nor Protestant – to Americans unfamiliar with Eastern branches of
Christianity.

The Armenian Church belongs to the Orthodox churches, Der Mugrdechian
said. Though it has closer religious ties to the Roman Catholic
Church, it was created separate from Rome and has its own pontiff,
known as the Supreme Catholicos of All Armenians.

Today will be the second time Karekin II has visited the Valley, and
members of the church have been preparing for weeks for his arrival.

The backbone of the church, the members said, is the Ladies Society,
whose members were scrambling on Wednesday to prepare food for the
800 people they expected to attend today’s ceremony.

Several women ladled sauce into tubs of meatballs and cut pieces of
boureg, or meat and cheese turnovers.

Annie Avadisian was preparing strawberries, but when a FedEx truck
delivered an entire box of baklava melting in the Arizona heat,
she shifted into high gear to save the desserts.

The women hail from countries all over the world, including Armenia,
Iran and Iraq. There are roughly 7 million members of the Armenian
diaspora around the globe, while Armenia itself has a population of
about 3 million.

Between 800,000 and 1 million Armenians live in the United States,
with many calling Southern California home, said Der Mugrdechian.

The Valley Armenian community is vibrant, Takoushian said, offering
a play group for small children, a youth organization and Armenian
language classes.

When Armenia was under Soviet control from 1920 to 1991, religion
was discouraged within its borders.

“But here, it was preserved so well. It blows my mind,” Takoushian
said.

She said the strong community also serves to remember victims of the
Armenian genocide, a period when the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire killed
roughly 1 million Armenians during World War I.

The U.S. government has never officially recognized the genocide,
though Arizona is one of 37 states that have chosen to do so on
their own.

For deeply religious people like Manoogian, a church ties together
heritage and history, both good and bad.

“It’s like your soul and your history comes out. It starts living
and breathing in front of you when you walk into a church,” she said.

For Takoushian, it’s a symbol of survival.

“Wherever we go we bring our culture and religion. We’re going to
survive,” she said. “We just try to keep the Armenian heart beating.”

ROTATION OF ARMENIAN PEACEMAKERS IN IRAQ TO TAKE PLACE IN MIDDLE OF JULY

YEREVAN, JUNE 15. ARMINFO. Rotation of Armenian peacemakers in Iraq
will take place in the middle of July, Head of General Staff of
Armenia’s Armed Forces, Colonel-General Mikael Harutyunyan informed
journalists today.

In his words, he has always communicated with peacemakers in Iraq.
“Our fellows serve normally and perform their duties, and the division
command is pleased with them. Our peacemakers have excellent relations
with local Armenian community”, Harutyunyan noted.

To note, 46 Armenian servicemen are in Iraq at present, of them 30
drivers, 3 doctors, 10 sappers, 1 communication officer, a platoon
commander and an officer performing general command. Harutyunyan also
informed that Armenian peacemakers in Kosovo also are honored best
references from the direction of command.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: RUSSIA READY TO BE GUARANTOR OF KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

Pan Armenian News
14.06.2005 05:05

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia is ready to play the role of a guarantor
of the Karabakh settlement, if Azerbaijan and Armenia arrive at a
compromise over the problem, Russian Foreign Ministry representative
Alexander Yakovenko stated. Russia will support the decision that fits
all parties to conflict, he underscored. Touching upon the bilateral
contacts of Moscow and Baku the diplomat remarked active growth of
commercial and economic relations. Thus, in his words, last year the
volume of commodity turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan increased
50%, as well as 40% within the initial 5 months this year, the Golos
Rossii reported.

AZG Armenian Daily #108, 14/06/2005

Economy

‘SIBERIA’ PURCHASES ‘MIKA’ AT $50 MILLION

“Siberia” Air Company has confirmed the press release of RA government,
according to which the company leaves Armenia and hands its rights and
commitments to “Mika Armenia Trading company owned by entrepreneur
Mikael Baghdasarov. Liberty Radio informed that as a result of the
deal, “Siberia” will receive $50 million. “Siberia” is the second
largest air company of Russia. Though last year it suffered loss of
$30 million. Thus, “Armavia” company becomes the full property of
“Mika Armenia Trading” and receives many opportunities to enlarge
its activities, as “Armenian Airlines” and “Armenian International
Airlines” left the market during the last two years.

Putin seeks G8 debt relief for ex-Soviet republics

AFX Europe (Focus); Jun 13, 2005

NOVO-OGARYEVO (AFX) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has called
for a reduction of the international debt owed by the poorest of the
former Soviet republics and signalled Russia would put the issue on the
Group of Eight agenda when it assumes the G8 chairmanship next year.

“For Britain, it is quite important to know the situation in the
African countries,” Putin said at a news conference following talks
with British Prime Minister Tony Blair who is touring member countries
ahead of a G8 summit in Scotland in July.

“It is equally important for us to address the situation” in the
ex-Soviet republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), Putin said, adding: “Hopefully next year we will be
able to impartially assess the situation in these countries with
our colleagues.”

The Russian leader admitted that relations between Moscow and a number
of the former Soviet republics it once dominated were not always
“easy-going,” but said these countries nonetheless “want our support
and the support of the international community.”

Several — specifically Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia,
Georgia in the Caucasus and Moldova which is sandwiched between Ukraine
and Romania — objectively qualify as heavily indebted developing
countries in most urgent need of help from international lenders,
he said.

“We need not turn these CIS states into a battlefield. Rather we
should transport this space into a space of cooperation and we need
to do our best to provide assistance to these countries in developing
democracy and enhancing their economic basis.”

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and other international lending
institutions have focused in recent years on poverty and debt control
in ex-Soviet republics through an initiative launched in 2002 known
as the CIS-7.

The countries that are the object of the plan are: Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Messenger, Georgia
June 13 2005

Black Sea Business Day Hosted by BSTDB
Business discuss potential – and obstacles – for Black Sea region
businesses
By Messenger Staff

According to the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), the
Black Sea regional economy is expanding, although further development
demands a more stable investment climate and a wider range of social
services for low income populations.

On June 6 BSTDB hosted the Black Sea Business Day in Yerevan,
Armenia.

An annual event, participants used this year’s meeting to explore the
investment potential of the Caucasus, the role of international
institutions, assistance to SME sector development, and financial
sector development.

According to Mustafa Gurtin, the chairman of the board of directors
and president of BSTDB, business prospects in the region are
expanding. He added, however, that the region needs to take steps to
“more liberal agriculture,” develop intellectual property rights and
improve access to textile and other commodity markets.

“[The region needs] a more stable investment climate and a wider
social safety net, targeting lower income segments, to ensure that
they are not adversely affected from the process of rapid economic
growth,” Gurtin said in his opening remarks.

He underlined that the government should act as a facilitator that
“encourages dynamism of the private sector and structures their
financial systems to make them more attractive for foreign
investments.”

The BSTDB, which as an authorized capital of approximately USD 1.325
billion, and the Izmirlian Foundation Joint Finance Facility (JFF)
announced the extension of two 5-year USD 425,000 and 500,000 loans
to two Armenian companies: OVAL Ltd and Valletta Ltd.

The financing will support the companies’ modernization and expansion
program. OVAL Ltd is Armenia’s leading manufacturer of polymer
packages for food products, in particularly in the diary industry.
VALLETTA Ltd. is involved many different aspects of the Armenian
economy; it also conducts business in Georgia and Russia.

In an interview with The Messenger, Gurtin highlighted that
assistance rendered to different countries does not depend on the
amount of shares owned by these countries. The priority is given to
the viability of the projects submitted by the countries – including
regional cooperation which complies with the BSTDB’s principles.

Representative of Georgia at the conference included Philip Sigwart,
the CEO of ProCredit Bank. The bank also received a USD 5 million
loan from BSTDB in January this year and is successfully implementing
a SME assisting program in Georgia.

In an interview with The Messenger, Sigwart said the meeting was
primarily a chance to talk shop with businesses and international
donor organizations active in the Black Sea region.

He also praised the BSTDB for “offering an alternative to IFC, EBRD,
with sometimes more flexible conditions.”

As for the potential of cross-border economic development in the
Black Sea region, he said this is “very good, but many obstacles
remain.”

“The main obstacles in the Caucasus region are of political nature,
for Georgia the conflict with Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the
unclear relations with Russia; another major issue is the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the closed border between Armenia
and Turkey,” Sigwart said, adding, “Other than that a major
impediment are the frequent problems on the border between Georgia
and Azerbaijan. With other countries like Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria,
Rumania trade works much smoother.”

Georgian Deputy Minister of Finance Lasha Gotsiridze also attended
the meeting. Gotsiridze supported the BSTDB activities in Georgia. He
added that Georgian financial organizations should further promote
cooperation with the bank.

BSTDB is an international financial institution established by
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova,
Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Next year the annual meeting will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.