Author: Navasardian Karapet

AGBU PRESS OFFICE
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Phone (212) 319-6383
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PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, May 20, 2004

SETRAKIAN TOURS ARMENIA
ANNOUNCES PLANS TO ESTABLISH A NEW INSTITUTE FOR DIASPORAN ARMENIANS

During his first official visit as AGBU President, Mr. Berge Setrakian
toured Armenia April 1 – 10, 2004, and held a series of meetings with
top government and church officials from the Republic and neighboring
Karabakh. He toured AGBU’s diverse array of Armenia-based projects
and announced plans for a new Melkonian center for Armenian youth
in Yerevan.

With a long record of assistance to Armenia that began with
pioneering projects of the 1920’s and 1930’s–humanitarian relief,
the repatriation of Armenians, the creation of new villages, and the
building of medical and educational institutions–AGBU continues its
contribution to the development of a strong and independent state.

Today, AGBU’s initiatives, with the generosity of its members and
donors, touch the lives of thousands and thousands of Armenians
worldwide. AGBU President Berge Setrakian’s recent trip reinforced
the organization’s interest in the development of Armenia’s spiritual,
economic and intellectual infrastructure.

TIES THAT BIND

Since the 1988 Gyumri earthquake and Armenia’s independence in 1991,
AGBU, while continuing to develop its Diasporan programs, has paid
special attention to the homeland and more recently, Karabakh.

During his visit to Armenia, Setrakian met with President Robert
Kocharian and other high ranking officials, including Premier
Andranik Markarian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, Education and
Science Minister Sergo Yeritsian, Culture Minister Tamar Poghossian,
Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Gagik Harutyunyan, as well as the
American, Russian, French and Lebanese ambassadors. At these meetings,
the AGBU President outlined the organization’s vision to work with
local Armenians to preserve a common Armenian heritage. The government
officials expressed their appreciation for AGBU’s accomplishments
and for its important achievements and programs both in Armenia and
the Diaspora in pursuance of the organization’s goals and mission.

Continuing on his ten-day tour, Mr. Setrakian visited the American
University of Armenia (AUA), where he received a warm reception
by university staff and members of the student body. He expressed
great pride in the continuous growth of AUA since its founding as a
partnership venture of the Armenian government, AGBU and the University
of California corporation.

“I am very glad that 80 percent of AUA graduates find employment
locally and remain in Armenia. We are proud to be part of the
university,” Mr. Setrakian said at the event.

The AGBU President also met with Rector of Yerevan Medical University,
Dr. Vilen Hakobyan, and visited the state-of-the-art Ultrasound Center
(UC), which boasts an extensive training program that attracts medical
students not only from Armenia but India, Nepal, Russia, and the United
States. The UC was established jointly with the Yerevan State Medical
University and Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University through
the financial support of AGBU and the leadership of Dr. Levon Nazarian.

Mr. Setrakian paid a visit to the president of Yerevan State Univeristy
(YSU) and met with the members of the University Council. YSU Rector
Radik Mardirossian expressed his appreciation for AGBU’s continued
support of higher education in the country and the funding it provides
for various YSU’s projects.

In his remarks, Mr. Setrakian emphasized the importance of
the development and strengthening of the country’s educational
system. He said that the future of the country would be best secured
by maintaining the highest level of quality public education. Private
institutions, he added, can only compliment a more broad-based national
public educational program.

A COMMON BELIEF

Mr. Setrakian visited AGBU-funded projects administered by the Holy
See of Etchmiadzin, including St. Nersess the Great Hospital and the
various churches in the capital constructed with funds provided by
AGBU benefactors, including, St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral-the
largest Armenian church in the world.

Mr. Setrakian toured the Arapkir Soup Kitchen and Nork Childrens’
Center, which have been joint projects of AGBU and the Holy See
since their establishment in 1993 and are a part of a network of
six soup kitchens and three Childrens’ Centers. These programs
provide daily meals to more than 1200 elderly pensioners and 5,000
young Armenians the opportunity to supplement their daily education
in a number of fields including art, music, sports, and computer
science. Mr. Setrakian met with many Soup Kitchen recipients during a
lunchtime meal and listened carefully as they explained how crucial
AGBU’s help is in their lives. On the same day, the AGBU President
attended a multi-talented performance presented by the Nork Center
students.

That evening, Setrakian attended a dinner with all senior directors and
managers of AGBU-run projects in Armenia. He stressed the importance
of coordination among AGBU’s respective activities in order to create
a better synergy that would benefit all programs. Mr. Setrakian had
the opportunity to attend the premier of the “Gayaneh” ballet by
the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, a production co-sponsored
by AGBU.

On April 4, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians,
received President Setrakian at the Holy See of Etchmiadzin. His
Holiness thanked AGBU for its steady financial and moral support of
various projects undertaken by the Church. His Holiness expressed
satisfaction regarding the close cooperation between AGBU and the
Holy See in the areas of Christian education, church building, social
program development, and community-church relations. Setrakian shared
his thoughts about the new programs that AGBU is planning both in
Armenia and the Diaspora. He further congratulated His Holiness on
the incredible renovations that have taken place at Etchmiadzin in
recent years, the progress in the dissemination of Church teachings
among Armenians, and the level of new clergy recruitment with the
development of extensive religious educational programs.

Mr. Setrakian renewed the commitment of AGBU to continue assisting
the Church to further develop and strengthen its role in the daily
life of all Armenians.

After their audience, Setrakian accompanied His Holiness to the
AGBU-supported Vaskenian Theological Seminary in Sevan to view
first-hand the cooperation between Etchmiadzin and AGBU. Created
through the generous donations of AGBU members, the Vaskenian Seminary
is a modern facility for training and preparing future clergy to
serve Armenians around the world.

THE ROAD TO KARABAKH

While in Armenia, Mr. Setrakian made a special two-day journey
to Karabakh, where AGBU France has successfully implemented a
repopulation project–AGBU’s centennial initiative–for an enclave
still scarred by the effects of war. Along with the construction
of new homes, schools and centers for the local population, the
ambitious plan offers humanitarian and economic assistance for local
residents. Following AGBU France’s successful rehabilitation of the
village of Norashen, AGBU chapters worldwide have adopted other similar
village reconstruction projects. The Karabakh Repopulation Centennial
Project mirrors AGBU’s first accomplishments in 1906 to reach out to
the rural Armenian populations in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

In Stepanakert, Mr. Setrakian met with Karabakh President Arkady
Ghukassian along with Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian and Foreign
Minister Ashot Ghulian, before traveling to Shushi where he was
received by H. E. Archbishop Barkev Martirossian. Mr. Setrakian
congratulated the Karabakh administration on the modern highway,
created through Diasporan funds, that links the Republic with Armenia
through the Kashatagh (Lachin) corridor.

Setrakian toured the devastated areas and institutions that remain
damaged since the war, particularly the hospitals, schools and other
basic facilities. He also visited various revitalization projects
accomplished through AGBU funds, including a residential complex that
houses 50 families of the Karabakh war heroes and one of the main
roads of the city named after the late AGBU President Alex Manoogian.

BACK TO YEREVAN

As he concluded his trip, Mr. Setrakian made a special point of meeting
with the Armenian Writers’ Union (AWU). Levon Ananian, President of
AWU, thanked Mr. Setrakian for AGBU’s support of some of the Union’s
activities that help it to maintain the Armenian heritage.

“Today in Armenia, AGBU is implementing vital projects. We appreciate
AGBU’s attitude towards Armenian literature and Armenian writers,”
Ananian said. With a belief in cultural exchanges between Armenia
and its Diaspora, last year AGBU translated Peter Balakian’s Black
Dog of Fate into Armenian. Now with AGBU’s support, AWU has announced
more ambitious plans to publish a ‘contemporary Armenian literature
in translation’ series to expose Armenian language writing to a
global audience.

A NEW MELKONIAN FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM

Education has always been a vital component of AGBU’s mission, thus,
it came as no surprise that Mr. Setrakian chose his Armenia-trip to
announce plans to establish an Armenia-based institute for Diasporan
youth. Mr. Setrakian discussed the program with government officials
who showed great interest and pledged their assistance to the endeavor
to ensure its success. While project details have not been finalized,
the initiative, Mr. Setrakian said, would be AGBU’s latest and most
innovative venture to connect Diasporan youth with their homeland.

The proposed center to be established in the memory of the Melkonian
Brothers, according to the AGBU President, will include an educational
building, a 100-room boarding facility, a state-of-the-art Armenian
language study center, a sports complex and other facilities. It
promises to strengthen cultural bonds and create exchange programs
for Armenian youth from all parts of the Diaspora.

CONTINUED SUPPORT

After a week of meetings and surveying AGBU’s local projects, President
Setrakian summarized the organization’s work in Armenia and its
symbiotic relationship with the nation’s aspirations. He emphasized
the importance of developing and strengthening the ties between
Armenia and the Diaspora for the benefit of the future development
of the Armenian nation as a whole. He added that Armenia’s strength
and survival will provide the strongest and most vital component for
the preservation of our identity in the Diaspora.

AGBU is the largest Armenian non-profit organization and promotes
Armenian heritage around the world. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization. It was established in 1906 to preserve
and promote the Armenian identity and heritage through educational,
cultural and humanitarian programs. AGBU supports and operates schools,
centers and offices in 23 countries around the world and serves some
400,000 Armenian annually.

For more information on AGBU and its programs in Armenia, please
visit

Minnesota teacher killed in Armenian capital

Associated Press
May 20 2004

YEREVAN, Armenia – A Minnesota man who traveled the world to teach
English in India, Tibet and other nations was found stabbed to death
outside his apartment here, his family said.

Armenian police said the body of Joshua Haglund, 33, was found in
downtown Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Monday night with signs
of beating and three stab wounds. The U.S. Embassy identified Haglund
but didn’t say where he was from.

Dan Blommer, Haglund’s stepfather, confirmed that Haglund was from
Shoreview and had been teaching at Yerevan’s Linguistics University
under the aegis of the U.S. Department of State’s English Language
Fellow program.

“We got a phone call from the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, and they said
he had gotten killed outside his apartment,” Blommer said. “They said
it did not appear to be a robbery.”

An official with the Armenian Prosecutor General’s office, who asked
not be named, said the killing had “personal motives” and voiced hope
that perpetrators could be quickly found.

Haglund last visited Minnesota in March, his family said. He was
planning to leave Armenia in a few days for a trip through Iran before
returning to Minnesota for the summer.

An experienced traveler, Haglund had lived for extended periods in
Japan, India and Puerto Rico. Last Friday, he told his mother, Maxine
Haglund-Blommer, that a recent interview had led to a job offer in
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He told her it would be his last
overseas assignment.

“He said, ‘This is my last trip, Mom. I want to live close to you
guys.’ That was his plan,” she said.

Haglund graduated from Mounds View High School, the University of
Minnesota and the University of Toronto.

Armenia, which gained independence from the former Soviet Union in
1991, lies just east of Turkey.

US embassy employee reportedly killed in Armenian capital

Mediamax news agency
18 May 04

Yerevan, 18 May: The US embassy in Yerevan is not commenting on reports
of the murder of a US citizen in the Armenian capital in the evening
of 17 May.

“No comment,” the US embassy press service told a Mediamax
correspondent today.

Several Armenian media, in particular Aravot and Aykakan Zhamanak
newspapers, reported today that the US embassy employee had been
killed in Yerevan in the evening of 17 May.

According to the newspapers, the corpse was discovered with stab
wounds in the backyard of a building in central Yerevan.

AZERI, GEORGIAN, ARMENIAN SPEAKERS TO MEET IN STRASBOURG

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 13, 2004

Speakers of the Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian parliaments are
planned to meet in Strasbourg next week.

A source from the Milli Majlis (parliament) told AssA-Irada that the
trilateral meeting was scheduled to be arranged during the visit
of the Council of Europe member states’ speakers to Strasbourg on
May 17-19. A number of issues including that of the Upper Garabagh
conflict will be discussed during the meeting.

Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch: Peace Should Be Everybody’s Target

Anadolu Agency
May 13 2004

MARDIN – Peace should be everybody’s target, Fener Greek Orthodox
Patriarch Bartholomew said on Thursday.

A symposium on religions and peace in the light of Prophet Abraham
was held in southeastern Mardin province by Turkish Intercultural
Dialogue Platform.

Speaking in the symposium, Bartholomew said that human beings had to
be honest, fair and pacifist.

Bartholomew noted that they could see a few pacifists in today’s world.

Stating that terrorists killed people insolently, Bartholomew said,
”where are pacifists among all these agonies? We don’t have any
other remedy than working for peace. Let peace be our target.”

Ishak Haleva, the Chief Rabbi in Turkey, said that not only
similarities, but also differences among cultures should be underlined
and thus, everybody should protect all those features.

Haleva stated that thus, they should be an example for forthcoming
generations.

Mesrob Mutafian, the Patriarch of Armenians in Turkey, sent a message
to the symposium in which he wished that that meeting would contribute
to efforts to end wars and overcome violence.

Representatives of three monotheist religions sang hymns in the
symposium. Many religious personalities and 40 guests from 17 countries
attended the meeting.

Religious representatives later freed a pigeon.

Azerbaijan’s maneuver in the Caspian Sea: Who is the hypothetical enemy?
By Bahman Aghai Diba, PhD. Int. Law of the Sea

Payvand, Iran
May 12 2004

The Republic of Azerbaijan will be conducting naval maneuvers in the
Caspian Sea. The aim of the maneuver is declared as upgrading the
ability of the Azeris Coast Guards for protection of boundaries in
the Caspian Sea. But the question is: What boundaries?

There are no borders in the Caspian Sea yet. Even the Russian tailored
and imposed formula of Modified Median Line (MML) is only supposed to
divide the seabed in the case of the countries that have accepted it
(including Azerbaijan) and it has nothing to do with the maritime
territories, over-flight, navigation of the commercial and military
units of the coastal and non-coastal states and so on.

The Caspian Sea littoral states have not yet succeeded to define
commonly accepted formula for the legal regime of the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijan has no arrangements with Iran and Turkmenistan in
the Caspian Sea. The existing agreements of Azerbaijan with
the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan are only about the Seabed.
Iran believes that MML is not able to create an equitable situation
in the division of the Caspian, and Turkmenistan believes several
oil fields that Azerbaijan controls them according to the MML must
be the Turkmenistan’s share.

The failure in the agreement has led to several instances of
conflict like 2001 incident of Iran-Azerbaijan dispute and the
Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan dispute. The latter led to the closure of
the respective embassies in their capitals for some time.

Another phenomenon of the failure was the militarization and
naval maneuvers. This was first started by the Russian Federation.
The biggest maneuver since the collapse of the USSR was conducted
immediately after the Asghabat Summit Conference failed even to produce
a final document. Now it’s the turn for Azeris. As always, every
military maneuver has a hypothetical enemy. Who is the enemy for
the Azerbaijan Republic? It is not definitely the Russian Federation
because the Russian Federation is a great nuclear power with the
ability to kill all population of the earth 10 times, and its naval
fleet in the Caspian Sea is a powerful force. Kazakhstan has no
special problems with the Azeris, but in the south Caspian there are
several disputes:

Azerbaijan believes that the seabed must be divided according to
the MML. This gives Azerbaijan 21% of the Caspian Sea and control
over all 15 major oil fields that it is claming now, including the
Alborz Field claimed by Iran. This area is not the biggest share
of the seabed for a single country in the Caspian (the biggest share
goes to Kazakhstan with almost 29% of the Caspian seabed), but it is
the home to the vast resources of the Caspian oil (compared to the
Iranian hypothetical share of the seabed, using the MML, which is
almost 13 percent and free from any major known resources. The deep
Sea in the Iranian part makes the exploration and exploitation even
more difficult). Azerbaijan’s position in this field is supported by
the Russian Federation, the founder of the MML in the Caspian Sea,
and it is also supported by US. US has clearly rejected Iranian
positions for the division of the Caspian Sea and almost all other
matters (routes of the oil and gas pipelines, navigation of the
non-littoral states, military presence and so on).

So far, a clear case of confrontation has happened in July 2001 between
Iran and Azerbaijan. The incident, which has been played down by both
sides, had many elements of a dangerous hostility. Iranian gunboats
asked the British research vessel that worked for Azeris to leave the
disputed area. The Iranian aircraft flew over the area constantly.
The Azeris claimed that the Iranian aircraft had violated the airspace
of Azerbaijan and threatened the country. A short while later, several
Turkish Air Force jets flew to Baku, apparently to take part in an
air show, but everybody in the involved countries knew that it was a
demonstration of support for Azerbaijan by the big Turkish brother.
The Azeris extensively welcomed the Turkish show of support and
arranged street demonstrations, shouting slogans against the Islamic
Republic of Iran and they condemned the violation of their “rights.”
The British Petroleum, which operated the research ship, declared
that it would not return to the concerned area until the two sides
have made some kind of agreement. A cursory look reveals that the
characteristics of this incident look exactly like the stated aim of
the maneuvers of the Azerbaijan forces in the Caspian Sea.

At the same time, the problems of the two states are not limited to
the Caspian per se. The special interest of Azerbaijan to affect the
Azeri section of Iran is an important problem for both sides. The
Azeris on both sides of the border have common culture and language.
In fact a large part of the present Azerbaijan Republic consists
of the territories separated from Iran, after 20 years of unequal
wars between the Iran and Tsarist Russia, and two imposed treaties.
Therefore, there are important unifying feelings on both sides.

Although at the moment Azerbaijan Republic only tacitly confirms the
inclination to attract the Iranian Azeris, and the government of Iran
(and sometimes people of Iran) deny that there are such important
social forces in the region, the issue is as alive as it can be.

The Iranian Azeris, who have been deprived of their fundamental
rights and freedoms, are also humiliated, despite being an important
part of the Iranian population, and they are stopped from using the
local language. They have been subject to mockery as idiots (usually
resembled to donkey as a symbol of idiocy). Now, the political
movements of the Iranian Azeris, like the Chehreghani group, are
benefiting from the discriminatory and humiliating behaviors to follow
their political goals. The problem of Iranian Azeris may turn into
an international crisis in a short time unless the Iranian government
takes serious steps to defuse the situation.

Another point of contention is the foreign policy of the two
countries. Azerbaijan considers itself a European country and wants
to become a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO as soon as
possible. Therefore, it has been inclined to invite the Western forces
to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has taken part in any NATO program that
it could, and it has invited US and NATO to establish a military base
in Absheroon Peninsula in the Caspian Sea. Also due to the military
stand off with Armenia over Nagorno Karabagh, it has entered into an
Axis of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel. Iran on the other hand is afraid
of the Western presence and considers this as a part of preparations
for possible military intervention in all or parts of Iran by US
(after getting the tacit agreement of the Russians who have always
wished to see the disintegration of Iran). Iran is worried about the
standardization of the Azeris army with NATO rules and the existing
reports about contacts with Israel, which has constantly threatened
to attack the nuclear facilities of Iran.

Let us add to this picture the prospects of starting to use the
Baku-Jeyhan pipeline. The famous pipeline, which has been called
by some experts as the most important development in the Caspian
region since the collapse of the USSR, will be operational in 2005.
The pipeline, which will be the major outlet of the Caspian oil for
the foreseeable future, is the symbols of several points:

Defeat of Iran in the pipeline diplomacy (It will probably mean the
death of Iranian swap plans and discarding the pipelines that Iran
is building unilaterally)

Defeat of Russians in the implementation of their policies in the
reign.

Victory of US-Azerbaijan-Turkey axis in implementation of a project
based on political considerations (support of the US allies, depriving
the US opponents from the transportation of oil from the landlocked
states of the Caspian Sea region).

Undoubtedly, the NATO and Azerbaijan will be in charge of providing
security for the expensive pipeline, and the Azeris maneuvers are
somehow based on the same notion up to a limit.

There are two more points that should be added: The war against
terrorism and the combat against the trafficking of the narcotic drugs.
Terrorism hotbeds are very close to the Caspian Sea area and all
countries around the Caspian Sea have to make themselves ready to
confront the effects of the international terrorism activities.
Also, since the independence of the new republics in the south of
the former USSR, the traffickers of the narcotic drugs are showing
new interests to use the Caspian route rather the traditional the
Golden Triangle Afghanistan-Iran-Turkey route.

Conclusion

The end result is that the main hypothetical enemy in the Azerbaijan’s
military maneuvers in the Caspian Sea is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Although, there are several other issues of concern for the Azeris,
what is stated as the official reason of the maneuvers is compatible
with a possible situation that Iran may cause. At the same time,
the different policies of the two countries are going to constitute a
great source of threat between the only two Shiite states of the world.

About the author:

Bahman Aghai Diba, PhD Int. Law, is a consultant in international
law to the World Resources Company in the Washington DC area.

EU to boost links with neighbouring countries
By George Parker in Brussels and Jan Cienski in Warsaw

Published: May 11 2004 21:49 | Last Updated: May 11 2004 21:49
Financial Times

The European Union will on Wednesday map out a new strategy for dealing
with its “neighbours” from Morocco to Georgia, heralding further
levels of co-operation but stopping short of an offer of membership.

The new policy offers the prospect of money, trade and security
co-operation in exchange for progress in democratic and economic
reforms.

For the first time the EU’s horizons will extend to the southern
Caucasus, with the prospect of enhanced co-operation with Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia.

But the former Soviet republic of Belarus will remain frozen out
because of the repressive regime in Minsk, to the dismay of Poland,
which wants to build cross-border relations.

The strategy, accompanied by a new €800m-a-year ($950m, £535m)
co-operation fund, will be announced on Wednesday by Günter Verheugen,
the EU enlargement commissioner.

It marks a step change to the relationship currently offered by
Europe to its neighbours, and Mr Verheugen believes it will help to
stabilise Europe’s environs and contain the clamour from neighbours
such as Ukraine for EU membership.

The plan addresses how the EU deals with its new neighbours following
the May 1 expansion from 15 to 25 countries.

Romano Prodi, European Commission president, said this “ring of
friends” would enjoy support in a number of fields but added: “But
they would not be part of the same parliament and not be members of
the same European Commission.”

Mr Verheugen will announce a framework under which initially seven
countries would sign up to action plans for democratic and economic
reform, which would be monitored by the Commission.

If successful, the countries could then enjoy access to the EU’s
market of 450m people, help in building transport and energy networks
with the EU and assistance in securing external frontiers against
terrorists and traffickers.

The first wave in the programme are Moldova, Ukraine, Israel, the
Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco, with Egypt and
Lebanon expected to be included in the autumn.

Russia has decided to pursue its own strategic relationship with
Europe, but the prospect of closer relations could also be extended
to the Caucasus and Belarus if the political situation improves,
and to other Mediterranean countries.

Of Europe’s other neighbours, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey
hope to join the EU, while the countries of the western Balkans have
the long-term prospect of membership.

Meanwhile, Poland is lobbying the European Commission over the EU’s
relations with Belarus due to be presented on Wednesday trying to
persuade the Commission not to continue a freeze on contacts with
Minsk.

The ban on ministerial contacts with officials from Belarus has been
in place since 1997, but Poland was not a member of the EU at the
time and continued to deal with the Belarusan government.

Now that Poland is in the EU it wants to be able to continue those
contacts.

“We want to tell the EU to look at the question of countries bordering
the EU a little differently than relations with countries that do not
have a common boundary,” said Boguslaw Majewski, the Polish foreign
ministry spokesman.

PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MADE A STATEMENT

A1 Plus | 21:33:43 | 10-05-2004 | Politics |

Parliament Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan has today appeared with a
statement after the political consulting, which says: “After long
discussions in 2004 February-May the political consulting in Parliament
had the first positive result.

Representatives of “Republican Party of Armenia”, “Land of Law Party”,
ARF, “People’s Deputy” group, “United Labor Party”, “Justice” Bloc,
“National Unity” Party, came to an agreement over starting a political
dialogue and a proper agenda will be formed on May 13.

As a Parliament Speaker I do hope that all the political powers in
Parliament will do their best to establish a new political situation
in the country and settle the problems through the political dialogue”.

PRESS RELEASE
May 7, 2004
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected]; Web:

Armenia Qualifies for Millennium Challenge Account Funds, More U.S. Aid

The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, that governs the new tool for
U.S. foreign aid process called the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA),
announced on May 6, 2004 that 16 countries, including Armenia, were selected
as potential recipients of MCA funds. The decision on qualifying Armenia and
other countries as a recipient was made based on Armenia’s performance in
three categories of indicators, namely economic freedom and reforms;
governance practices; and commitment to human and social development.

The MCA funds for the Fiscal Year 2004 are over 1 billion dollars, and the
Bush Administration’s request for FY2005 is 2.5 billion dollars. The MCA has
been proposed and established in 2003 to distribute more U.S. foreign aid to
the development and transition countries based on merit criteria, such as
their adherence to conducting economic reforms, implementing sound economic
policies, combating corruption, promoting rule of law, and investing in
country’s human potential, i.e., education and health care. The countries
eligible for MCA in 2004 will still need to present formal programs, called
compacts, to receive the funds; the compacts need to be approved by the
Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

According to Armenia’s Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Arman Kirakossian,
Armenia’s eligibility for MCA reflects the solid commitment of the people
and the government of Armenia to promote economic growth, reduce poverty,
and continue the democratic transition. “Armenia’s inclusion in this list is
an acknowledgement of the faith our U.S. partners have in Armenia’s ability
to help itself,” Ambassador Kirakossian concluded. “The United States has
helped Armenia’s democratic and economic transition since its independence,”
he noted, “and we are grateful to the American people for their commitment
to helping Armenia build a brighter future.”

For more information on the MCA, visit the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s
website at

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
May 7 2004

STRATEGIC PLAN OF THE NATION UNIFICATION TO BE IMPLEMENTED

For already 16 years the Armenian refugees displaced from Azerbaijan
have settled in Armenia and Artsakh. Their social and economic
problems have been mainly solved, of course, however, there are yet
many refugees who still have problems. The most important of the
problems of many refugees is, perhaps, the housing problem. There are
a number of families in Stepanakert living in bad conditions. Of them
is the family of Alexey Khachatrian who moved from Sumgait to their
homeland in 1988. The family of four members lives in a two-room
apartment of the dormitory building. 69 years-old, disabled of second
degree A. Khachatrian says, it is unbearable to live in such
conditions. The apartment needs repairs, there is no gas and
telephone. He has no possibility to buy a new apartment or repair it.
In the first years of returning to Karabakh he was the thirteenth in
the list of providing apartments, now he is the 86th. “When the
Artsakh movement began we could move to Russia but preferred to return
to the motherland. Of course, we expected that we would be provided
with a flat, we would receive attention and care, however, as a result
we have been living for 16 years in terrible conditions. And this
seems not to interest anyone. It is unbearable to feel alien in one’s
own country,” says A. Khachatrian. The family of Nazik Muradian also
moved from Sumgait. For sixteen years already they have been living in
the dormitory of Artsakh State University. N. Muradian says they have
exchanged their apartment in Baku with a house in one of the villages
of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia, but then they have handed it in expecting to
get a house in Karabakh. Presently she and her 5-year-old daughter
live in a two-room apartment and are grateful to the university for
allowing them to live in the dormitory of the university. Here
N. Muradian lost her parents; her father died at the age of 52, her
mother 56. She has been waiting for 16 years to be provided a flat but
so far nothing has changed. She does not believe that the law on
refugees brought into effect recently will anyhow favour the
settlement of the existing problems (especially the problem of
housing). The head of the agency for migration, refugees and
resettlement under NKR government Serge Amirkhanian is of the opposite
opinion. He informed that presently the number of the refugees in the
republic totals 25 thousand. A considerable part has been provided
with apartments, however, there are a lot of families who continue to
live in dormitories, temporary buildings and with their
relatives. According to the head of the agency, the law on refugees
adopted in December 2003 aims at the settlement of the housing and
social-economic problems of refugees. The law maintains the order of
giving or refusing temporary shelter to persons applying for the
status of refugees, losing the status, the order of providing
temporary shelter to persons to foreign citizens, persons without
citizenship, the authority of the corresponding state agency of the
NKR government, the rights and duties of refugees and persons applying
for status, the guarantees of their legal and social
security. According to Amirkhanian, after the registration of the
refugees and maintenance of their privileges it will be possible to
solve some of the problems. He assures that the agency tries to
possibly help the refugees. “If any refugee family living in
dormitories or temporary houses wishes to settle in the areas where
the government implements the program of resettlement, the agency is
ready to aid them. These families will be provided with a detached
house, financial aid, loan, etc. By the way, already five such
families have applied to us, and they already live in the mentioned
settlements,” said Serge Amirkhanian. The agency has plans connected
with the repairs of the houses of the refugees and solution of certain
problems, which will be implemented through benefactors. S.
Amirkhanian also informed that a block will be repaired in Shoushi and
according to their wish the families may settle there. The head of the
agency Serge Amirkhanian said that hopefully all the problems will be
solved gradually. “Once we received more than 40 thousand refugees in
Karabakh, however, unfortunately, we had no opportunity to solve all
their housing, social problems. Therefore part of them left
Karabakh. The problems of resettlement, social-economic and housing
problems of the refugees should be considered as the problem of the
entire Armenian nation. Each person should make their contribution to
this task. And the more refugees and resettlers we can accommodate,
the more the strategic plan of nation unification will become a
reality. In this way the problem of Karabakh will be solved too,”
added Serge Amirkhanian.

ANAHIT DANIELIAN