Author: Tadevosian Garnik

“UPBRINGING IS A PERMANENT PROCESS”

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
June 5 2006

On June 3, Vahan Hovhannisyan, NA Vice-President gave a lecture on
the theme “Individual’s Upbringing Problems” for the members of the
Students’ public unions. Speaking about the individual’s upbringing
and its peculiarities in the society, he noted that the theme is
complicated and repeatedly touched upon in the works of different
philosophers.

Vahan Hovhannisyan, NA Vice-President commented on his approaches
on a number of philosophical notions of an individual and society,
emphasizing that they are based on the ideology of ARF party. As he
ensured, the elimination of a nation is a birth of another nation:
there are no Romans, but there are Italians, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.

“The upbringing is the ability of using the knowledge morally. The man
is taught till the end of his life, i.e. the upbringing is a permanent
process, it goes on as the man exists,” Vahan Hovhannisyan noted in
his speech. It was also spoken about individual-society relationships,
religion, Christianity. Touching upon the History of Armenia, it was
noted that the history is a science-providing upbringing.

At the end of the lecture Vahan Hovhannisyan, NA Vice-President
answered the questions concerning the members of the Students’
public unions.

Russia may relocate Black Sea Fleet to Syrian port – paper
02/06/2006 12:31

MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has started dredging at a Syrian
port where it maintains a logistical supply point with a possible eye
to turning it into a full-fledged naval base, a respected Russian
business daily said Friday.

Tartus, the second most important Syrian port on the Mediterranean,
could be transformed into a base for Black Sea Fleet warships when
they are redeployed from the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, Kommersant
daily said, quoting sources in Russia’s diplomatic service and the
Defense Ministry.

Vladimir Zimin, a senior economic advisor at the Russian Embassy to
Syria, said Russia had simultaneously launched a modernization project
at the port of Latakia, 90 km to the north of Tartus.

The paper quoted an anonymous source at the Defense Ministry as saying
that Moscow was planning to form a squadron led by the Moskva missile
cruiser within the next three years to operate in the Mediterranean
Sea on a permanent basis, in particular for joint antiterrorist
exercises with NATO forces.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet currently uses a range of naval facilities in
the Crimea under a 1997 agreement that allowed Russia to continue its
presence in its neighboring former Soviet republic for rent of $93
million per year.

The fleet is scheduled to withdraw in 2017, but Ukraine has recently
voiced concerns that Russia is not paying enough for the facilities
and also demanded that a new agreement be signed on inventorizing the
bases. Russia has said it will make no concessions over rent or
withdrawing the fleet and talks have stalled.

The Defense Ministry source told Kommersant that a Russian naval base
in the Mediterranean would not only help Moscow strengthen its
position in the Middle East – where it is currently also involved in
negotiations on the Iranian nuclear crisis and the Israel/Palestinian
issue – but also ensure Syria’s security.

Moscow plans to deploy an S-300PMU-2 Favorit air-defense system to
protect the base, the paper said, adding that the system will be
operated by Russian servicemen and not be handed over to Syria.

At the same time, sources close to the matter said Moscow and Damascus
had reached an agreement to modernize Syria’s antiaircraft system
using medium-range S-125 missile complexes that were deployed in the
1980s.

Press-Enterprise (subscription), CA
June 4 2006

Patient Darchinyan breaks through
IBF Flyweight Title: A solid 1-2 combination helps him stop
Maldonado.

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, June 3, 2006
By DAVID A. AVILA
The Press-Enterprise

LAS VEGAS – Eager to show that little guys can pop, Australia’s Vic
Darchinyan used his powerful left hand to stop Mexico’s Luis
Maldonado in a world flyweight title bout at the Thomas and Mack
Center on Saturday.

AP photo

A sparse audience of about 2,900 people — the scheduled main event
between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo was called off Friday
— saw IBF champion Darchinyan crank it up slowly against Maldonado
(33-1-1, 25 KOs), who switched from right- to left-handed style
constantly in the battle between undefeated 112-pound fighters.

“My trainer told me to be patient,” said Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs),
who fights out of Sydney, Australia. “I didn’t use my left hand until
the sixth round.”

In the sixth round a left hand behind the ear and a slight push
forced Maldonado to a knee. Referee Joe Cortez called it a knockdown.

Maldonado tried to use a body attack to weaken the Armenian from
Australia, but had limited success. In almost every exchange
Maldonado got the worst of it.

“He’s too strong,” Maldonado said. “You can’t tell where the punches
are coming from.”

After the knockdown Darchinyan began to slip into a more aggressive
gear.

“I didn’t want to rush, but I knew I could knock him out,” Darchinyan
said, who is trained by former Aussie great Jeff Fenech.

A solid 1-2 combination snapped Maldonado’s head back and Darchinyan
moved in quickly with more wallops. Cortez decided it was too much
punishment and stopped the fight at 1:38 of the eighth round.

Darchinyan wants to meet the other flyweight titleholders or move up
to heavier weight divisions.

“I’d like to unify the titles, but I don’t mind moving up to junior
bantamweight or bantamweight,” Darchinyan said.

Other bouts

Former Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (9-0, 6 KOs) stormed out of the
corner and stopped Oscar Gonzalez (9-5-1, 3 KOs), of Florida, in 2:14
of the first round. Three successive uppercuts dropped Gonzalez for
the first knockdown, then a straight right hand finished the job in a
junior middleweight bout.

Las Vegas boxer Jose “Little Bazooka” Magallon traded knockout blows
with Mexico’s Abraham Esquivel for all four scheduled rounds. It was
only surprising that no one hit the canvas in the bantamweight
contest. The judges scored it 40-36, 39-37 twice for Magallon

DERVISHES’ DANCE ON THE CHRIST’S IMAGE
Marina Grigoryan “Golos Armenii” (The Voice Of Armenia)

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 1 2006

Turkish Advertisement with Religious-Political Implication The
shots from the Turkish video clip have been “walking” by the World
Network three days and have already been titled “Dervishes’ Dance
on the Christ’s Image”. According to the Yerkramas newspaper of the
Russian Armenians, in St. Petersburg the Armenian activists are going
to institute legal proceedings against a Turkish agency circulating
cadres, which are offensive for Christians: the Christian cultural
monuments on the territory of modern Turkey are presented as cities
that have sunk, where only mermaids swim, while the image of Jesus
Christ has turned into a dance hall.

Such provocative video clips can hardly be considered just a commercial
subterfuge. Too little time has elapsed since a scandal caused by
Danish caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad, so one is inclined
to believe in obvious premeditation of the step undertaken by Turks
to artificially foment interreligious passions.

Turkey, which is doing its best to position itself as a secular
state that observes ethnical minorities’ rights, evidently cannot be
considered a civilized country, for even commercial interests are
unable to conceal political and expansionist ones. The Christian
cultural monuments, on which the heirs of nomads perform ritual
dances, testify to the fact that the very nomads that have arrogated
to themselves the invaluable monuments of the world history pretending
to be the region’s autochthon population are unworthy of such legacy
and can just spoil and destroy it. It is quite symbolic that Armenians
have been the first to make those who committed sacrilege responsible
via litigation – without mentioning other factors, the wound and pain
of the deprivation of thousands of the Jugha khachkars destroyed by
Turkish vandals is still with us. And yet, if political interests
hampered the Christian world’s consolidation in the issue referring
to khachkars, perhaps, this time the blasphemous cadres will make
Christians rebuff the provocateurs stirring up interreligious rows and
setting the representatives of various confessions against each other?

RUSSIA SUPPORTS ANY DECISION ON NK SUITABLE FOR BOTH PARTIES – STATE DUMA OFFICIAL
Author: À.Mamedov

Trend, Azerbaijan
May 31 2006

Russia is not aiming to achieve its own interests in the process
of settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and it will support any
decision suitable for Armenia and Azerbaijan alike, reportedly
said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of State Duma’s committee
for foreign affairs, commenting the statement by Russian Defense
Minister Sergey Ivanov for the possibility of bringing peace forces
in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remains real difficult and Russia
is eager to support any decision suitable for both the parties”,
– Kosachev said. “In case the parties’ mutual agreement for peace
forces in the region is achieved, Russia shall maintain the relevant
statement and promote the process itself”, – Russian official said.

Sergey Ivanov, now at the meeting of CIS Defense Ministers in Baku,
suggested bringing peace forces in the region. “As to Nagorno-Karabakh,
I do not rule out bringing peace forces there to guarantee all
political agreements to be achieved sooner of later”, – he said today.

“The situation is neither fish nor fowl, excuse my French, and it
could not last forever”, – he said.

He reminded that fragile cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh area has
lasted over 12 years. “Hot spots like Nagorno-Karabakh get more and
more over years, and it is a pity”, – Ivanov said.

–Boundary_(ID_7+kHBo5jnD+VA4SQzsTWHQ)–

YEREVAN WORRIED ABOUT FUTURE OF JAVAKHETI ARMENIANS
by Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 30, 2006 Tuesday 01:29 PM EST

The position of ethnic Armenians may exacerbate following the
Russian military base pullout from Akhalkalaki in the south Georgian
district of Javakheti, New Times opposition centrist party leader
Aram Karapetian told a Tuesday rally in Yerevan.

“There have been numerous examples in the history, when Armenians were
persecuted following a pullout of Russians. The same will happen in
Javakheti, where violent clashes have already occurred,” he said.

“The situation in Georgia will be slowly exacerbating.”

The rally adopted a petition to the Armenian government, which says,
“social and economic problems of Armenians who live in Javakheti,
an area in southern Georgia, will worsen against the background of
the pullout of Russian military units.”

The party leader thinks it expedient “to discuss the security
of Javakheti Armenians before signing a border demarcation and
delimitation treaty with Georgia.”

“GOLOS ARMENII” WEEKLY TO BE PUBLISHED IN ARMENIAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
May 30 2006

YEREVAN, May 30. /ARKA/. “Golos Armenii” weekly will be published in
Armenian beginning from tomorrow on, editor-in-chief of “Golos Armenii”
Flora Nakhshkaryan reported.

“Over the 15 years of activity, the editorial staff has received a
pile of letters with the wish to read the newspaper in Armenian. This
was the editorial staff’s desire. However, according to her,
implementation of these was impeded by numerous obstacles, first of
all, the financial one.

“Finally, though some problems have not been solved, we started
implementation of our long-standing goal. From now on the Armenian
reader will get an opportunity to read the newspaper in the native
language,” she said.

According to Nakhsharyan, the weekly will contain materials and
comments on the urgent events of the week, political and economic
life and important dates.

She added that part of the space in the newspaper will be allocated
for foreign press digest with publications reflecting processes that
are immediately related to Armenia and the region on the whole.

“It is symbolic that the first publication of the weekly coincides
with the 15th anniversary of ‘Golos Armenii’,” she said.

RA AMBASSADOR SUREN HAROUTIUNIAN FINISHES HIS DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN BELARUS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 30 2006

MINSK, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA Ambassador to
Belarus Suren Haroutiunian finishes his diplomatic mission to that
country. On that occasion, the Ambassador’s meeting with the President
and Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus took place, RA Embassy’s
reception was held. Receiving the RA Ambassador on May 22, President
of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko mentioned that during
the last seven years, S.Haroutiunian presented himself not only as a
friendly country’s Ambassador, but also as a friend of Belarus, took
care of Belarus as much as of Armenia. According to the RB President,
the RA Ambassador was able to level a road for development of bilateral
close contacts the evidence of what the present speed of development
of the mutual commodity circulation is. The RA Ambassador emphasized
in his turn that all those that he managed to implement during the
recent seven years, was possible due to the two countries’ Presidents’
and Governments’ most active assistance and support. On the same day
the RB Prime Minister received the RA Ambassador. Present problems and
prospects of development of bilateral trade and economy relations were
discussed. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s
Press and Information Department, RB Foreign Minister S.Martinov,
Patriarch of All Belarus Filaret made speeches at the reception
organized on May 23 by the RA Embasssy on the occasion of the end of
the diplomatic mission of the RA Ambassador to Belarus. RB high-ranking
officials, heads of diplomatic missions accredited in the country,
public and cultural figures, representatives of the Armenian community
were among those present. Events dedicated to end of the diplomatic
mission of the RA Ambassador to Belarus were widely covered in RB
mass media, interviews with him were published.

ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN LEAVES WITH KINDNESS

ArmRadio.am
29.05.2006 15:46

For the last time today Arthur Baghdasaryan met the journalist
as the Chairman of the National Assembly. According to the NA
By-law, he publicly confirmed his resignation filed five days
ago. Mr. Baghdasaryan noted he wants to leave with kindness. With
this reasoning he did not answer the journalists’ questions today.

“I want to leave with kindness, not with malice. Therefore, I prefer
not to answer any questions today, since there is nothing new to say,
all the questions were answered long ago. There have been public
evaluations of the political course of the party as well. We shall
hold the recurrent sitting of ” Orinats Yerkir,” during which we
shall voice more synchronized and precise positions on the future
political activity,” Arthur Baghdasaryan said.

He thanked all the journalists accredited at the National Assembly
and presented gifts. “I’m grateful also to those who wrote the
sharpest and the most critical articles, since it is criticism
that helps to advance. I’m thankful also to those who correctly
understood my activity and me. I consider them to be my friends,
and I’m confident this friendship will continue in the future,”
Arthur Baghdasaryan noted.

SEAN MCCORMACK HOLDS STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING (RE-AMB. EVANS)

Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

CQ Transcriptions
May 25, 2006 Thursday

SPEAKER:
Sean Mccormack, Assistant Secretary Of State For Public Affairs
Location: Washington, D.C.
State Department Regular News Briefing
May 25, 2006

[irrelevant parts omitted]

QUESTION: Do you have anything about the U.S. ambassador to Armenia?

Apparently the Congress is concerned about the dismissal of this
ambassador.

MCCORMACK: Well, my understanding is that he will be the — he has
plans to leave post after two years. Usually the tour is three years.

There has been an individual, a Mr. Hoagland, I believe — Mr.

Hoagland has been intent to nominate yesterday.

All appointed officials — me, everybody else who goes through
Senate confirmation — serve at the pleasure of the president and the
secretary. And certainly Mr. Ambassador Evans should be congratulated
for his long career and his distinguished service to our country.

He has served in the State Department for, what? — 35 years?

Thirty-five years.

QUESTION: Does it have anything to do with any comment on the genocide
of the Armenians.

MCCORMACK: (inaudible) Like I said, we all serve at the pleasure of
the president.

QUESTION: Is it (inaudible) that he wants to retire?

MCCORMACK: Excuse me?

QUESTION: Is it your understanding that he wants to retire after he
leaves the post?

MCCORMACK: I believe so, but you’ll have to check with him about what
his plans are.

QUESTION: And I suppose that you wouldn’t — since you didn’t answer
her question, would you be able to say whether he’s leaving post
because of his own decision, or was he asked to leave post?

MCCORMACK: Like I said, we all serve at the pleasure of the
president. And he’s done a fine job for the American people over 35
years. And we appreciate his service.

There is somebody who has been — at least the intent to nominate
has come out. And we would hope that the Senate would act in a speedy
manner on that nomination, as we would hope with all nominations that
are coming out of the State Department and going up to the Hill.