Author: Tamamian Anna

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 9 2005

VARDAN OSKANYAN: ARMENIA SATISFIED WITH ITS DEVELOPMENT, BUT
CONSIDERS IT INSUFFICIENT

YEREVAN, September 9. /ARKA/. Armenia is satisfied with its
development, but also considers it insufficient, RA Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan said at the presentation of the UNDP Human
Development Report for 2005. He said that “the situation in Armenia
is not bad at first glance”, especially comparing with neighbors. At
the same time he said that Armenia should not direct its attention to
the achievements of neighboring countries, but should lay emphasis on
its own indicators of development. “We still have much to do though
positive indicators have been registered. We should achieve more high
indicators of human development”, Oskanyan said.
He also said that the UNDP Human Development Report should become “a
guide for the RA Government”, which will allow not only to reveal
existing problems in Armenia, but will also become a basis for
socio-economic development. “I hope our Government will familiarize
with this report and will take it as the basis for its future
activities”, Oskanyan said.
Oskanyan positively evaluated Armenia’s indicators which according to
him “should not be underestimated”. “Armenia achieved very high
economic growth over the past five years, which however almost not
affected people’s life, and this growth should be transformed into
human development. It can be realized through poverty reduction and
future democratization”, Oskanyan said. He said that another
alternative is mobilization of the potential of Diaspora and
international donor organizations, particularly, national and
international resources to promote development in the regions. “The
problems of transition still affect Armenia’s population, and they
should be eliminated. The transparent system of governance is crucial
for this, and the international community can help a lot with this
issue. The assistance and partnership should be used to achieve
development”, Oskanyan said.
According to the UNDP Human Development Report, Armenia ranked 83rd
among 117 countries of the world. A.A. -0–

A1+

| 14:38:36 | 09-09-2005 | Social |

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND REDUCTION OF POVERTY IN ARMENIA?

According to the 2005 report about Human development, Armenia occupies the
83rd place among the 177 countries in the world. The calculations of the
report have been made on the ground of the 2003 statistic facts and in three
directions: education, life length and Gross output.

`Armenia has improved the index of the gross output to one person, the
education index is the same, and the health index has been corrected and
reduced a little’, the report says.

Today in the Yerevan UN office the RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
mentioned proudly that in comparison to our neighbors, Armenia has the
highest index, and in the CIS countries it takes the 5th place leaving
forward only Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

According to the Foreign Minister, One of the important preconditions of
development is that democracy must be an end in itself. Mr. Oskanyan was not
able to explain clearly why the poverty index is not reduced alongside with
the economic growth. «There are numerous reasons», said the Minister.

The UN Permanent Coordinator to Armenia Consuelo Vidal reminded that in 2000
heads of 191 countries, including Armenia, signed the Millennium Declaration
and took up the commitment to reach 8 aims till 2005 – poverty reduction,
combat against illnesses and child deaths, environmental stability,
educational provision, as well as global cooperation.

According to Mrs. Vidal, the cooperation can be realized in three
directions: international aid, international commerce and security. In
answer to the journalists’ question Consuelo Vidal mentioned that within the
framework of the report Armenia cannot find the answers to his questions
about the international commerce field.

Pan Armenian News

REPORTS ON KILLED AZERI SOLDIER – RECURRENT PROVOCATION

09.09.2005 04:42

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azeri media again spread information about an Azeri
soldier allegedly killed in skirmish opened by the Karabakh side. As head of
the department of information and propaganda at the NKR Defense Minister
Senor Asratyan in conversation with PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, the
information saying that on September 7 the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh
broke the cease-fire is a recurrent provocation. In Asratyan’s words, the
cease-fire was violated by the Azeri side however the Karabakh forces did
not react to the shots. Thus, the reports on the killed soldier appear a
recurrent canard of the Azeri media.

BULENT ARINC SENT PROTEST LETTERS TO SPEAKERS OF PARLIAMENTS, WHICH RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Pan Armenian News
08.09.2005 04:03

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc has sent
letters of protest to chairs of 16 parliaments, which had recognized
the Armenian Genocide. “There is nothing in our history, which we
would like to conceal or are ashamed of,” B. Arinc noted in messages
to Speakers of Argentine, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland,
Uruguay and Venezuela. “The national parliament is not the best rostrum
to discuss history controversial pages,” B. Arinc stated. He added,
“parliaments should make efforts to strengthen friendly relations
between countries and nations instead,” RFE/RL reported.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF ARMENIAN PHYSICS TO TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN SEPT 11-15

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6. ARMINFO. The First International Scientific
Conference of Armenian Physics will take place in Yerevan on September
11-15.

As ARMINFO was informed in the press-service of the Yerevan State
University, the conference is conducted with an aim to discuss and
analyze a situation in the sphere of physical researches in Armenia,
the role of the Armenian physical science in both the world scientific
“money-box” and elaboration of scientific programs for the nearest
decades, contributing to Armenia’s scientific development.

Reports on recent achievements and researches in astrophysics, nuclear
physics and elementary-particle physics, laser physics, physics of
condensation state, semi-conductor physics and radiophysics will be
presented there. 150 physics from Armenia, Russia, USA, Canada, Great
Britain and France will be participated at the conference. To note, the
UN General Assembly proclaimed 2005 the Year of International Physics.

AZERBAIJANI EX-PRESIDENT ALLOWED TO SEEK DEPUTY SEAT

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
Sept 5 2005

5 September 2005 (RFE/RL) — Election officials in Azerbaijan’s
capital today authorized former President Ayaz Mutalibov to run as
a candidate in the 6 November parliamentary elections.

Mutalibov, who is wanted in Azerbaijan for his alleged failure
to prevent the loss of territory to Armenian forces during the
Nagorno-Karabakh war, has been living in Russia since his resignation
in 1992.

Another prominent political exile, former parliamentary speaker Rasul
Quliyev, was registered as a candidate last month.

The Council of Europe, of which Azerbaijan is a member, has long
demanded that both Quliyev and Mutalibov be allowed to take part in
Azerbaijan’s political life.

But the Prosecutor-General’s Office has warned that both men would
be arrested as soon as they come back to the country.

The secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, who is
on a visit to Baku, today insisted that the upcoming parliamentary
polls should be free and fair.

The president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], Arkadiy Gukasyan vows to defend region’s independence

Mediamax news agency
2 Sep 05

Yerevan, 2 September: The president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
[NKR], Arkadiy Gukasyan, said today that “our state has proved to
the world that it has become not only a de facto state, but also is
ahead of many of its neighbours by the level of its compliance with
the standards of the European community”.

Arkadiy Gukasyan said this in his address on the occasion of the
14th anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of the NKR,
Mediamax reports.

“Nobody taught us lessons of democracy, as it happens every day and
every hour with regard to Azerbaijan, a country where not a single
election, be it a presidential, parliamentary and municipal election,
has met simple norms of a modern democratic society so far. Today
Azerbaijan cannot even protect the rights of its own people, not to
mention the national minorities living in that country. This fact
alone is enough for the world community to recognize the right of the
Nagornyy Karabakh people to its own sovereign state independent from
Azerbaijan,” Arkadiy Gukasyan said.

The NKR president said it was not by chance that “the Baku authorities
have been trying their best to hide from the Azerbaijani people the
achievements of Nagornyy Karabakh in building a law-governed and
democratic state, not allowing their citizens to visit the NKR and
communicate with the Karabakh people”.

“However, this behaviour has no future because it alienates the two
nations from each other and puts back a comprehensive and mutually
acceptable settlement of the conflict. Moreover, such actions by
the Azerbaijani leadership, as well as their stubborn refusal to
negotiate with the Karabakh side, seriously question the prospects
of settling the Nagornyy Karabakh problem in a civilized way and on
the basis of reasonable compromises. For this reason, the unsettled
status of the conflict still remains a factor that might lead to the
new destabilization of the situation in the region.

The NKR leadership is devoted only to a peaceful settlement of the
conflict with Azerbaijan. At the same time, our people can be sure
that nobody will ever deprive us of Artsakh’s independence which
we gained at the cost of irreparable losses. The NKR defence army
is capable of repelling with credit anyone who dares to invade our
motherland. We have all the necessary means and possibilities to do
so,” Arkadiy Gukasyan said.

“The establishment of Karabakh’s statehood would not have been
possible without active assistance and help from Armenia and the
diaspora. However, we are still not making full use of the economic and
political potential of the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora triangle, including
in the issue of the NKR’s international recognition. I am sure that
we have something to work on in this sphere,” the NKR president said.

PRYAKHIN: “WILL THEY COME OR NOT?”

A1+

| 20:11:59 | 02-09-2005 | Politics |

The head of the OSCE Yerevan office Vladimir Pryakhin is discontent
with the draft constitution adopted in the NA by second reading. “It
is the joint result of the attitude of the authorities, the opposition
and the civic society. The adopted draft is progressive at compared
to the acting one, yet it needs processing and it could have been
much better. To my mind, the draft must be put to referendum”, said
Vladimir Pryakhin.

He does not share the opinion that the Constitutional reforms
process can result in a political crisis in Armenia. Not denying
the disagreements between the political powers, Mr. Pryakhin said,
“Frankly speaking, OSCE does not mind the disagreements between the
parties. Our aim is to support everyone equally”. According to him,
the Constitutional referendum can fail if little people come to
participate in it.

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

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA TO CO-HOST DARFUR GENOCIDE VIGIL AT WHITE HOUSE

— September 8th Event Will Mark One-Year of White House
Inaction in the Face of Ongoing Darfur Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to encourage the President to take
decisive action to protect the people of Darfur, Armenian
Americans will join with a diverse coalition of human rights
groups at the White House on September 8th to mark the one year
anniversary of the Administration’s determination that genocide
is taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is working on
this event in partnership with lead sponsor Africa Action and a
broad-based coalition including NAACP, National Council of
Churches, United Methodist Church, American Jewish World
Service, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, TransAfrica
Forum, Sojourners, Sudan Peace Advocates Network, Save Darfur
Coalition, STAND, Darfur Rehabilitation Project, Faithful
America, Greater Washington Jewish Task Force on Darfur, Human
Rights First, and Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

The program will take place from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm on
September 8th at Lafayette Park in front of the White House.
The initial list of speakers includes Dr. Bernice Johnson
Reagon, representatives of the Darfurian community in the U.S.,
Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of
Churches, Aram Hamparian of the ANCA, and other leaders in the
effort to stop genocide in Darfur.

The aim of the gathering is to kick off a period of renewed
activism by people of conscience across the country to encourage
the President to take every step necessary to ensure an urgent
multinational intervention to provide security to the people of
Darfur. To date, over 400,000 people have been killed; hundreds
of thousands more are at risk in the coming weeks unless urgent
action is taken.

This event, the latest in a series of more than 1,000 recent
actions across the country, accompanies a nationwide grassroots
petition effort, which has gathered tens of thousands of
signatures in recent weeks. The ANCA organized a May 25, 2005
“Armenians Against Genocide” vigil for Darfur at the White
House, and has led community participation in Africa Action
protests, in demonstrations at the Sudanese Embassy, and in
supporting legislation to help end the Darfur Genocide.

For directions or more information, contact ANCA at (202) 775-
1918 or [email protected].

For more information about Darfur:

To send a free ANCA WebFax protesting the Darfur Genocide:

#####

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

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

CHENEY FAILS TO EXPLAIN LETTER RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

— Vice President Sidesteps Query from Twenty-two Members of
Congress Regarding Reason for Letter to Genocide Survivor

WASHINGTON, DC – Vice President Dick Cheney has sidestepped a
Congressional request for clarification regarding the reasons behind
his forthright – although apparently mistaken – characterization of
the Armenian Genocide in letter sent this April to survivor Maritza
Ohanessian, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In an April 22nd letter to Mrs. Ohanessian on the occasion of
her 100th birthday, the Vice President had properly described the
Armenian Genocide, a departure from the Administration’s standard
practice of using evasive or euphemistic terminology to downplay the
true historical, legal, and contemporary geopolitical implications of
this crime against humanity. In response to this letter, Congressman
Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and twenty-one of his House colleagues asked
the Vice President if this letter represented a formal shift in the
Administration’s policy. The Vice President’s response, signed by
his Principal Deputy for National Security Affairs John P. Hannah,
simply notes that, “There has been no change in Administration policy
on this issue,” without any articulation of the nature of the policy.

“The Vice President should explain to Mrs. Ohanesian and all Armenian
Americans why he sent this letter recognizing the Armenian Genocide
but cannot now stand behind his words or even offer an explanation
for his reversal,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
“We appreciate Congressman Rothman’s leadership on this issue and
want to thank all those who joined with him in this effort.”

Joining Congressman Rothman as signatories to the June 23rd
Congressional letter were Representatives Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Lois
Capps (D-CA), Joe Crowley (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Barney Frank
(D-MA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL), Sander
Levin (D-MI), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI),
James McGovern (D-MA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Richard Neal (D-MA),
Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff
(D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mark Souder (R-IN), John Tierney (D-
MA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), and Peter Visclosky (D-IN).

#####