Author: Tamamian Anna

GROWTH OF ONCOLOGICAL DISEASES IN ARMENIA BY 2-3% PER YEAR IS CONNECTED
WITH UNPOPULARITY OF PREVENTIVE MEDICAL EXAMINATION

YEREVAN, JULY 19. ARMINFO. Physicians explain the growth of
oncological diseases in Armenia by 2-3% per year with the absence
of early diagnosis of oncological diseases. The working meeting of
physicians and representatives of international donor organizations
was organized for the purpose of prevention of cancer and control
over it at primary level of health-care.

Director of National Oncological Center of the republic Hayrapet
Galstian informed that 6,174 new cases of cancerous diseases were
registered in the republic in 2004, out of which 3,008 (48.7)
were women.

Vice Director of National Oncological Center Tatyana Ovanesbekova
assured that when early diagnosis of oncological neoplasm in 90-95%
cases full recovery is guaranteed. She stressed that the majority of
the patients suffering from cancerous diseases come to the oncological
center, when the disease is in progress already. Ovanesbekova stressed
that the center is supplied with modern medical equipment. It has
modern radiologic apparatus, the system of radiation therapy is
perfect.

The meeting was initiated by the Oncological center of the Ministry of
Health of the Republic of Armenia, Academy of Educational Development
through the support of USAID.

Steven Mann: Garabagh conflict may be settled by year-end

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 18 2005

Baku, July 15, AssA-Irada — The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Upper Garabagh may be settled by the year-end, the US co-chair of
the mediating OSCE Minsk Group told a news conference in Yerevan.

“Major progress is observed in the conflict resolution over the past
year, which enables a conclusion that the conflict will be settled by
the year-end. But we do not know for certain that this will happen.”
Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov said the parties are currently
trying to work out the ‘elements’ forming the basis of the conflict
resolution.

“The parties have compromised indeed and real opportunities came
about for the conflict settlement.”

The French mediator Bernard Fassier said the upcoming parliamentary
elections in Azerbaijan and a referendum due in Armenia should not
affect the negotiating process ‘in theory’, but it is unknown whether
this will be the case ‘in practice’.*

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT RECEIVES FAMOUS CINEMATOGRAPHERS

YEREVAN, JULY 14. ARMINFO. During the meeting with the delegation of
famous cinematographers, who have arrived in Armenia within the
framework of the II International film festival “Golden Apricot”
President of Armenia Robert Kocharian said that he will certainly
contribute his mite to the cinematography development.

ARMINFO was informed in the press office of the president, welcoming
the guests the president thanked them for the active participation in
the festival. “Similar festivals give an opportunity to restore good
traditions of the Armenian cinema. Besides, the festivals hep us to
join the events of the world cinematography”, Robert Kocharian
stressed. Robert Kocharian mentioned like in every scope of activity
in the cinematography it is necessary to possess a concrete and real
program in order to reach success. Besides, the president expressed
desire that the Golden Apricot became continuous arrangement.

The Messenger, Georgia
July 13 2005

Economic proposals for Javakheti
President of Georgia suggests the region can become Georgian army’s
bread basket after Russians depart
By M. Alkhazashvili

Observers in Georgia and beyond are concerned that the withdraw of
the Russian military base from the largely ethnic Armenian city of
Akhalkalaki could create an economic vacuum in the already struggling
region.

Cut off from the rest of the country for a large part of the year
because of poor roads and extreme winters, Akhalkalaki’s largest
economic activity is the Russian military base, which relies on local
farms for foodstuffs and many local workers for its general
operation.

According to the newspaper Khvalindeli Dghe, on July 8 the speaker of
Armenia’s National Assembly Arthur Baghdasarian met with five
ethnic-Armenian members of the Georgian Parliament, Melik Raisian,
Aik Meltonian, Hamlet Movsesian, Genze Mkoian and Van Baiburt.

The paper cites Bagdasarian as saying the problems of Armenians
living in Georgia are permanently on the agenda of Armenia’s
legislature. After the meeting the speaker reportedly stated it is
necessary for he and his Georgian colleague Nino Burjanadze to travel
to the Samtskhe-Javakheti region on a working visit.

The paper also states that the five Georgian MPs believe it is
important to create a concrete development program for Georgian
regions settled by ethnic Armenians and to provide significant state
funds for this.

A large amount of funds are already in the pipeline, principally from
Millenium Challenge Georgia’s proposal to use U.S. funds to construct
a thoroughfare linking Akhalkalaki and its surrounding region to the
rest of the country. The Georgian government’s proposal seeks USD 120
million and anticipates breaking ground on the project in the autumn
if approved by Washington.

President Saakashvili has made two other proposals to support the
region economically in the absence of the Russian base. In spring he
stated Georgian forces based in Kakheti would be redeployed to the
region and thus provide the base’s present workers with continued
employment.

More recently in early July he stated that the Georgian armed forces
would use the region as its proverbial breadbasket, establishing
relations to regularly purchase portions of the region’s large
harvest.

“These people are selling their potatoes and dairy products in the
Russian army market. Thus I can understand why they are so worried by
the Russian military base’s removal – they think that they will be
left without an income,” Saakashvili said as quoted by the Russian
newspaper Nezavisimaia Gazeta.

“So we decided that these people have to carry on with their business
but now they must provide the Georgian army with food,” the president
said, adding that a similar effort would be made in ethnic-Azeri
regions with large vegetable harvests.

The Moscow-based Armenian political analyst Andranik Migranian
however casts aside these attempts and warns that there are even
larger problems emerging with the base withdrawal.

“It is impossible for us to ignore the fact that Georgia tries to
settle only Georgians in Javakheti. Such step will cause an ethnic
conflict. In schools of this region it is banned to study the history
of Armenia and Armenian churches are labeled as Georgians,” Migranian
said as quoted by the newspaper Khvalindeli Dghe.

He expressed concerns that the regions Armenian residents need both
political and economic considerations to feel at ease in Georgia.
“The majority of these people make their living at the expense of the
Russian military bases. If the bases leave this place they will have
neither jobs nor money,” Migranian said.

FINAL DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS NOT READY YET

A1+
12-07-2005

`It is premature to speak of the final model of the constitutional
amendments’, NA Vice-Speaker Tigran Torosyan stated today.

According to the agreement achieved in Strasbourg June 23-24 with the
Venice Commission the Armenian party had to present the draft
constitutional amendments till July 7. T. Torosyan assured that the
draft that was sent included all the remarks and proposals of the
Venice Commission. `The commission will present its conclusions July
20 and we are ready to discuss them’, he noted.

Member of the working group Vardan Poghosyan also assured that all the
disputable issues have been considered, `As compared to the draft
adopted in the first reading this reviewed draft is a progress and can
really serve for the legal and democratic development of Armenia.

In his words, the main shortcoming of the operating Constitution is
the absence of the power division principle, which was preserved in
the present draft as well. However some issues have been settled. For
example the President is not empowered to dismiss the Prime Minister
any longer and he will nor preside over the Justice Council. The
Justice Minister and the Prosecutor General are not included in the
Council.

By suggestion of the Venice Commission the Justice Council will be the
last instance to settle the issues referring to the professionalism of
the judge. The issue of the election of the Mayor of Yerevan was also
discussed. It was fixed that Yerevan is a community.

Human rights groups call for investigation into Turkish mass graves

AP Worldstream; Jul 08, 2005
SUZAN FRASER

Two sisters of a slain Kurdish guerrilla urged authorities on Friday
to conduct tests on what they said were two mass graves containing
headless bodies discovered in southeastern Turkey to determine whether
their brother’s body is among the remains.

Human rights groups are also demanding an investigation into the
possibility that the remains belong to guerrillas who may have been
caught alive and later shot in the head and beheaded to hide evidence
of executions.

Villagers discovered two mass graves in Bitlis province holding the 27
headless remains of people a year ago after coming across soiled
clothing, human rights groups said Friday. A third grave with 11
bodies was also discovered near the town of Kulp in Diyarbakir last
year. The graves are believed to have been dug in the mid-1990s, at
the height of the brutal conflict between the military and Kurdish
guerrillas.

Lawmakers rushed to the region last year to investigate the grave near
Kulp, conceding that the remains appeared to be those of missing
villagers.

Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy head of the military, denied any military
involvement in the Kulp deaths, saying claims against security forces
in the southeast were attempts to get compensation through the
European court or win support for the rebels.

Human rights activists say nothing has been done since and have
threatened to take the sisters’ case to the Strasbourg, France-based
European Court of Human Rights.

“It has almost been a year and nothing has been done,” said Nazime
Avras, sister of Mehmet Sabri Avras, a missing militant. “We just want
a proper grave, we’re not asking for much.”

The family was told that Mehmet Sabri Avras, a member of the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party, or PKK, was killed in fighting between the rebels and
the military in Bitlis in 1995. His body was never handed over to the
family, the sisters said.

Human rights groups say remains from the graves were handed over to
prosecutors shortly after they were found but no autopsies or DNA
tests have been conducted, said Nedim Tas, the head of THY-DER, an
organization that supports families of prisoners.

The graves also contained bodies with no heads, leading to suspicion
that the militants were executed with a gunshot to the head and later
decapitated to hide the shootings, said Kazim Genc, head of the human
rights organization, Pir Sultan Abdal.

Mehmet Elkatmis, the head of the parliament’s human rights commission
which investigated the Kulp mass grave, did not immediately return
calls for comment.

Some 37,000 people have died in the conflict between the rebels and
the military, which began in 1984. The rebels have recently stepped up
attacks, detonating remote-controlled bombs on train tracks and roads
used by the military.

Venice Commission: 15 years of constitutional expertise from Romania to
Iraq

Strasbourg, 07.07.2005 – Addressing the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the
European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the
Venice Commission, the Commission’s President Antonio La Pergola
declared:

“Our role, and along with it our work-load are steadily increasing. One
of the principal reasons for this development […] is that the Venice
Commission has always tried, […] to engage in matters of immediate
relevance to the countries concerned, and that it has thus made all the
contribution it could to implement within the member states the shared
and cherished values of which the Council of Europe is the guardian”,
adding that “in the new democracies basic questions of constitutional
law remain crucial for the democratic stabilisation of these countries”.

Most recently, the Commission reached an agreement with the Armenian
authorities on constitutional reform that should contribute to the
country’s democratisation and might pave the way for the return of the
opposition to parliament.

Mr La Pergola also informed the Committee of Ministers about ongoing
work notably in Kyrgyzstan and Iraq: “Upon the invitation of the German
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung we participated in a seminar on
constitution-making with members of the Constituent Assembly of Iraq in
Amman. A follow-up seminar on federalism will take place in Germany in
mid-July. We sincerely hope that these activities, which are entirely
funded by the German foundation, will contribute to the emergence of a
peaceful, stable and democratic Iraq”.

In 15 years of activity, the Venice Commission has played a key role in
promoting European constitutional heritage and bringing constitutional
texts in Central and Eastern European countries into line with the
fundamental norms of modern democracies. Romania was the first country
to request the cooperation of the Commission in 1990. Since then, nearly
all the new European democracies, together with other countries such as
South Africa, have benefited from its expertise. The Venice Commission
is also active in the fields of elections and constitutional justice.

A consultative body of the Council of Europe composed of independent
experts in the field of democracy and constitutional law, the Venice
Commission currently has 48 member states(*).

For more information, see

——————-
(*) Argentina, Canada, Korea, the United States, Japan, Kazakhstan,
Mexico, the Holy See and Uruguay have observer status, Belarus has
associated member state status, and South Africa has a special
cooperation status. The European Commission and OSCE/ODIHR also work
with the Commission.

Press Release
Council of Europe Press Division
Ref: 384a05
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
[email protected]
internet:

To receive our press releases by e-mail, contact :
[email protected]

A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to
promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops
common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 46
member states.

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| 15:52:17 | 06-07-2005 | Official |

HOPE FOR STABILITY

Today Robert Kocharyan received the delegation of the Iran Islamic Republic
Hormozgan region Ebrahim Derazmisu.

Robert Kocharyan welcomed the initiative to establish cooperation between
the Ararat region and the Hormozgan region mentioning that the
inter-regional cooperation is a well-experiences and efficient means to
develop the relations between the two countries.

Referring to the Presidential elections in Iran Robert Kocharyan voiced hope
that the cooperation between the two countries and the agreements reached
will remain in vigor under the newly elected President of the country.

Referring to the enhancing of the economic links, Robert Kocharyan mentioned
that although large-scaled Armenian-Irani project are being realized, the
dynamically developing economy of Armenia gives new possibilities of
cooperation.

SEYRAN OHANIAN: JUNE 21 INCIDENT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF PROTECTON OF
HONOR AND THERE IS NO NEED TO POLITICIZE IT

STEPANAKERT, JULY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The June 21 incident was
“exclusively conditioned by offensive expressions addressed to the
honor of the Defence Army, my battle friends and personally to my
honor and dignity by our former companion-in-arms Pavel Manukian. I
consider irrelevant to quote these expressions for well-known
reasons,” NKR Defence Minister Seyran Ohanian declared in his
explanations given to the Artsakh Public Television. “I don’t mean a
personal insult, I consider it incompatible with the insult addressed
to the Defence Army and my battle friends. There are values that
mustn’t be discredited. No one has such a right, especially as the
person who is well aware of the details of the fighting way passed by
his friends. As an Armenian, as a soldier, as a person having felt the
price of our victory on my own back, I wasn’t able to control myself
when an attempt to throw mud at our army and its commanders, my
companions-in-arms was made,” Seyran Ohanian mentioned. He assured
that “one mustn’t look for a political implication here, especially
against the whole political party having a long biography of devotion
to its nation, ARF Dashnaktsutiun.” “Both we, servicemen, and the
Dashnaktsutiun, have always preserved the honor of an Armenian officer
and army. Therefore, I couldn’t tolerate such conduct by a former
officer at a level of personal relations,” Seyran Ohanian emphasized.
“I don’t think that the insults addressed to the Defence Army, my
friends and personally to me can be connected with any political force
acting in the Armenian reality. <…>. It’s also obvious that
connecting this incident with the elections is quite groundless. A
simple truth follows from this: there is no need to politicize a thing
that isn’t liable to politicization. I assure that the incident was
only a matter of protection of honor as the honor and homeland are at
the same level for an officer. To recap, on June 21, Pavel Manukian,
an ARF member, a candidate for NKR MP, a participant of Artsakh
liberation movement, was beaten in NKR Defence Minister’s cabinet, in
consequence of which he got a concussion.

All but one from last season back on Nuggets staff

*By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News*
*July 4, 2005*

Meet the new staff, same as the old staff.

Well, almost.

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl spent nearly two months pondering the
makeup of his coaching staff. The only change should be John Welch being
hired as a player development assistant to replace Rex Kalamian, who
left for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Welch arrived in Denver on Saturday. He expects to sign a two-year
contract Tuesday, with the Nuggets having a third-year option, and then
travel with the team to Las Vegas for summer league.

“This is an exciting opportunity, getting to work with coach Karl,”
Welch said. “I feel Denver is a team with a huge upside.”

Welch, 42, spent the past three seasons as a player development
assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies. He has known Karl for 12 years,
beginning when he was a Long Beach State assistant and traveled to

Seattle to watch Karl coach the SuperSonics in training camp.

“I’ve been in gyms with (Karl) a lot,” said Welch, a Fresno State
assistant under Jerry Tarkanian for seven seasons before joining the
Grizzlies.

Welch should sit behind the bench along with holdover player development
assistant Chip Engelland. Holdover assistants on the bench are Doug Moe,
Scott Brooks and Adrian Dantley.

“I’m looking forward to coming back,” said Dantley, who is ready to
re-sign after he, Brooks and Engelland had two-year deals expire
Thursday. “We should have a really good team.”

Moe, a former Nuggets head coach, has been expected to return since the
end of the season but had held back from calling it a certainty. But he
said Sunday he’s “100 percent on board” for next season.

“I had no problems last year, so I should be fine for next year,” said
Moe, who had a heart attack last summer.

Moe, who has signed one-year contracts since being named a consultant in
2002, expects to sign another one. With Karl suspended for the first
three games of next season, Moe said there “has been no discussion”
about who will take over.