Author: Tashjian Arbi

GARY KAH “ENROUTE TO A GLOBAL OCCUPATION” BOOK PUBLISHED IN EASTERN ARMENIAN

Noyan Tapan
May 10 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Presentation of Hakob Bodrumian’s
translation of Gary Kah’s “Enroute to a Global Occupation” book in the
Eastern Armenian language took place in Yerevan on May 10. Earlier
the book was published in Beirut in Bodrumian’s Western Armenian
translation. According to Gevorg Yazechian who bound, edited and
published the book, the American author’s book in H.Bodrumian’s
translation is an event in the newest history of the Armenian public
ideology. In the book, G.Kah presents opposing global and satanic
forces striving for unity of the world and establishing anti-Christ
power. According to Yazenchian, reading of the book helps to penetrate
into in the real essence of the new and newest history and world
processes and events of our days (for example, the September 11,
2001 act of terrorism shocked the world, continuous war of Iraq,
obliging people’s numeration in RA with the help of social cards)
and understanding their real motives and goals. It is characteristical
that, according to initiators of the publication, it is first of all
envisaged for employees of national security as well as for political
figures, historians and students.

Vision Montreal picks new leadersTo replace outgoing Pierre Bourque; As
expected, Noushig Eloyan to lead at city hall while Francois Purcell takes
reins of party

The Gazette
Published: Monday, May 08, 2006

The two politicians charged with leading Vision Montreal in the post-Pierre
Bourque era say the party is in fine health and sound financial shape.

As expected, Francois Purcell was named the party’s new leader and Noushig
Eloyan the official opposition leader at the party’s general council
yesterday.

Both are Vision Montreal city councillors.

“Are you worried for our future?” Purcell asked during his closing speech in
the small auditorium at College Maisonneuve. Several people in the audience
called out “no” and “not at all.”

“You answered the same thing as me,” Purcell said to applause.

Bourque, a former mayor of Montreal, resigned on Friday as leader of the
municipal party he founded 12 years ago.

After yesterday’s gathering, Eloyan noted that party leaders often leave the
day after an electoral defeat, leaving the troops in a difficult position.
But she praised Bourque for taking time to put things in order before
deciding to step down.

“For the past six months he made sure that the party was in good financial
health,” Eloyan said. “There is no debt at all. There is still money for the
party to move on.”

Vision Montreal currently has 3,000 members and it plans to launch a
recruitment campaign, she said.

Bourque said Vision Montreal is in good hands.

“The party will change, it will evolve, but I think the inspiration, the
values will remain the same,” Bourque said.

Eloyan said the party will continue to defend Montrealers and act as
watchdogs to ensure that Mayor Gerald Tremblay’s administration doesn’t
deviate too much from its promises.

Purcell conceded last week that a full leadership race will be held closer
to the 2009 municipal election. But yesterday neither he nor Eloyan seemed
eager to discuss their political future in that regard.

“The big challenge is to unite our strengths, to be a good opposition, to
put pressure on the administration, (and) especially to win over voters in
general,” Eloyan said.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006

ARMEN SMBATIAN:THE SEARCH WORKS OF CRASHED A-320 AIRBUS WILL CONTINUE
UNLESS WE LOSE HOPE TO FIND ANYTHING

Yerevan, May 6. ArmInfo. The search works in the place of the May 3
plane crash will continue, unless we lose hope to find anything.

Armen Smbatian, RA Ambassador to Russia, said in the interview
to ArmInfo.

He said that the experts are going to use not only Russian diving
and submarine equipment but also foreign equipment in the search works.

At present, it is expected that foreign experts will arrive in Sochi
to find out whether their equipment will work in the conditions of
the Black Sea. Particularly, the experts from Cyprus, Italy, Great
Britain and France are expected to work with the Russian rescuers and
divers. In response to the question whether the experts will decide
to stop the search works, Armen Smbatian said that this may happen
only in case the experts are merely unable to pull out the black
boxes. But he added that he doesn’t lose hope.

Smbatian said that the relatives of the unidentified victims undergo
DNA expertise, at present. A group of relatives will return to Armenia
today, the rest will do that tomorrow. Those who didn’t find the
bodies of their relatives take symbolic ground and water to bury
in Armenia. According to the latest data, 51 bodies have already
been found.

Mr. Smbatian said that he will stay in Sochi till the end of the search
works. “The search operation will last for three more weeks,” he said.

Armenia to begin second day of morning for plane crash victims

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 6 2006

YEREVAN, May 6 (Itar-Tass) — Armenia is entering the second day of
morning for the victims of the May 3 Airbus-320 passenger plane crash.

Flags are flying at half-mast in the country and its diplomatic
missions abroad.

A religious service for the victims will be held at Yerevan’s main
cathedral on Saturday evening. The head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, Catholicos Garegin II, will lead the service. Similar services
will be held in all foreign dioceses of the Armenian Church.

A fund raising campaign for the families of the crash victims is under
way. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has donated his one-month
salary for the purpose, presidential press secretary Viktor Sogomonyan
told Itar-Tass.

The president receives about $700 a month. Donations by members of
the presidential administration will be transferred to a special
account opened at the Armenian Finance and Economy Ministry, he said.

On Friday, hundreds of people prayed for victims of the crash at
the Armenian church at Moscow’s Vagankovo cemetery. The head of
the Russian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bishop Ezras
(Nersisyan) led the service.

“People are carrying flowers and lighting candles near the list of
the crash victims,” a church source told Itar-Tass.

Prayers for the air crash victims will be said in all temples of the
Armenian Apostolic Church on May 5-6. There are about 50 Armenian
churches in Russia.

A commemoration service for the crash victims was also conducted
at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral as well as other Orthodox
cathedrals.

Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II presented condolences on
the death of the plane passengers and crewmembers.

The Russian Orthodox Church is praying for the dead and presenting
condolences to all residents of Armenia, especially to the friends
and families of the air crash victims, Alexy II said.

The patriarch will commemorate the crash victims during the May 6
service on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, a spokesman for the Moscow
Patriarchate, Vladimir Vigilyansky, told Itar-Tass.

Meanwhile, the search operation is continuing on the Black Sea where
an Armenian Airbus-320 passenger plane crashed on May 3.

Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived at the scene on Friday
evening.

So far 42 bodies of victims have been identified, an official at the
Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said.

“Forensic tests on the victims’ bodies are nearing completion,”
the prosecutor said, adding that samples had been obtained for DNA
analysis of body fragments.

Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said 53 bodies had been
recovered. The remains of 26 passengers were flown to Yerevan earlier
on Friday.

Investigators from the Prosecutor-General’s Office have questioned
air traffic controllers as witnesses in the case.

Sources at the Prosecutor-General’s Office said “the investigators
keep studying a large amount of retrieved documents, including
technical ones.”

“The available fragments of the plane are being examined in cooperation
with specialists. All information collected so far is being checked on,
verified and summarised. The crew’s verbal exchanges with the ground
services are being studied and witnesses questioned, including the
personnel of air traffic control services,” the sources said.

Earlier, Georgia handed over to Armenia important materials that
may help to investigate the A-320 airliner crash, an official at the
Armenian Embassy in Georgia told Itar-Tass.

Members of the investigating group were in Tbilisi for two days and
left Georgia on Friday.

On Thursday, the Georgian air traffic control service provided
investigators and reporters with the recording of the conversation
with the plane crew when the aircraft was in the area controlled by
Georgia and expressed readiness to cooperate with Russian and Armenian
specialists in the investigation.

The search operation involves 23 ships, two Ka-32 and Mi-8 helicopters,
the research ship “Katran”, which has an automatic bathyscaphe,
an underwater “Kalmar” device with a multi-ray sonar, and a Be-200
amphibious plane.

Up to 10 percent of the plane’s fragments have so far been raised from
the bottom of the Black Sea, the Emergencies Ministry’s Operations
Department Director Gennady Korotkin, who heads the department’s task
team now working in the area of the accident, said.

The recovery of the Airbus A-320 flight recorders is crucial for
finding out the cause of the crash. French specialists detected the
flight recorders emitting radio signals at a depth of 680 meters.

The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia plunged into the
Black Sea as it was making a landing manoeuvre in the early hours of
May 3. The accident claimed the lives of 113 people.

Russian TV shows underwater probe used at plane crash site

RTR Russia TV, Moscow
6 May 06

Russian recovery workers are using a “unique” underwater visual
observation system to pinpoint wreckage from the Armenian Airbus A-320
that crashed in the Black Sea off Sochi, Russia TV reported on 6 May.

An object 20 metres by 30 metres has already been located on the
seabed, but it is not clear whether it is part of the plane’s fuselage
or a rock, the report said.

A correspondent described the underwater probe – known as Obzor-600
– as a “remote-controlled robot that can descend to a depth of 600
metres in order to pick up a picture of the seabed using a video
camera installed on it”.

The whole underwater investigation system is known as Kalmar [squid].

Describing how it works, the correspondent said: “A special echo
sounder located in the bow of the ship scans the whole surface of
the seabed, and as soon as an object appears the command goes out to
drop anchor.”

He went on: “The robot is connected to a monitor by a fibre-optic
cable and lowered into the water. It descends not under its own
weight, but with the help of three independent engines controlled by
a joystick from a control unit. So in just a few minutes a picture
of the seabed appears.”

A ship’s engineer introduced as Dmitriy demonstrated the robot and
described how it works: “Its maximum working depth is 600 metres. It
has two video cameras – one black-and-white and one colour. It has
light-emitting diode lighting. This is the manipulator. This is the
locator and this is the navigation system.”

Sergey Biryukov, captioned as chief of underwater work, said in an
interview: “It is a miniature craft designed exclusively for visual
observation. More powerful heavy-duty equipment with manipulators
and a lifting capacity of around 30 kg would be needed for lifting
a black box. As far as I know, the navy does have such craft.”

[Video showed image of seabed on screen, close-up of the Obzor-600
robotic probe being handled by ship’s engineer who points to its
various features, robot being lowered overboard, cable being played
out trailing behind robot, man with joystick-like hand-held control
unit, recovery workers at crash site, victims’ relatives giving blood
for identification purposes in Sochi]

A1+ DEPENDS ON AUTHORITIES

Lragir.am
5 May 06

Jean Louis Laurent, CoE Political Director, speaking about the benefits
of Armenia’s membership to the CoE and fulfilment of undertaken
commitments, he noticed that Armenia has freedom of speech problems,
particularly, in the areas of regulatory agencies and licensing. Jean
Louis Laurent specified that he meant the question of the TV company
A1+, and emphasized the importance of commitment of the authorities
to prevention of political interventions of regulatory agencies.

UNCERTAINTY ABOUT PLANE CRASH IS NOT DIMINISHING

Lragir.am
04 May 06

According to our sources, about a day and a half passed from the
crash of A320, and much more questions have occurred than answers
have been given. Particularly, it became known that two people did
not fly because after checking in and submitting the luggage it
turned out that they did not have visas in their passports. However,
the plane took off on time, which means that the luggage of those two
passengers was not returned. Next, investigation is carried out along
with the work of rescuers, and the fuel collected from the surface of
water. Hardly 15 liters of fuel was reported to have been collected,
whereas the Armenian officials assure that the plane had about 10
tons of fuel. It is known that fuel is very expensive in Yerevan,
and in a number of cases an airlines fuel up for one destination only.

At least 5 countries are related with the crash and the related
developments: Armenia, Georgia, Russia, France and the United
States. Presently, each of them is trying to prove that they are not to
blame for the accident. Therefore, Georgia is willing to provide the
recording of the conversation of the Armenian pilots and the Georgian
dispatchers when the plane was flying via Georgia. Our source assures
that when the Georgian party attempted to deliver the recording to
the ambassador of Armenia, the ambassador “disappeared.” Thanks
to the consistency of the Georgian party, the representatives of
the office of the Attorney General of Armenia arrived in Georgia to
take the recording. There is yet another suspicion; according to the
requirements of the airport of Sochi, when a plane makes a second
attempt to land, it has to depart from the coast maximum 4 km. The
Armenian plane plunged into the sea 4-5 km from the coast.

NEW AND OLD CHURCHES IN STEPANAKERT

Lragir.am
5 May 06

On May 9 the foundation of St. Astvatsatsin Church will be laid in
Stepanakert. The Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church
has provided 140592000 drams for building. The total cost is 765
million drams. The church is reported to be built in the center of
Stepanakert. The old building, as well as some other houses nearby will
be pulled down after the new building of the polyclinic is ready. In
this houses a number of people are registered, and pulling them down
will bring about tremendous costs.

There is not a traditional church in Stepanakert. The believers attend
the church in the building of the House of Culture. In another part of
the city a small church is being built on the funds of a sponsor. In
the old part of Stepanakert there is an ancient church which is said
to have been built under King Vachagan. Other historians say the
church was built in the 18th century. This church is not operating
and is in private land.

PLANE CRASH UPDATE: 39 BODIES FOUND
Nidhi Sharma – All Headline News Contributor

All Headline News
May 3 2006

Moscow, Russia (AHN) – Thirty-nine bodies of passengers of the fateful
A-320 airliner have been found so far in the sea. Bad weather is
slowing recovery of the bodies of 113 people killed when a plane
flying from Armenia to southern Russia crashed into the Black Sea.

Information on the citizenship of the passengers is varied. As per
reports by BBC, it was carrying 85 Armenian citizens, 26 Russians,
one Georgian and one Ukrainian. Among those on board were eight crew
and five children.

However, the Chief Civil Aviation Board under the Armenian Government
claims that there were only Russians and Armenians on board.

There is no exact information on the reasons behind the tragedy. The
Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations asserts that “bad weather
conditions are the main version of the A-320 crash.”

The Airbus A-320 crashed at about 0215 local (2215 GMT) as it made
a second attempt to land at an airport near the Russian resort town
of Sochi.

It was initially refused permission to land because of the weather
conditions, according to airline officials.

Itar-Tass news agency reports that a technical commission was formed to
investigate the accident. Moreover, a commission of the Inter-State
Aviation Committee, headed by its Chairman Tatyana Anodina, flew
to Adler.

In connection with the catastrophe, the Krasnodar Territorial
Administration has formed a special commission. A “hotline”
was opened for the relatives of the airliner passengers. All the
necessary information can be obtained by dialing 8-622-444-00-88
or 8-622-44-12-32.

May 5 will be declared a day of mourning in Russia and Armenia.

MOURNING IS ANNOUNCED ON MAY 5 AND 6 IN ARTSAKH AS WELL

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 03 2006

STEPANAKERT, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. NKR President
Arkadi Ghukasian signed a decree by which, on the occasion of the
aircraft accident taken place on May 3, May 5 and 6 are announced
mourning days in the republic. NKR ministries, departments, heads of
regional administrations, the Stepanakert Mayor are instructed to
bend the NKR state flag in the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh and in
NKR representations in foreign states during the mourning days.