Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

SENATORS SANTORUM, MENENDEZ INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK U.S. FUNDING
FOR PROPOSED CAUCASUS RAILWAY PROJECT EXCLUDING ARMENIA

— Similar Measure in House Has Garnered 77 Cosponsors

WASHINGTON, DC – Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and
newly appointed New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced
legislation this week that would prohibit U.S. assistance for the
building of railroads traversing the Caucasus that circumvent Armenia,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The legislation mirrors a similar House measure (H.R. 3361) titled
the “South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2005”,
introduced by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg
(R-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) in June, 2005. The House version of
the legislation currently has 77 cosponsors.

“We welcome this effort to protect U.S. taxpayers from subsidizing
an ill-advised and over-priced railroad project that – at the
insistence of Turkey and Azerbaijan – has been specifically designed
to exclude Armenia,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the
ANCA. “Constructing this railroad around Armenia runs directly counter
to U.S. foreign policy, is commercially untenable, and will only serve
to institutionalize Turkey and Azerbaijan’s blockades of Armenia.”

In his speech on the Senate floor, S. 2461 original cosponsor Sen.
Menendez noted the Turkish government’s ongoing campaign to “isolate
Armenia economically, politically and socially,” citing Turkey’s
13-year blockade of Armenia and, more recently, the construction
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which also circumvents Armenia.
“U.S. policy in the South Caucasus seeks to foster regional cooperation
and economic integration and supports open borders and transport
and communication corridors. U.S. support for this project would
run counter to that policy which is why Senator SANTORUM and I are
introducing this legislation today.”

In May, 2005, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Turkey’s President Akhmed Nedget
Sezer announced their intention to construct the railway corridor
linking Turkey, Tbilisi, and Baku. The project would effectively
replace the Kars-Gyumri railroad route, which has been blockaded
by Turkey for more than a decade. The governmental and commercial
interests involved in the project, estimated at between $600 million
and $1 billion, will almost certainly turn to the U.S. government for
financial support, subsidies, favorable lending terms, and low-cost
risk insurance, as they did for the Baku- Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline route.

In October 2005, the European Commission added its voice to the growing
international opposition to a Caucasus railroad. The Commission’s
position was articulated by the Directorate General for Transport and
Energy. In explaining why the European Union would not support the
creation of this rail line, the Directorate noted that its construction
was both unnecessary and inefficient in light of the existing railroad
connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.

Sen. Menendez’ complete statement follows.

#####

Statement By Sen. Robert Menendez Upon Introduction of S.2461

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation
to block U.S. support for yet another anti-Armenian initiative.

In numerous cases over the last few years, the Turkish government has
methodically sought to isolate Armenia economically, politically and
socially. One of the most egregious examples was the imposition of a
1993 blockade against Armenia in support of Azerbaijan’s war against
Karabakh Armenians.

The Turkish government has routinely sought to exclude Armenia from
projects that would benefit the economies of the countries of the
South Caucasus. The latest example of this policy is the proposal
to build a new rail line that would connect Turkey, Georgia and
Azerbaijan. Similar to the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, this rail link would
specifically go around Armenia.

Now, geographically, we all know that a pipeline or rail line that
seeks to connect Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan would have to pass
through Armenia. One would have to make a special effort to bypass
Armenia.

The U.S. should not endorse Turkey and Azerbaijan’s politically
motivated attempt to isolate Armenia.

I therefore rise today in opposition to this plan, and to introduce
legislation, along with my colleague, Senator SANTORUM, that would bar
U.S. support and funding for a rail link connecting Georgia and Turkey,
and which specifically excludes Armenia. This project is estimated to
cost up to $800 million and would take three years to complete. The aim
of this costly approach, as publicly stated by Azeri President Aliyev,
is to isolate Armenia by enhancing the ongoing Turkish and Azerbaijani
blockades and to keep the existing Turkey-Armenia-Georgia rail link
shut down. This ill-conceived project runs counter to U.S. policy,
ignores the standing Kars- Gyumri rail route, is politically and
economically flawed and serves to destabilize the region.

U.S. policy in the South Caucasus seeks to foster regional cooperation
and economic integration and supports open borders and transport
and communication corridors. U.S. support for this project would
run counter to that policy which is why Senator Santorum and I are
introducing this legislation today.

We cannot continue to stoke the embers of regional conflict by
supporting projects that deliberately exclude one of the region’s
most important members. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

#####

IT IS NOT FOR MILITARY MEN TO ANSWER QUESTION IF KARABAKH WAR CAN BE RESUMED: ARMENIAN DEPUTY DM

YEREVAN, MARCH 28. ARMINFO. It is not for military men to answer the
question if the Karabakh war can be resumed, says Armenian Deputy
Defence Minister Artur Agabekyan while commenting on the growing
number of skirmishes on the Armenian-Azeri contact line.

He refutes the reports that young people are not allowed to leave
Armenia. He admits that there is certain “activity” on the contact
line but it is due to spring engineering work (digging of trenches)
and also to the constant bellicose rhetoric from Baku. There has
always been exchange of fire – if the Azeris fired at the Armenians,
the Armenians responded – “as we cannot allow them to fire at our
positions.” “Our military men serve perfectly and are always ready
to rebuff any local or large-scale attack,” says Agabekyan.

ARMENIA’S POPUALTION TO RECEIVE TELEPHONE BILLS BY POST

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 27 2006

YEREVAN, March 27. /ARKA/. Individual and legal entities will shortly
receive telephone bills by post in Armenia, Artak Khachatrya, Head
of the Legal Affairs Department, “ArmenTel” Company, told reporters.

According to him, the company is holding negotiations with the
“Armpost” CJSC. “This is a matter of some months,” he said.

The “ArmenTel” company currently has a monopoly of stationary telephone
communication in Armenia.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006

Armenian prisoner of war repatriated

[ 24 Mar. 2006 17:33 ]

Today an Armenian prisoner of war (POW) detained in Azerbaijan was
repatriated to his country under the auspices of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

APA was informed by the ICRC.
The operation took place on the road between Azerbaijan’s town of
Gazakh and Armenia’s town of Ijevan.
Further to the request from the authorities of the Republic of
Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, the ICRC acting as a neutral
intermediary, and in accordance with its mandate, facilitated the
repatriation of the Armenian prisoner of war.
The ICRC delegates met with the POW to be sure that he wishes to
return to his own country.
In accordance with its mandate, the ICRC assisted in repatriation of
656 people in the region since 1992.
The repatriated Armenian prisoner of war is a military man Saakyan
Vardan Martikovich, who passed the front line in Hasangaya village of
Azerbaijani region of Terter, near contact line of troops on 3
February, this year.
The investigation found out that Saakyan Vardan was born in Uits
village of Sisian region, Armenia, on June 25, 1986, and he is
Armenian citizen.
Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Prisoners of War, Hostages and
Missing Persons informed APA that Saakyan was drafted to Armenian
Army under a contract and sent to Azerbaijan’s occupied province of
Nagorno Garabagh for military service.
The international organizations, including, the ICRC, the
International Working Group to Search for the Missing, Hostages and
Prisoners of War were informed about Saakyan./APA/

Common Dreams (press release), ME
March 24 2006

MARCH 24, 2006
10:45 AM
CONTACT: Amnesty International

Turkey: In Support of Freedom of Expression Media Information

WASHINGTON – March 24 – From 1-10 April 2006, Amnesty International
groups around the world will be asking members of the public to sign
postcards urging the Turkish authorities to abolish Article 301 of
the Turkish penal code.

Amnesty International believes that Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code poses a threat to the fundamental right to freedom of
expression. Individuals including human rights defenders, publishers,
prominent writers, and journalists, are being prosecuted because they
have dared to discuss publicly the “official” version of the
country’s history or the role of the army, or have caricatured state
officials.

The case against Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk for comments on the
deaths of Kurds and Armenians in Turkey has been dropped. However,
this is too small a step on the road to freedom of expression.

Amnesty International members are appealing to members of the public
to put pressure on the Turkish authorities to immediately stop
prosecutions against individuals under the article and to abolish it
in its entirety.

PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. Condemned Bamiyan Buddha Statues Destruction but Keeps Silent on
Armenian Holy Site Desecration

24.03.2006 19:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `For more than three months, the U.S. government did
not utter a single word about this systematic desecration of an
Armenian holy and cultural site,’ Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian stated in an
interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. `During a recent visit to Armenia, a
State Department official responded to questions on this matter during
a press conference by condemning the destruction – but the Department
seems to have done little else. This, of course, stands in stark
contrast to the vocal U.S. outrage over the Taliban’s destruction of
the Bamiyan Buddha statues in 2001,’ he said.

As for the disparity in the U.S. military aid to Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Aram Hapmarian said, `We are working very actively within
the Congressional appropriations process – on both the House and
Senate sides – to see that military aid parity is restored. The key
to this effort is explaining that disparity in favor of Azerbaijan
will embolden Baku to act on its increasingly violent threats against
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.’

Georgian president speaks at launch of leisure centre construction project

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
23 Mar 06

President Mikheil Saakashvili on 23 March delivered an upbeat speech
at a ceremony launching the construction of a large leisure centre on
Ajaria’s border with the rest of Georgia. He said that Georgia had
come a long way since two years ago when he was denied entry to Ajaria
by armed supporters of the then Ajarian leader, Aslan Abashidze.
Saakashvili said that “unprecedented” infrastructure improvement
projects under way in Georgia would lead to more tourists visiting the
country and higher living standards. The following is the text of a
report by Georgian Imedi TV on 23 March:

[Presenter] The president is on the border between Ajaria and Guria to
attend a ceremony to mark the start of work on the construction of the
largest leisure centre in Georgia, Tsitsinatela. The complex will
cover 14 hectares and the first stage of construction will be
completed by 1 August. The complex will be finally completed by the
next summer season.

[Saakashvili, live broadcast] Welcome, everybody. I would like to
welcome the heads of the local government, the chairman of the Supreme
Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria and members of the
government.

Today is an important day for us. Two years ago in March, on this
spot, during the night, or more precisely early in the morning, we
tried to enter Ajaria over the Choloki bridge. We were blocked about
where that building is being built by several hundred people armed to
the teeth. The Choloki bridge had been heavily mined. Just a few days
ago they found more explosives left by [then Ajarian leader] Aslan
Abashidze and his foreign advisers under another bridge nearby. It is
good that they did not explode. Two years ago we could not have
imagined how this place would begin to change.

I would like to tell you that we do not just mean the construction of
this park. We are starting major, unprecedented construction projects
on a very ti ght timescale along the Black Sea coast in Ajaria and now
in Guria.

In these coming days and weeks the construction of up to 30 new,
European-standard tourist hotels will begin in Ajaria. Several will be
built in Guria.

Last year saw unprecedented road construction work. We built the first
new tunnel for decades. We also intend to continue building roads this
year. The Ozurgeti-Kobuleti road will be rebuilt to European standards
this year. That is very important for the Guria region. The Meria
road and the Sarpi-Batumi road will be repaired to modern
standards. We will continue building a new tunnel and it should be
finished by the end of the year.

We will complete roads in Ajaria’s highland region and we are working
on roads linking villages in Guria. We are reinforcing coastal
defences in Guria and Ajaria.

This year was the first for many years in which most of Guria and
Ajaria did not have electricity problems. This, of course, did not
fall from the sky. This was the result of very hard work.

You know that throughout Georgia educational institutions are being
built. Last year several new schools were built in Ajaria and
Guria. However, I want everything new that we build – schools, roads
and everything else – to be of a completely different standard and
quality. I do not want this to be a repeat of Soviet standards.

A short time ago we even missed the quality of what was built in the
Soviet Union. Everything new that it is to be built or renovated – and
this year 17 new schools will be built in Ajaria and several built or
renovated in Guria – should be done to European standards. Every new
building should be on a European level. We are in the 21st century and
we are a European country. We should have buildings of which we are
proud, not embarrassed when we send our children there. We will do
that together. [applause]

We started an experiment last year. The Ajarian government provided
all schoolchildren in Batumi with school uniforms. This year, free
school uniforms will be provided to all schoolchildren, from year one
to six, throughout Ajaria. I would like to say that we support this
programme. [Tbilisi mayor] Gigi Ugulava is doing the same in
Tbilisi. We also hope to provide free beautiful school uniforms to
children in the district centres of Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti and
Chokhatauri. Children should be happy to wear them. These uniforms
should be different from the old-fashioned uniforms we remember from
our childhoods. We should have good-quality modern uniforms, just as
in Europe and other normal countries. We will do this together.

Several good outpatient clinics are being built here. It is very
important for us to build a decent, modern health care system
everybody can afford to use. No-one should be denied medical treatment
because of money problems. I would also like to tell you that on 6
May we will switch on [street lights on] the entire highway. I want
the whole of Georgia to know that this year Ajaria and Georgia’s Black
Sea coast will be beautiful as never before. The entire highway, from
Choloki to Batumi and Sarpi, will have newly installed lights. There
will be no more dark roads, no more dangerous bends, no more dangerous
potholes. Come and have a good time here, spend money here, because
this money will benefit local people.

Numerous new cafes and catering facilities are being built this
year. You know that last year a new, modern park opened in Borjomi,
which was the trailblazer. We are continuing to make improvements to
the park. By the way, my friend here, who is from Kobuleti, has
visited the Borjomi park several times together with his classmates, I
believe.

Today, here at the Choloki [river], we are opening the construction of
a park that will be one of the most modern parks in the former Soviet
Union. This involves huge investment. This will not just be an
entertainment and recreation site. This park will create job
opportunities. Like a magnet, it will attract more facilities around
it. Like a magnet, it will attract tourists. Tens of thousands of
tourists from Armenia and other countries have already been here [in
Ajaria]. By the end of this year, the construction of a new
European-style airport will be completed in Batumi. It will meet all
modern European standards. There will be a completely new runway that
any type of aircraft can use. It will be even better than the Tbilisi
airport runway. This is being done to attract more tourists.

What does more tourists mean? It means that people in Natanebi
[village in the Guria province] will be able to sell their produce. I
have many friends in this village. It is a great village with great
traditions of farming. People here will have more income, which will
enable them to give their children a better education. Education is
the main thing for us here. We must understand that the sale of our
agricultural produce and the development of tourism is the future of
Georgia.

For the first time in the post-Soviet period, several large food
processing enterprises are opening in Ajaria this summer. Tens of
millions of dollars’ worth of investment is being made for the benefit
of people in Guria and Ajaria. Agricultural produce from the rest of
Georgia will also be processed here.

This means jobs and new opportunities for our families living here.

I cannot list everything that is being done. When one or two
enterprises were being built, it was always easy to attend their
opening. Aslan Abashidze opened just one one-and-a-half storey
kindergarten which has never seen any children. Some people who are
currently criticizing us in Tbilisi visited it 40 times and heaped
praise on Aslan Abashidze a hundred times for building that one-storey
shack.

In Ajaria’s highland region alone we are building 15 completely new
schools this year. In Kobuleti, as I promised, I will build one of the
most beautiful and modern schools in the region. It will be a school
that meets European standards. We will work as quickly as possible
and, hopefully, children will be able to use it by the end of the
year. A similar European-standard school is being built in
Khelvachauri. More such schools are being built in Guria. Naturally,
I will not be able to attend the opening of each of these schools,
although I would really like to.

It must be said though that, of course, progress is a gradual
process. We need to work harder, be more patient and spill more sweat
in order finally to help our country emerge from the terrible state it
found itself in.

There was a swamp here and this still is a swamp. On 1 July, or let’s
hope in the middle of July at the latest, we will open a park here we
will not be ashamed of. We will not be embarrassed to bring the
president of America here or especially tourists from neighbouring
countries. They will go back and tell everyone how much the Georgians
have improved. Who thought this would happen? [applause]

We will be proud of that because I am proud of everything that is
being done in Georgia because Georgia is a great country and great
people live here. It is a better country than others, better than most
other countries in the world in all respects. We must really be very
untalented not to take advantage of that, but we are very talented, so
we will take full advantage. So, let’s start construction work and in
three months – [addresses head of the Ajarian government Levan
Varshalomidze and Guria governor Aleko Tsintsadze]

Varshalomidze and governor, make sure you don’t make me angry. May,
June, July – and then I will come here for a walk together with the
population of Georgia. [laughter, applause]

Armenian minister downplays public concern at US drug report

Arminfo
22 Mar 06

Yerevan, 22 March: Armenian public concern over the International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the US Department of State is
groundless, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told parliament
today. He was commenting on mass media allegations that Armenian
officials are allegedly engaged in drug trafficking.

The minister said that the report says quite the opposite. In
particular, it says that “there is no ground to assume that any
Armenian official is engaged in drug trafficking”.

[Passage omitted: Reference to the report]

EDUCATIONAL CENTER FOR FRONTIER TROOPS REPAIRED UNDER FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF US GOVERNMENT TO BE OPENED IN YEREVAN ON MARCH 22

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 20 2006

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. Opening ceremony of the Educational Center
for frontier troops, repaired under the US Government’s financial
support will be held in Yerevan on March 22. The US Embassy to
Armenia reported that participating in the opening ceremony will be US
Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, and also official representatives
of the Frontier Army Service and National Security Service of
Armenia.

NO AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED BUT PRICE OF GAS WENT UP

Lragir/am
21 March 06

On March 21 the question of the soaring price of gas was discussed at
the Hayeli Club. MP Manuk Gasparyan debated with Nikolay Grigoryan,
Deputy Chairman of the Commission of Public Utilities. Manuk Gasparyan
said the decision of the commission to sell gas to people at 90 drams
per cubic meter was illegitimate, groundless.

“If the commission made a decision, it means there was ground,”
says the deputy chairman of the Public Utilities Commission Nikolay
Grigoryan, who decided to accept the bid of Armrusgasard with his
other four colleagues on March 10 and to increase the price of the
gas supplied to the population up to 90 thousand drams and 146.5
thousand drams for enterprises.

Manuk Gasparyan thinks it was a groundless decision, and if the
commission had imposed a reduction of estimated losses of 5.37 per cent
by at least 1 per cent and had not allowed Armrusgasard to increase
the margin from 12 to 18, the price of gas would not be that high. “If
they extract the margin and losses and charge the VAT at the border,
the price of gas would grow up to 73 drams with 450 drams exchange rate
of the dollar, but if calculated on 420 drams as set in the budget,
the price of gas would grow up to 69 drams,” says Manuk Gasparyan.

“The commission did not have the right to consider the bid of
Armrusgasard until there is a deal that since April 1 Russia will
sell gas to Armenia at 110 dollars,” says Manuk Gasparyan. Nikolay
Grigoryan confirms that they could not consider the bid of Armrusgasard
without having signed a contract, but there is a contract, signed
by Armrusgasard and Gasexport, one of the companies of Gasprom, on
December 28. Manuk Gasparyan says it is merely a document, postponing
the supply of gas at 110 dollars until April 1, and negotiations
were to be held until April 1. Manuk Gasparyan announced that the
negotiations are not over, and the final price of gas has not been
fixed yet. “The contract will be signed by Armrusgasard and Gasprom
on March 28 and 29. I expect and I believe that the price of gas will
be below 110 dollars. What will the commission do with its decision
on increasing the price?” says Manuk Gasparyan.

Nikolay Grigoryan thinks it would be a miracle if the price of gas
were set below 110 dollars. He says the commission would not be
guided by unreal things, and the decision was based on the deal
signed on December 28. “We are not guided by mays and ifs,” said
Nikolay Grigoryan in answer to the argument that after April 1 the
price of gas may be lower than 110 dollars, whereas the commission
had decided to double the price of gas supplied to the population
starting from this number.

However, the negotiations for the price of gas are going on, and
the Public Utilities Commission might not be convinced that 110
dollars underlying its decision will be the final price. If it is
the final price, the minister of energy, the prime minister and other
representatives of the executive are doing populism when they say that
negotiations for the price of gas continue. Or if they are right,
it means the commission hurried to accept the bid of Armrusgasard,
and the company is facing a real possibility of extra profit.

The point is that if Russia reaches an agreement with Armenia, and
the gas price is set lower, or a mechanism of compensation is found,
Armrusgasard will have, in fact, extra profit, because people will
have to pay 90 drams per one cubic meter for at least six months. Such
is the law, for the price set by the Public Utilities Commission will
work for at least six months.