Author: Tigranian Ani

BRITISH AIRWAYS INCREASES FLIGHTS TO YEREVAN 20% DUE TO GROWTH OF AVIATION MARKET OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MAY 31. ARMINFO. In summer season British Airways is
increasing the frequency of its London-Yerevan-London flights starting
from June 18 up to 6 flights weekly, Director for Sales of British
Airways Office in Yerevan Suren Avagyan told journalists today.

The flights are carried out by airbuses A321 and A320. Avagyan added
that British Airways had operated in Armenia since 1997 and started
direct flights London-Yerevan-London three times in a week in 2003.
Avagyan thinks that the increase in the number of flights is connected
with the growth of the market of air transportation in Armenia,
which conditioned 15-20% growth of air transportation of British
Airways in the first quarter of 2005. He did not mention the number
of the passengers served by the company in Yerevan, just saying that
the company’s planes contain 124-149 seats and the load is 60%. “The
given step of British Airways is directed at satisfaction of the
demand of the Armenian market of air transportation,” Avagyan said.

In response to the question of ARMINFO’s correspondent regarding the
plans of the Yerevan office of the company to attract transit air
passengers to Yerevan, Avagyan said that British Airways is ready to
cooperate with any company having production identical to the quality
and safety of the services it provides. “At present, there is no such
interaction for lack of relevant demand,” Avagyan said.

To note, the national air carrier of Armenia – Armavia company
also exploits four Airbuses A320. Simultaneously it forms demand
for transit air transportation in Yerevan and plans to increase the
number of transit passengers in the airport Zvartnots in 2005 by 50%
– to 30,000 passengers. In 2004 the market of air transportation in
Armenia grew 20% – to 1,05 mln passengers.

Journey to Kars

TDN
Tuesday, May 31, 2005

.. and lots of other interesting places .
An archaeologist escorts ex-pats and Turks to rarely visited historic
sites in eastern Anatolia

Susanne Fowler

ANI, Turkey

The sun was beating down on the blustery plateau at Ani, the deserted
ancient city on the Turkish side of the Armenian border, as archaeology
professor Geoffrey Summers led an international group of 40 on a tour
of the historic landscape.

The Istanbul Friends of ARIT (American Research Institute in Turkey)
organized the recent trip to Urartian, Armenian and Seljuk sites in
rugged eastern Anatolia. Highlights included a morning hike through
the ruins at Ani, a stop at Akdamar Island on Lake Van and a visit
to the Ishak Pasha Palace in the hills above Dogubeyazit. Our group
departed by air from Istanbul on a Thursday morning and landed in
Van after circling overhead for about 20 minutes because of a storm
passing over the city.

Wasting no time, Summers, a professor of archaeology at Middle East
Technical University in Ankara, introduced the travelers to Urartian
carvings and other artifacts at the Van museum. Then, it was back on
the bus to reach the ruins of an Urartian fortress in Anzaf, north
of Van. The region was part of the kingdom of Urartu almost 3,000
years ago.

After a hearty kebab lunch, the group trudged up slippery rocks to
get a closer look at the Van citadel and the cuneiform inscriptions
on the outer stonewalls of the fortress.

The next day began with stops at an Urartian citadel at CavuÅ~_tepe
and a medieval castle at HoÅ~_ap.

Following a lunch of grilled trout, the group boarded a ferry to
examine carvings on the 10th-century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross
on Akdamar Island in a postcard-like setting on turquoise Lake Van. A
few hearty participants even went swimming off the rocky shore.

Day three saw a scary stroll across a wooden footbridge — worthy
of an Indiana Jones movie — to check out the Muradiye waterfalls. A
drive afterward to the windswept Ishak Pasha Palace found it crowded
with holiday weekend visitors.

The drive to Kars offered great views of Mt. Ararat, its peak clearly
visible thanks to minimally cloudy skies.

Our tour wrapped up with a scenic drive through emerald valleys and
rust-colored gorges to Erzurum and onto our way home.

One of the treats of the trip was having access to Summers,
a personable expert. Some of the travelers eventually had their
fill of ruins, however, and adjusted their Sunday schedule to spend
more time wandering around the streets of Kars in search of places
mentioned in Orhan Pamuk’s novel “Snow.”

–Boundary_(ID_+1GP276lRkA9bN8RPnH/Xw)–

Turkish government denies asking university to drop Armenian conference

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
30 May 05

Manama, 30 May: Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul arrived Sunday [29 May] night in Manama, Bahrain for a
two-day visit. Gul responded to questions of journalists on the plane
to Manama. [Passage omitted]

Regarding the postponement of the conference on Armenian claims [of
genocide against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire] that would be held in
[Istanbul’s] Bogazici University, Gul said that the government didn’t
suggest or urge its postponement.

“As long as people don’t incite violence in their speeches, they can
express their ideas,” said Gul. Upon a question about a planned visit
of a group of Turkish deputies to Armenia, Gul said that Turkey was
a country which recognized Armenia diplomatically. Noting that there
were contacts and cultural activities between the two countries, Gul
said he hoped those activities and contacts will help in settlement
of the problems through dialogue. [Passage omitted]

VICTOR DALLAKIAN CONSIDERS INADMISSIBLE POSITIVE CONCLUSION OF VENICE
COMMISSION CONCERNING ELECTORAL REFORMS

YEREVAN, MAY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The positive conclusion of the Venice
Commission of the Council of Europe concerning amendments in the RA
Electoral Code is inadmissible. Victor Dallakian, the Secretary of the
NA “Ardarutiun” (“Justice”) faction expressed such a confidence at the
May 25 press-conference.

According to him, giving judges by one place in the electoral
commissions itself contradicts the RA Constitution as according to the
98th article of the Constitution, judges may be occupied by
scientific, pedagogical, and creative work besides their direct
activities. Dallakian also drew attention to the circumstance that
judges depends on the country’s authorities, and the Venice Commission
has for many times attached importance just to that circumstance. For
example, it was mentioned that the President of the republic will have
no right to appoint any member in the Justice Council. The Secretary
of the “Ardarutiun” faction also mentioned that there are 1865
electoral districts in the whole republic in which 70-80% of judges
will be included during the elections as a result of which the
judicial system will be paralyzed. “Our approach is that the
commissions must be formed from the NA factions,” Dallakian
emphasized. According to him, taking into account that the number of
parties must be more than 2 thousands according to the law “On
Parties,” they can support to holding of the elections. Dallakian
expressed confidence that in the electoral commissions to reserve one
place for the country’s President violates the whole logic of the
Electoral Code which is based on the principle of equality of
candidates. A place is given to the Court of Appeal members of which
are also appionted by the President, and according to the speaker,
will be appointed as members of a commission according to the
President’s will. A place is also given to the “People’s Deputy” group
which is not a political unit. According to Victor Dallakian,
responsibilities of authorized persons increased and it is a positive
phenomenon. But in parallel to it there are also theses causing
anxiety.

Particularly, the amended code gives opportunity to arrest an
authorized person under a pretence of disturbing the commission’s
activities, what, according to the speaker, is rather possible in the
conditions of Armenia.

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
May 26 2005

GEORGIA: MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT PIPELINE

The Georgian government welcomes Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project –
environmentalists are less happy.

By Gennady Abarovich in Tbilisi

For the heads of state and dignitaries attending the ceremony in the
Azerbaijani capital Baku, the official opening of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is the dawn of a new era. But for many
observers in Georgia – one of three countries the pipeline will cross
-it is just one installment in a long, and in some cases
controversial, history.

Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, attended the May 25
event with his wife Sandra Roelofs, underlining his government’s
continued support for the pipeline, which originates in the
Azerbaijani waters of the Caspian, and snakes west across Azerbaijan
and Georgia before turning south to cross Turkey.

Georgia stands to earn on average some 50 million US dollars a year
in transit fees – or less than five per cent of its annual budget –
from the pipeline.

Though this is small beer in comparison with the billions that
neighboring Azerbaijan expects to reap from the transport and sale of
oil, the money will still provide a needed boost to Georgia’s
cash-strapped economy.

But for many observers the main reason for the Georgian government’s
unwavering support for the project is not financial, but strategic.
The pipeline is one of a number of factors that should guarantee the
West’s continued interest in the country’s political independence
from Russia.

Officials hope that support for the pipeline will be looked on
favourably in the corridors of power in Washington, where BTC has
long been a foreign policy priority. And BTC, along with the
forthcoming South Caucasus gas pipeline, will help decrease Georgia’s
dependence on Moscow.

President Saakashvili said at the BTC opening ceremony that Georgia
was `proud to be a transit country in this unprecedented project. For
centuries, Georgia has stood at the crossroads of great empires, at a
place where Europe, Asia and the Middle East meet. All too often in
our history we have been the subject of unwanted attention from these
great empires, but those days are

over. Now, Georgia and our region are getting a very different kind
of attention’.

But others wonder whether the project is entirely beneficial for
Georgia.

During the two years of construction, communities near or along the
pipeline route staged many demonstrations, claiming they had not
received sufficient compensation for affected land – and complaining
that their roads, water pipes and irrigation systems had been
damaged.

The protests varied from peaceful gatherings in front of local
administration buildings to blocking access roads to the pipeline
construction site. In August, last year 70 residents of the
Tabatskuri village sealed off a road, threw stones and injured
several policemen who had arrived to restore order.

The pipeline consortium provided funds to the communities in question
– some 18 million dollars, according to Wref Digings, general manager
of BP-Georgia.

But for others, the main issue remains the question of the pipeline’s
environmental safety, especially within the Borzhomi valley, a
national park and the source of the eponymously-named local mineral
water, one of the former Soviet Union’s oldest and best-known brands.
This segment, which accounts for less than a tenth of the pipeline’s
245 km in Georgia, became the focus of an international tug-of-war
over the last few years, pitting BP and its partners on one side, and
environmental groups and some parts of the Georgian government on the
other.

Environmental groups both in and outside Georgia said the pipeline
was not sufficiently protected and could irreparably damage the
Borzhomi area, should there be a leak or explosion.

BP officials for their part said that they had no alternative than to
build through Borzhomi, and that the consortium has invested millions
into assuring there would be no accident on the pipeline. BTC runs
several km from the actual springs, which are deep underground.

The issue came to a head in August last year, when the oil companies,
at the request of the country’s environmental ministry, suspended all
work on the Georgian section of the pipeline.

“British Petroleum must make every possible effort to ensure
ecological safety of the Borzhomi valley. The company tried to
complain about us in Washington, seeking to bring us under pressure
and make us agree to the resumption of construction. But they are not
going to get anything,” said President Saakashvili at the time.

Negotiations dragged on for nearly one month. In the end, the
pipeline consortium signed two documents and an additional protocol,
providing for 6 million dollars’ worth of security equipment and
assistance, as well as an additional one million dollars annually to
maintain the pipeline’s safety systems.

The consortium pledged a further 40 million dollars for social and
economic projects, to be paid in tranches until 2010. (The consortium
has already dispensed the first two tranches of nine and 11 million
dollars.)

But some, even at this late stage with construction finished and oil
entering the line, are still concerned about the project. Giga
Gigauri, a representative of a group of NGOs and academics who
campaigned in the past for it to be rerouted, told IWPR that `it is
essential to permanently monitor the state of the oil pipeline, with
NGOs and local specialists taking part in the effort’.

Gennady Abarovich is correspondent of the Black Sea Press news
agency.

Venice Commission: The draft Armenian constitution needs drastic changes

Strasbourg, 27.05.2005 – The Council of Europe’s Commission for
Democracy through Law (“Venice Commission”) has assessed the draft
constitutional amendments, as adopted by the Armenian National Assembly
in a first reading on 11 May 2005.

The members of the Venice Commission’s Working Group on constitutional
reform in Armenia expressed their deep dissatisfaction with this text,
as most of the Commission’s comments (*) have not been taken into
consideration, notably those concerning the balance of powers between
the President and the Parliament – which implies a stronger role of the
National Assembly -, the independence of the judiciary and the election
of the Mayor of Yerevan (instead of his/her appointment by the
President).

“The draft constitutional amendments need to be drastically revised
before they undergo the second reading” said Kaarlo Tuori, member of the
Venice Commission in respect of Finland. The members of the Working
Group also stated that if the text does not fully reflect the Venice
Commission’s opinions, the whole constitutional reform process would
fail to bring Armenia closer to European values and attain the aim of
further European integration.

Representatives of the Working Group will visit Armenia on 2 June to
discuss these issues with the Armenian authorities.

(*) The Venice Commission’s interim opinion on constitutional reform in
Armenia adopted in December 2004 (CDL-AD (2004) 044), is available on
the Commission’s website:

Press Release
Council of Europe Press Division
Ref: 286a05
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.

Armenpress

AZERBAIJAN WORKS TO HAVE SECTION 907 REPEALED

BAKU, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS; Azerbaijani ambassador to the USA Hafiz
Pashayev told ANS news agency that Azeri diplomats in Washington are engaged
in intensive lobbying efforts to press for the repeal of so-called 907
Section.
Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in
1992 at the height of the war in Karabakh to ban direct aid to the
Azerbaijan government. Azerbaijan considers this piece of U.S. legislature
grossly unfair saying it rewards Armenians as aggressors and treats Azeris ,
“the victims crushed by the economic burdens of territorial devastation with
the social burden of approximately 1 million refugees and displaced
citizens, as the only nation on earth to which the U.S. denies direct
humanitarian aid.” According to Pashayev, Azeri diplomats have succeeded in
winning the support of many top US government officials, but he said that
the decision is to be made, however, by Congress, where Armenian lobbying
organizations have scores of supporters. The Azeri diplomat also said that
the climate in Congress is changing and that they have embarked on a new
strategy. “If the situation in Azerbaijan improves a little that would
significantly facilitate our efforts to have the section 907 repealed,” he
said.
U.S. President George W. Bush suspended in 2002 January the Section in
acknowledgment of Baku’s support for the international antiterrorism
coalition. Pashayev also said that Azerbaijan may count for a $53 million US
aid in 2006. He said Azeri president Ilham Aliyev is expected to visit
Washington later this year.

World Bank

May 26 2005

Inauguration Of Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline To Also Start New Economic
Prospects In Caspian Region

/noticias.info/ The 1,760-kilometer (1,100-mile) Baku-Ceyhan pipeline
to be inaugurated Wednesday will not only bring Caspian oil to the
West but could help bring stability to a troubled region, analysts
say, The Associated Press reports.

The $3.2 billion US-backed project is the first direct pipeline link
between the landlocked Caspian, which is thought to contain the
world’s third-largest oil and gas reserves, and the Mediterranean —
providing a much-needed alternative to Mideast energy sources and
Russian transit routes. “This global project will completely change
the economic situation in Azerbaijan, and in the political sense it
will influence the rest of the Caucasus and Central Asia,” said Vafa
Guluzade, a former foreign affairs adviser to the Azerbaijani
government. Built by a consortium led by BP PLC, the route travels
from Azerbaijan through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Until
now, Caspian states sent almost all their oil through Russian
pipelines to reach world markets. The new route will neutralize any
Russian attempts to use economic levers to bring former Soviet
republics back under its wing, Guluzade said. Azerbaijan will earn
taxes and royalties on the oil that transits its territory, while
Georgia and Turkey are to profit from transit fees.

US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that it would take three or
four months to fill the pipeline and that deliveries would begin in
the fall. But experts have said the new oil will provide only
short-term relief to a world that is consuming more crude every year.
Oil prices, while down off their recent highs, are still hovering
around $49 a barrel. Four years ago, oil officials spoke of finds
that could rival the Middle East’s production. But experts now say
the Caspian should in coming years pump some 4 million to 5 million
barrels per day, on par with Iran.

Agence France Presse reports the British oil giant BP holds a leading
30 percent stake in the consortium running the pipeline. Other
consortium members include Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR,
Amerada Hess, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Inpex, Itochu, Statoil, Total,
TPAO and Unocal. SOCAR president Natik Aliyev called the pipeline,
which is expected to become a major competitor to traditional export
routes for Caspian oil that pass through Russia, the “realization” of
a national dream on Wednesday. He said it “bridged the nations of the
region.” The Caspian region produces a light crude of high quality
but has suffered from its distance from the world’s major consumers
— North America, Europe, China and Japan.

The Evening Standard (UK) also reports that it is thought the wider
Caspian region has oil reserves bigger than those in both American
continents, with the potential to provide the west’s oil needs for 50
years. There are also proven reserves of gas at least as large as
those controlled by Saudi Arabia. The project, which took 10 years to
design and build, runs through some of the most inhospitable terrain
and politically volatile territory in the region. In Azerbaijan, it
goes close to a cease-fire line with Armenia where there are still
frequent clashes over a territorial dispute. Georgia is fighting
separatist conflicts while in Turkey the pipeline skirts the Kurdish
heartlands. In an attempt to prevent sabotage the line has been
buried several meters underground for most of its length and will be
guarded by local police forces. There have also been tensions with
Russia, which feels it has been cut out of the deal.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the region and the pipeline,
referred to as BTC, offer Western markets one more alternative to the
often-volatile Middle East and other oil-rich but politically shaky
hot spots including West Africa. Washington also has used the
pipeline project as a way of fostering stability and cementing
political and economic ties with regional governments in the wake of
the breakup of the former Soviet Union.

Turkish Parliamentarians Forcefully Disagree with US Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) – The speaker of Turkey’s parliament, Bulent Arinc,
said Thursday that the U.S. Congress should avoid allowing political
considerations affect historical judgments – implicitly urging
lawmakers not to recognize the World War I-era killings of Armenians
as genocide. “We find it wrong that the U.S. Congress should be
forced into a position of passing judgment on historical issues,”
Arinc said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, a Washington think tank. Armenia accuses Turkey of genocide
in the killings of up to 1.5 million of its people between 1915 and
1923 as part of a campaign to force them out of eastern Turkey. Turkey
denies this. Several countries have declared the killings a genocide
and there have been calls from Armenians worldwide for the
U.S. Congress to do the same. Arinc said it was important to oppose
“such narrow-minded attempts.” He said Turkey is ready to establish
an independent commission to investigate the killings. Arinc offered
a generally upbeat view of U.S.-Turkey relations. “What unites us is
far more pronounced than what may divide us,” he said.

05/26/05 19:16 EDT

A1plus

| 14:19:33 | 25-05-2005 | Official |

KOCHARYAN AND CULTURE

Today Robert Kocharyan has received the delegation of Pan Russian
State TV Radio Company head Oleg Dobrodeev.

Issues concerning about Armenian-Russian cultural cooperation have
been discussed, and joint TV programs have been found important.

Robert Kocharyan has mentioned that particularly the broadcasting of
the Russian TV channel «Culture» in Armenia gives the possibility not
only to keep the traditional cultural links but also to enhance them.

Oleg Dobrodeev has informed that there have already been agreements
with Armenian colleagues for the realization of several joint
programs. According to him, for the past year the films and programs
shown by `Culture’ about the Armenian culture have roused a