Author: Toneyan Mark

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:

May 5, 2005

ACNIS Discusses Turkey’s Potential Role
in View of Regional Security and Cooperation

Yerevan — The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) today convened a specialized policy roundtable on “Turkey:
New Face with a New Role, or New Image with an Old Role?” The meeting
brought together academic circles, policy analysts, media and NGO
communities to view Armenia ‘s neighborhood policy, geopolitical
developments, and points of reference for possible cooperation and
security in the region in the context of Armenia’s changing environment
and national interests. It particularly focused on the new role of
an important actor in the region, Turkey.

ACNIS research coordinator Stiopa Safarian greeted the invited guests
and public participants with opening remarks. “Armenia’s relations with
Turkey are complicated and undefined. What can we expect of Turkey,
a country which aspires to be democratic and become a new member
of the European Union: transformation to good behavior or chaos,
understanding of historical sin or new manifestations of constant
denial, threats and security challenges? We expect your active
participation on this and other actual issues,” he underlined.

Artak Shakarian, Turkish analyst of the Institute of Oriental
Studies at the National Academy of Sciences, delivered a paper on
“The Pre-Genocidal Processes in Ottoman Turkey: Mass Deportations as a
Means to Oversee the Subject Peoples.” He overviewed Ottoman Turkey’s
policy toward subject peoples and particularly toward Armenians in
the early period which aimed to their estrangement in and deportation
from their homeland. “The Ottoman rulers’ continuous massacres and
predetermined mass deportations of Christian elements reached their
culmination point in 1915,” Shakarian said. In his opinion, the Young
Turks took advantage of World War One, resting assured that nobody
would pay attention to the killing of the Armenians and their homeland
in the overall turmoil.

The focal points of Tatevik Manoukian’s address were the latest
developments regarding the approaches toward the Armenian Genocide in
Turkey. In the Turkish media the much- referenced courts martial of
the Young Turks, which started in April 1919, were the first attempt to
recognize the Armenian Genocide, though in the aftermath the Kemalist
regime, which later came to power, adopted and pursued a policy of
denial. The young scholar from the same department of the Academy
of Sciences was convinced that Turkey’s accession to the European
Union and the active processes toward recognition of the Armenian
Genocide promoted Turkish society’s awareness that resulted in some
real assessments in that country. “Nevertheless, the predominant
thinking in Turkey is the following: nothing happened, the Armenians
and the Turks lived in peace for ages. Whatever happened during WWI
was the inevitable consequence of the war. And the new generation is
not responsible for whatever happened,” concluded Manoukian.

Haik Demoyan, lecturer of history at Yerevan State University,
reflected on “The Prospects of Armenian-Turkish Relations in the
Context of Turkey’s European Integration.” At the beginning of the
establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations in the early 1990s,
Turkey applied a militant policy toward Armenia which was followed
by deployment and concentration of forces, considerable military
assistance to a third country, the economic blockade, and so on. In
the historian’s vision, Turkey was afraid of the Armenian “tsunami”
even then, as the newly independent Armenia was perceived as a serious
threat in realization of the Armenian cause. “We have provided the
critical minimum which is necessary for the internationalization of
the Armenian Genocide and need now to take new steps of a different
caliber,” said Demoyan, adding that one of such measures is the
restoration of Western Armenians to their historical patrimony and
the rebuilding of Armenian churches, culture and other values.

The formal interventions were followed by contributions by Professor
Rouben Safrastian, head of Turkish Department at the Institute
of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences; Yerjanik
Abgarian of “Armat” Center; Emma Begijanian, analyst of Middle East
Affairs; Professor Babken Haroutiunian, chairholder in Armenian
History at Yerevan State University; Rozalia Gabrielian of the
Slavonic University; analyst Aram Ananian of the “Mitk” Analytical
Center; Avetik Ishkhanian of the Armenian Helsinki Committee; ACNIS
analyst Hovsep Khurshudian; Tamar Gevorgian of United Labor Party;
and several others.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS
serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy
challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet
world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic
thinking and a wider understanding of the new global environment. In
2005, the Center focuses primarily on civic education, conflict
resolution, and applied research on critical domestic and foreign
policy issues for the state and the nation.

For further information on the Center or the full graphics of the
poll results, call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46;
e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or visit

THERE MUST BE NO CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM IN AUGUST

A1plus

| 18:43:54 | 04-05-2005 | Politics |

«We speak about high mathematics without having any idea of
arithmetic». This is the opinion of NA delegate Shavarsh Kocharyan
about the course of RA Constitutional amendments. According to him,
the failure of the 2003 Constitutional referendum made it clear how
the constitutional amendments should not be done, but the process
is continuing.

According to the foreseeing of the delegate, the coming constitutional
referendum ill also be a failure. To be more exact, “The authorities
lead it to failure on purpose”. Shavarsh Kocharyan is convinced
that the Constitution must no be put to referendum until three main
principles are stipulated in it, “The Government must be appointed
and resign only by the NA majority, the Courts must be independent
from the executive branch, and the Yerevan mayor must be elected”,
explained the delegate.

The member of the PACE Armenian delegation says that the COE is
tired of us, as of all the other countries which show as if they
are integrating into the EU but in fact are following a completely
different route. As a suchlike country the delegate mentioned Russia
and Azerbaijan. “The comparison to the latter is offending”, said
Shavarsh Kocharyan.

Although the issue of the RA Constitutional amendments was not included
into the PACE spring session agenda, according to him COE continues to
be interested in this issue. The COE bureau has even decided to send
observers to Armenia to take part in the Constitutional referendum. By
the way, this is an exception as the COE sends observers to elections
and not referendums.

It was announced in the PACE spring session that the RA Constitutional
referendum will take place in July-August. We asked Shavarsh
Kocharyan if he was aware of the date before going to Strasbourg. “The
authorities did not know it themselves, but the date was told the
reporters on the spot. An explanation was needed why the issue is
not urgent”, he said.

Armenia had taken upon the commitment to organize the Constitutional
referendum till the end of June, and as far the procedure has failed,
according to Shavarsh Kocharyan the issue had to be included in
the PACE agenda. And the date means that the PACE still has time to
discuss the issue in the summer session.

By the way, according to the delegate, there are two dates which
are unacceptable, “One is August as most people are not in Yerevan,
and the second is putting the referendum together with elections,
in this case – elections of local governing bodies”.

–Boundary_(ID_6iFWZfvW+Sy/Cqw5eVpp3w)–

PACE TURKISH DELUSIONS

Pan Armenian News
03.05.2005 06:34

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish MPs have misled over 90 PACE delegates,
persuading them to sign a statement addressed to Armenian President
Robert Kocharian, stated Vice-Speaker of the Armenian ParliamentTigran
Torosian. It should be reminded that the statement in question
was sponsored by representatives of Turkey and urged the Armenian
leader to accept Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan~Rs
proposal to form a joint commission of historians to study the fact
of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in early past century.
In Torosian~Rs words, at the moment Turks were gathering signatures of
PACE delegates, Robert Kocharian had already sent a response message
to the Turkish Premier and the Turkish parliamentarians did not manage
to inform the European MPs about it. It should be reminded that a
total of 97 PACE MPs signed the document. Among those, who signed
the document are 10 Turks, 10 Russians, 8 Azeris and 4 Georgians,
Regnum news agency reported.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT UNDER FIRE OVER CONTINUING CURRENCY APPRECIATION
Emil Danielyan 5/02/05

EurasiaNet Organization
May 2 2005

What’s good for Armenia’s currency, the dram, means tougher times
for perhaps a majority of Armenians. The rapid rise of the dram’s
value against major global currencies, especially the US dollar and
European Union euro, has hit a large part of Armenia’s population hard,
and threatens to stifle the country’s exports.

The dram’s mysterious rise began 16 months ago and gained fresh
momentum in mid-April. One US dollar is now worth roughly 440 drams –
a 30 percent rise in the Armenian currency’s value since the start
of 2004. The dram has appreciated against the euro at approximately
the same rate.

Authorities attribute the phenomenon to a drastic increase in the
amount of cash remittances that are regularly sent home by hundreds
of thousands of Armenians working abroad. The Central Bank of Armenia
estimates that about 40 percent of the country’s households receive
such aid.

Predictably, the dram’s rise has emerged as a contentious domestic
political issue. Politicians and economists critical of the government
dismiss the official explanation, alleging instead that authorities
themselves have engineered the exchange rate changes to siphon off part
of the hard currency and benefit government-connected importers. Such
allegations resurfaced after the dram rose from 450 to 420 in a matter
of days before stabilizing at the current level.

Central Bank officials strongly deny any involvement in currency
manipulation. They insist that the dollar remittances coming through
banks and wire-transfer services, mostly from Russia and the United
States, jumped by 50 percent to $760 million in 2004. The actual amount
of foreign cash entering Armenia may have been twice the officially
declared figure, government officials believe.

Given the relatively small size of Armenia’s monetary base – with
only about 117 billion drams (roughly $268 million) in circulation –
the large volume of remittances from abroad would appear capable of
causing currency-market volatility. “There are just too many dollars
in circulation in Armenia,” Smbat Nasibian, chairman of Converse Bank,
a major commercial bank, argued on April 27.

Authorities also cite the dollar’s overall weakness in international
currency markets as a factor in Armenia’s exchange-rate woes. “All
complaints should be addressed to the US government,” Armenian
President Robert Kocharian told university students in Yerevan during
an early April address.

Critics counter that the dollar has continued to depreciate against
the dram since January, despite a greenback rally against the euro and
other major currencies. They also question the credibility of official
data on remittances, which have long served to offset Armenia’s huge
trade and current account deficits. “Armenians living in Russia or
the United States could not have gotten 50 percent wealthier within
a year,” argued Eduard Aghajanov, the former head of the National
Statistical Service.

Whatever the reason, the dram’s appreciation has fueled anger among
Armenians reliant upon money sent by family members working abroad.
During the post-Soviet era, lagging economic conditions have prompted
up to 900,000 Armenians to go abroad in search of work, with Russia
being the primary destination for labor emigrants. In 2004, the number
of immigrants to Armenia outnumbered those leaving the country for
the first time since 1996, according to official statistics. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Even so, a significant
number of Armenians remain dependent on remittances.

Nearly half of some 1,000 people randomly polled in January by the
Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center, a research agency
funded by the European Union, said they have lost from the dram’s
strengthening. Only 27.6 percent claimed to have been better off as
a result.

Armenian authorities downplay the extent of popular dependence on the
remittances. Vache Gabrielian, a member of the Central Bank board,
claimed on a TV talk show on April 28 that remittances make up only
a quarter of the aggregate individual income in Armenia. Gabrielian
also argued against strong Central Bank intervention in the currency
market, saying the bank’s main task is to ensure low inflation. The
Central Bank has generally succeeded in this area, he added.

However, consumer price inflation in Armenia is clearly on the rise.
Official figures put the inflation rate at 7 percent in 2004. The
prices of basic food products, which account for the biggest share of
household expenditures, were 11 percent up from the 2003 level. Food
prices soared by another 8 percent last January, casting doubt on
the authorities’ pledge to keep the annual inflation rate within a
3 percent limit in 2005.

Many Armenians would say that the rise in the cost of living has
been even higher than indicated by official statistics. Suspicion has
been stoked by the fact that virtually no imported goods have become
cheaper in the Armenian market since 2003. “I think the main reason
for that is a very small number of importers,” admitted Nasibian,
the Converse bank chief. “Each of them seems to have monopolized a
particular field, making disproportionate profits.”

This only gives weight to conspiracy theories about the dram’s
appreciation. They are further reinforced by a lack of transparency
in inter-bank currency trading which is supposed to set exchange
rates in Armenia.

According to the most popular of those theories, Kocharian’s
administration has artificially boosted the national currency to let
large-scale importers (virtually all of them having strong ties to
the incumbent administration) make additional profits. The retail
price of gasoline, for example, has barely gone up in Armenia over
the past year despite the worldwide surge in oil prices. Wholesale
gasoline traders have also cashed in on the fact that fuel import
duties are set in dollar equivalents. The Armenian government only
last month moved to fix them in drams.

Importers’ gains contrast sharply with losses incurred by Armenian
exporters. The latter are beginning to openly express concern about the
dram’s appreciation. A Yerevan-based factory that produces electrical
lamps has reportedly suspended its manufacturing operations after
discovering that its production is now too expensive in Georgia and
other ex-Soviet states that formed its main market.

Meanwhile, there are signs that authorities are starting to worry
about consequences of the strong dram. The Central Bank was reported
late last month to purchase $25 million in hard currency from local
banks in a bid to shore up the dollar. The intervention appears to
have stabilized the exchange rate. It remains to be seen for how long.

Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.

Cambridge to hold conference on Qajar Persia

Mehr News Agency, Iran
May 2 2005

TEHRAN, May 2 (MNA) — The International Qajar Studies Association
(IQSA) will be holding a conference entitled “War and Peace in Qajar
Persia: Implications Past and Present” on July 15 and 16 at Cambridge
University.

This conference, by focusing on the historical and geopolitical
interactions between Western strategic interests and those of Iran
and the larger Persian Gulf, will offer new and critical historical
insight on the policies and strategies already in play in the region
and how they relate to current security and energy concerns.

Peter Avery will give the opening speech at Cambridge University’s
Center of International Studies, and several Iranian and foreign
scholars will be presenting research papers.

“Military Changes during the Qajar Era” by Stephanie Cronin, “The
Uprising of Saroddulleh” by Mansureh Ettehadiyeh, “The Problem of Oil”
by Rokhsareh Farman-Farmayan, “Borders: Iran, Afghanistan, Russia,
and the Ottoman Empire” by Firuzeh Kashani Sabet, and “The Politics
of Napoleon in Iran” by Irene Natchkebia are some of the lectures
scheduled to be delivered during the conference.

In 1794, Agha Mohammad Khan defeated numerous rivals and brought all
of Iran under his rule, establishing the Qajar dynasty.

The Qajars were a Turkic tribe that held ancestral lands in present-day
Azerbaijan, which then was part of Iran. Agha Mohammad established
his capital at Tehran, a village near the ruins of the ancient city
of Ray (now Shahr-e Rey).

Agha Mohammad’s nephew and successor, Fat’h Ali Shah, ruled from 1797
to 1834. Under Fat’h Ali Shah, Iran went to war against Russia. Iran
suffered major military defeats during the war. Under the terms of
the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Iran recognized Russia’s annexation
of Georgia and ceded to Russia most of the north Caucasus region.

A second war with Russia in the 1820s ended even more disastrously
for Iran, which in 1828 was forced to sign the Treaty of Turkmanchai
acknowledging Russian sovereignty over the entire area north of the
Aras River (territory comprising present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan).

Armenian foreign minister, French delegation discuss cooperation issues

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
29 Apr 05

[Presenter] Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today received
the president of the General Council of the Bouches-du-Rhone
Prefecture, Senator Jean-Noel Guerini, the deputies of the French
National Assembly, Christophe Masse and Richard Mallie, as well as a
member of the European Parliament, Marie-Arlette Carlotti.

Oskanyan gave a positive assessment of a number of educational and
health programmes of the General Council of the Bouches-du-Rhone
Prefecture, which are being successfully implemented in Armenian
regions.

The sides discussed issues of developing the South Caucasus, the
opportunities opened by the European Union’s New Neighbourhood Policy
in this direction, Armenian-Turkish relations and Armenia’s prospects.

Turkey’s membership of the European Union can be discussed only when
Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide, the president of the General
Council of the Bouches-du-Rhone Prefecture said. Carlotti said that
Turkey has some unsolved problems related to democracy, including
responsibility for what it did in the past.

Richard Mallie said that Turkey should lift the blockade of Armenia
after recognizing the Armenian genocide.

[Passage omitted: Details of educational and health programmes
implemented in Armenia]

[Video showed the meeting]

A1plus

| 13:35:39 | 29-04-2005 | Politics |

ARMENIA NOT THREATENED BY `MULTICOLORED REVOLUTIONS’

In the international conference titled `Caucasus-2004′ the report about
Armenia was represented by Souren Zolyan, rector of the Yerevan State
Linguistic University after Valeri Brusov. He is convinced that today there
are no preconditions of `multicolored’ revolutions in Armenia. But the
situation can change drastically by political `criminalization’.

Zolyan is also sure that the `multicolored’ revolutions are not a solution
of problems. But for changing something in Armenia not the activeness of
political powers, but the change of social approaches and points of view is
needed.

A1plus

| 14:45:16 | 28-04-2005 | Social |

SQUABBLE INSTEAD OF PERFORMANCES

Today the chamber music theater is at the edge of collapse. The theater
staff has divided into two parts trying to give way to conflict via mass
media.

The problems is that 3 months ago by decree of the Minister of Culture head
of Alfa El producing center Levon Abrahamyan was appointed new director. In
the latter’s words, he had made big contributions to the development of the
theater. However opponents to the new director headed by Armen Meliksetyan
assure that the new director does not have the slightest idea about the
structure of the theatre.

On April 18 well known arts critics Alexander Grigoryan, Vahe Shahverdyan,
Yervand Ghazanchyan and Sos Sargsyan addressed a letter to Robert Kocharyan
calling him to pay attention to the situation created in the theater. They
share Armen Meliksetyan’s opinion that the director candidature should be
presented by the theater members.

ARKA News Agency
April 26 2005

Discussions on National program on child’s rights to be held in
Armenia

Azerbaijan intensifies sniping of Ijevan-Noyemberdyan highway

Speaker of RA na to pay working visit to Georgia

Echmiadzin Holy See implements `Written language and covenant’
program

Representatives of Armenian Apostolic Church leave for Jerusalem

Eastern, western AAC dioceses in USA to hold meetings on Apr 28

NKR Union of Journalists announces annual contest in three
nominations

RA President has a working meeting with the Governor of Syunik Region
(Armenia)

*********************************************************************

DISCUSSIONS ON NATIONAL PROGRAM ON CHILD’S RIGHTS TO BE HELD IN
ARMENIA

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Discussions on National program on
child’s rights will be held in Yerevan on April 29, 2005. As
UNICEF-Armenia told ARKA News Agency, representatives of Ra Foreign
Ministry, Ministries of Justice, Health, Education and Science,
Culture and Youth Affairs, the RA Police and donor organizations will
participate in the discussions.
The discussions are initiated by the Armenian UNICEF Office and RA
Ministry of Labor and Social Issues. L.V.’0′

*********************************************************************

AZERBAIJAN INTENSIFIES SNIPING OF IJEVAN-NOYEMBERDYAN HIGHWAY

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Azerbaijan has intensified sniping of a
section of the Ijevan-Noyemberyan highway, Governor of the Tavush
region Armen Ghularyan stated at a briefing attended by the field
assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, Imre Palatinus, Alexander Samarsky, and Peter
Key, as well as by military commanders. Responding to Imre
Palatinus’ question as to the reason for Azerbaijan’s aggressive
behavior, Ghularyan said that the Azerbaijani side is unable to
control its armed forces, which is unlikely, or it is the result of
the Azerbaijani authorities’ bellicose statements. After the
briefing, the group visited the monitoring site, where the OSCE
representatives in Armenia and Azerbaijan held radio monitoring. As a
result, the commanders of the military units on both sides gave
security guarantees.
On April 26, under the mandate of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
monitoring was held at the Ijevan-Ghazakh contact line on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border. P.T. `0–

*********************************************************************

SPEAKER OF RA NA TO PAY WORKING VISIT TO GEORGIA

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Tomorrow, Speaker of the RA National
Assembly Artur Baghdasaryan is to leave for a working visit to
Georgia at the invitation of Speaker of the Georgian parliament Nino
Burjanadze. The public relations department, RA National Assembly,
reports that Artur Baghdasaryan is to hold meetings with Georgian
President Mikhail Sahakashvili, Speaker of the Parliament Nino
Burjanadze, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaidely, Patriarch Ilya II, as
well as with representatives of the Armenian community in Georgia.
On his way to Georgia, the Speaker of the RA Parliament is to hold a
public meeting in Alaverdy, Lori region. On April 30, Artur
Baghdasaryan is to hold a public meeting with residents of
Noyemberyan, Ijevan and Dilijan, Tavush region.P.T. `0–

*********************************************************************

ECHMIADZIN HOLY SEE IMPLEMENTS `WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND COVENANT’
PROGRAM

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Echmiadzin Holy See is implementing
`Written language and Covenant’ program, dedicated to 1600th
anniversary of Armenian written language creation. As the Press
Chancellery of Echmiadzin Holy See told ARKA News Agency today,
pupils of 9 and 10 grades of Yerevan and regional schools will visit
Echmiadzin from April 20 ` May 6. They will have the opportunity to
see the treasures of Echmiadzin Patriarchate museum `Armenian
Alphabet’ and `Saint Cross’ made of gold, as well as tapestries
`Armenian Alphabet’ and `Vardanank’.
200 schoolchildren from Yerevan and 320 schoolchildren from Armenian
regions have already visited Echmiadzin Holy See. With the blessing
of Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, St. Echmiadzin has issued
`Written Language and Covenant’ brochure distributed to the
visitors. L.V.’0–

*********************************************************************

REPRESENTATIVES OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH LEAVE FOR JERUSALEM

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Today, representatives of Armenian
Apostolic Church let today for Jerusalem, with the blessing of
Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. As the Press Chancellery of
Echmiadzin Holy See told ARKA News Agency, the Artsakh diocese
leader, Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, celibate priests Sahak
Shakaryan, Kuregh Vardanyana and Norayr Simonyan left for Armenian
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, where the Blessed Holiday of Resurrection
of Christ will be celebrated on May 1 by the Old Style.
Spiritual directors will participate in the Holy Easter ceremonies
and will pass the exhortations and blessings of Catholicos of All
Armenians. L.V.’0–

*********************************************************************

EASTERN, WESTERN AAC DIOCESES IN USA TO HOLD MEETINGS ON APR 28

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. The eastern and western dioceses of the
Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) in the USA are to hold diocesan
meetings on April 28. The press office of Holy Echmiadzin reports
that the meetings will be preceded by annual congresses of diocesan
clergymen. By the order of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II,
celibate priest Hovhakim Manugyan and priest Yesaya Artenyan are to
take part in the workings of the Eastern diocese and the priest Adam
Margaryan and Andreas Isahakyan are to participate in the workings of
the Western diocese.P.T. `0–

*********************************************************************

NKR UNION OF JOURNALISTS ANNOUNCES ANNUAL CONTEST IN THREE
NOMINATIONS

STEPANAKERT, April 27. /ARKA/. The Union of Journalists of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has announced an annual contest in
three nominations: `For best public-political analysis’, `For
best article on military subject’, and `Young journalist of the
year’. The prize `For best public and political analysis’ is
warded for analytical articles dealing with domestic and foreign
policy, as well as with social problems of the NKR The prize `For
best article on military subject’ is warded for articles covering
the everyday life of the NKR Defense Army and related problems.
The prize `Best Young Journalist of Year’ is warded for
journalistic activity displayed during the year and is aimed to
encourage young journalists. The winners will receive certificates
and 40,000 AMD. All journalists working in the NKR can take part in
the contest.P.T. `0

*********************************************************************

RA PRESIDENT HAS A WORKING MEETING WITH THE GOVERNOR OF SYUNIK REGION
(ARMENIA)

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan had a
working meeting with the governor of Syunik region (Armenia) Souren
Khachatryan. According to the President’s Press Service, in the
course of the meeting the parties discussed issues connected with the
course of implementation of programs in Syunik that total worth of
which makes AMD 1,5 bln. They also touched upon the problems of rural
schools, drinking water supply and irrigation, as well as building a
new road Meghri `Kapan.
According to the press-release, in the course of the meeting RA
President gave orders mainly concerning acceleration of the work
being done and improvement of their quality. A.H.’0-

Cyprus Press and Information Office, Occupied Northern Cyprus
April 27 2005

MILLIYET?S correspondent on the words used by President Bush on the
Armenian genocide

Istanbul MILLIYET newspaper (25.04.05) reported the following by
Washington Correspondent Yasemin Congar:
Another 24 April has come and gone, and the US President this year as
well did not say “genocide”.

But Bush’s message yesterday, no matter how much it did not meet the
Armenian lobby’s demand for “official recognition of the genocide”,
still, according to this lobby, “contains the dictionary definition
of genocide”.

There are two main reasons that Bush did not use the expression
“Armenian genocide”.

The White House, first of all, does not want “new reactions against
the United States to come about within Turkish public opinion, or
problems to be experienced in the Ankara-Washington relationship”.

Secondly, Washington considers that the inclusion of the word
“genocide” in the President’s 24 April message would not contribute
to the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, but to
the contrary it would make this more difficult.