Author: Topchian Jane

Lraper Church Bulletin 07/08/2005
Contact: Deacon Vagharshag Seropyan
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
T: +90 (212) 517-0970, 517-0971
F: +90 (212) 516-4833, 458-1365
[email protected]

SHOULD ONE WORRY ABOUT SECURITY ON THE PRINCES’ ISLANDS?
(assorted from various news despatches)
<; (English page)

The population of the Metropolitan Istanbul area, together with its
outlying suburbs, is said to have reached around 16 million people.

During the hot and humid summer months, it is only natural that the
masses prefer to spend their weekend holidays by the sea. The shores
of the Bosporus, the nearby Black Sea and Marmara Sea resorts and
especially the Princes’ Islands, always had Sunday visitors.

However, it seems that things have changed for the worse during the
last two years since Coskun Ozden, the Mayor of the Princes’ Islands,
switched political parties.

Newspapers have been reporting that fundamentalist summer camps
have been founded on Buyuk and Heybeli Islands. An article in the
Cumhuriyet Daily relates that liberal Turkish women wearing regular
one piece swimming suits were spat upon by fundamentalist women with
headscarves. This is alarming news for the Princes’ Islands which
are traditionally inhabited mostly by liberal and secularist Turkish
islanders, and Armenian, Syriac, Jewish and Greek minority community
members. The Mayor recently defended himself saying, “Our citizens
belonging to minority communities have summer camps on Kinali Island,
why shouldn’t our Muslim citizens enjoy their own?” The Mayor was
forgetting, of course, that the Greek or Armenian children’s camps,
since their days of foundation, have never caused any discomfort to
the islanders.

There are widespread rumours in the city that, in order to gain
political support before the next nation-wide elections, certain
municipalities with ultra-nationalist and religious fundamentalist
constituencies are purposely distributing free seabus and ferry tokens,
directing the provincial masses in the slum areas of the city to
the Princes’ Islands on weekends. Many of these people have not been
schooled in an urban metropolitan society and most of them lack regular
beach manners. For example, it is now possible to see sunbathers
and swimmers on the Islands, men and women, going about freely in
their regular white underwear rather than swimming suits. One would
wonder what the Mayor of the Princes’ Islands or the Prime Minister
of Turkey would do if their family members were approached by people
in their wet, obscene white underwear? The islanders have also been
complaining about the rising number of weekend visitors who publicly
utter derrogatory remarks against the non-Muslim minorities.

Another problem is the lack of public facilities on the Princes’
Islands. Masses who visit the Islands during the weekends litter
and pollute the sea, the seaside, the green park areas and even the
gardens of private houses since the public toilets on the Islands do
not suffice. Weekend crowds have even begun to knock on the doors of
private houses demanding to use the toilet and shower facilities of
the islanders.

One man said that, early in the morning, he went to buy a newspaper
from the paper kiosk by the pier and was shocked to see that some
thirty non-residents were sleeping on the pavements and had clearly
been there through the night.

These impressions now widely shared by the media and the islanders
cause security concerns. There have been many street fights since
the beginning of the summer season, and at least twice policemen have
been also attacked. On Sunday 31 July, during another street fight,
a policeman thought he had to fire in the air to calm down a group of
non-residents and, attacked by someone nearby, he wounded a bystander.
The Marmara Armenian daily asked in its front page article on 1 August
whether residents should not worry about their security, since even
the armed units have begun to feel insecure.

Whether these concerns are exaggerated or not, time will show. However,
the Governor’s office, the Mayor of the Princes’ Islands and concerned
business circles clearly need to work out and implement a joint
project to create new facilities and perhaps to designate new, free
beach areas on the Princes’ Islands for the non-residents who invade
the Islands during weekends.

Sevan lawyer in early attack on report
By Mark Turner at the United Nations

Financial Times (London)
August 5, 2005

The lawyer for Benon Sevan, the United Nations official who formerly
headed Iraq’s oil-for-food programme, yesterday pre-empted a critical
report that will accuse his client of accepting kickbacks by claiming
its findings are biased and untrue.

Eric Lewis, Mr Sevan’s counsel, said yesterday the independent inquiry
committee (IIC) headed by Paul Volcker was incompetent, and that it
had been out to “scapegoat” his client “from the beginning”. He said
the Volcker committee, which is due to release its new findings on
Tuesday, had advised Mr Sevan it would allege that he “took money
from a contractor that bought oil from Iraq under the programme”.

It would also state that Mr Sevan did not co-operate with the
investigation. But Mr Lewis said the committee had “only provided
vague categories of information supposedly underlying its charge,
such as financial documents”.

“How does one respond to the alleged evidence when it is not
provided?” he asked. “The fact is, the committee’s allegations
are baseless. Mr Sevan never took a penny, as he has said from the
beginning.”

The committee declined to respond to the attack, merely stating:
“Everything will be addressed on Tuesday.” It isexpected to present
two further reports on the scandal-plagued programme before wrapping
up its work.

Mr Lewis said: “The IIC accuses Mr Sevan of taking money, when he fully
and voluntarily disclosed cash gifts that he received, from the elderly
aunt who raised him, on his UN financial disclosure forms. Now the IIC
contends that these gifts were really kickbacks paid by a contractor
in concert with a friend. There is no basis for this false allegation.”

Mr Lewis claimed it was “undisputed” that the contract was begun before
Mr Sevan even met the contractor. He also said it was “not credible
to argue that Mr Sevan .. would jeopardise his career for $160,000;
trust a. person he had never met to carry out the scheme; and report
the proceeds on his UN financial disclosure forms. It never happened”.

Find this article at:

The Eurasia Foundation
Representative Office in Armenia
4 Demirchyan Str., Yerevan 375019, Armenia
Contact: Alisa Alaverdyan, Outreach Coordinator
Tel: (374 10) 565478, 586059, 586159
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

Eurasia Foundation supports alternative dispute resolution mechanisms

Yerevan, Armenia- The Eurasia Foundation Representative Office in
Armenia recently awarded about $70,000 to three local organizations
for the advancement of alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
mechanisms. Professional ADR mechanisms would provide businesses
with a range of arbitration services and ease the caseload on the
emergent court system. The grant recipients are the Armenian Young
Lawyers Association, the Defender of Rights Union and the Union of
Builders of Armenia. The organizations will:

Create a mediation institute and improve the abilities of facilitators
to establish mediation services throughout the country (Armenian
Young Lawyers Association).

Create an arbitration institute and introduce a learning course on
arbitration in higher education institutions (Defender of Rights
Union).

Establish a commercial disputes resolution center to provide mediation
services for the construction industry of Armenia (Union of Builders
of Armenia).

These organizations were selected through an open competition that
was publicly announced in April. The competition and three awards
were a follow-through on ADR research, which was initiated by the
Eurasia Foundation and conducted by the Advanced Social Technologies
NGO. The research results were presented at a round-table event to
officials, lawyers, businesspeople and other local and international
organizations.

“In many countries, professional mediation services are recognized
as effective mechanisms able to resolve a range of commercial disputes.

The Eurasia Foundation is encouraging ADR in Armenia in a way
that combines the traditional court system with alternative
dispute resolution methods. Through tolerance, mutual compromise
and professional facilitation, many commercial disagreements can
be solved efficiently, even amicably. Businesses can move forward
and a degree of overload in the court systems can be alleviated,”
said EF Armenia Country Director Ara Nazinyan.

Many individuals and companies in Armenia will benefit from
these projects, specifically businessmen of small- and medium-size
enterprises, entrepreneurs involved in the rapidly growing construction
industry and those involved in the field of law.

***

____________________________________________________________________________

Privately managed with support from USAID and other donors, the
Eurasia Foundation has made more than 7,500 grants totaling over $153
million in 12 countries of the former Soviet Union since 1993. The
Eurasia Foundation has operated in Armenia since 1995 encouraging
the development of civil society, public administration and private
enterprise. For additional information about Eurasia Foundation
activities in Armenia and a list of our independent advisory board
members, please visit or

____________________________________________________________________________

This press release was made possible through support provided by the
Office of Economic Growth, Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, U.S. Agency
for International Development, under the terms of Award No.

EMT-G-00-02-00008-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency
for International Development.

STRONG QUAKE IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 30. ARMINFO. A 3.1-point earthquake was registered in
Yerevan July 30 2:10 am.

The National Seismic Protection Service of Armenia reports that the
epicenter was in Parakar 7 km west of Yerevan. There the magnitude was
4-5 points. No casualties reported. Following the first shock was
another with 1.1-point magnitude.

The service assures that there will be no quakes in the near future as
the earth has released its energy reserves.

The Toronto Star, Ontario
July 30, 2005 Saturday

Broken dreams in Armenia

by Michael Mainville, Special to the Star

YEREVAN, Armenia

Naira Yeremyan knows her home doesn’t look like much, but it’s all
she has.

A ramshackle collection of wooden boards, concrete slabs and
mismatched bricks, it sits amid the winding streets of Kond, a
desperately poor neighbourhood perched on a hilltop overlooking the
Armenian capital, Yerevan.

What the neighbourhood does have is a view. Below Kond, the city
stretches for kilometres onto the Armenian plains. In the distance
sits the ice-capped peak of Mt. Ararat in Turkey.

The view has property developers salivating over the prospect of
erecting luxury apartments in Kond. And that’s the bane of Yeremyan’s
existence.

“This house is 60 years old. My grandfather and grandmother came here
to escape the genocide in Turkey,” says Yeremyan, 37. “My mother was
born here. I was born here. This home is part of our family. And now
they are saying we cannot live here, that we have to leave and get
almost nothing in return.”

Three months ago, local authorities told the 14,000 residents of Kond
they would have to vacate their homes by the end of the year to make
way for modern housing. In exchange, they will be given payments of
between $2,400 and $6,000.

“You cannot buy a house anywhere in Yerevan for that much. We are
going to be homeless. They are throwing us out on the streets,” says
Yeremyan, who shares both the house and a monthly pension of about
$30 with her 63-year-old mother.

Yeremyan has organized sit-ins, petitions and court challenges, but
her protests have fallen on deaf ears. Those behind the project are
among the wealthy businessmen who control much of Armenia’s economy.
Government connections let them operate as they please.

“The authorities will not listen to us,” Yeremyan says. “There are
corrupt and influential people behind this and they can do whatever
they want.”

Kond is hardly unique. Armenians across the country face similar
obstacles – crippling poverty, endemic corruption and powerlessness
in the face of what critics say is an increasingly authoritarian
government.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. When independence came after the
break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia seemed a dream come
true for a people with a tragic history. Less than a century after
the Armenian genocide – when the Turks killed between 500,000 and 1.5
million – the world’s 4 million-member Armenian diaspora finally had
a national homeland. But instead of thriving, Armenia languished. Its
politics are moribund, dominated by President Robert Kocharian, a man
critics accuse of falsifying elections and cracking down on
opponents. The economy, though improving, is in shambles. Almost half
the population lives on less than $2 a day.

The result has been a mass exodus – the reverse of early hopes for
Armenia. Instead of hundreds of thousands of dispersed Armenians
flocking to the country, more than 1 million have left for Russia and
the West. According to some estimates, the country has lost more than
30 per cent of its working-age population.

“People are leaving because they don’t see any hope for the future,”
says Avetik Ishkanyan, chair of the Helsinki Committee, a human
rights group. “And the worst part is that the ones who are leaving
are from the most active part of society – these are the people we
need to bring about changes in this country.”

Critics lay much of the blame at Kocharian’s feet. They say the
president – elected for a second time in 2003 – is running a corrupt
and despotic regime, giving free rein to businessmen close to him and
stifling any dissent.

“There is a huge gap between those in power and the majority of
Armenian society,” says Stepan Demirchian, the leader of the
opposition Justice coalition and son of a Kocharian rival killed in
1999 when gunmen attacked parliament. “And when we try to resist,
when we try to bring democratic change, they respond with violence.”

In April 2004, inspired by the peaceful Rose Revolution in Georgia,
tens of thousands of Armenians took to the streets to denounce
Kocharian and voting fraud in 2003 elections. Kocharian called in
police to break up the protest with stun grenades and water cannon.

“More than 600 citizens were arrested, political party offices were
ransacked, journalists were beaten,” Demirchian says. “And, after all
these acts of violence, the authorities tell us we have to be
patient, that it is a long road to democracy.”

Government officials insist the crackdown was needed to maintain
order, and say opposition parties are simply trying to seize power
for themselves.

Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan says the opposition uses the
pretence of supporting democracy to gain support abroad as they
attempt to overthrow the government. He says he knows Armenia’s
democracy is not perfect, but believes it is improving.

“The government is stable and the country is on the path to becoming
fully democratic,” he says. “A lot has been done, but a lot remains
to be done.”

Under pressure from the West, Armenia will hold a national referendum
this year on a package of constitutional amendments designed to limit
the power of the presidency and protect judicial independence.
Oskanyan says the reforms will be key to ensuring democratic growth.

“Once we complete our constitutional reforms, Armenia will move
forward in leaps and bounds,” he says.

Opposition leaders say the reforms are only symbolic and see the
referendum as a potential trigger for the kind of mass protests that
drove out authoritarian governments in Georgia and Ukraine.

Aram Sarkisian, leader of the radical Republic Party, says opposition
parties are gearing up to organize mass demonstrations after the
referendum, which he says is sure to be fraudulent.

“The situation in our country is terrible. People are leaving because
they have no hope,” he says. “Armenian society is ready for
revolutionary change, peaceful and civilized change.”

Sarkisian says he met with White House and State Department officials
during a June trip to Washington and emerged confident of American
support for a revolution.

“The United States supported the Georgians and the Ukrainians and
they will help the Armenian people,” he says.

Still, experts say it’s unlikely the opposition can organize a
successful revolution or win Western support. Fractured by
in-fighting and with no clear leader, the opposition is more likely
to fall apart before posing any threat to Kocharian.

“The opposition is too weak and the government is just democratic
enough to keep the West from supporting drastic changes,” says a
Western official in Yerevan, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Chatting over rich coffees in Yerevan’s trendy ArtBridge Cafe, a
group of students and recent graduates agree that a revolution is
next to impossible.

Unlike so many young Armenians, they’ve decided to stay and try to
build their country.

“I will not leave Armenia, I want to do things for my country, make
it a better place to live,” says Artak Ayunts, a 26-year-old
university lecturer.

But the group is skeptical about radical changes. They don’t believe
Armenians are ready for a revolution and say it could take decades of
slow progress before the country is free and relatively prosperous.

“People don’t believe in themselves, they think someone else should
always make changes for them,” Ayunts says.

Jokes philosophy student Gevorg Abrahamyan:

“The biggest problem with Armenia is the Armenians.” Michael
Mainville is a Canadian journalist based in Moscow.

GRAPHIC: Michael mainville for the toronto star Residents of Kond, a
ramshackle neighbourhood in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, fill
water bottles on a hot summer day. Some 14,000 residents of the
neighbourhood, which has stunning views of Mt. Ararat in Turkey, are
being forced out to make way for luxury housing.

Library of Congress
29 July 2005

H.R.3361
Title: To prohibit United States assistance to develop or promote any rail
connections or railway-related connections that traverse or connect Baku,
Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Kars, Turkey, and that specifically
exclude cities in Armenia.
Sponsor: Rep Knollenberg, Joe [MI-9] (introduced 7/20/2005) Cosponsors
(14)
Latest Major Action: 7/20/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred
to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the
Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

COSPONSORS(14), BY DATE
Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6] 7/20/2005
Rep Radanovich, George [CA-19] – 7/20/2005
Rep McNulty, Michael R. [NY-21] – 7/22/2005
Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. [MI-11] – 7/25/2005
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] – 7/25/2005
Rep Souder, Mark E. [IN-3] – 7/25/2005
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] – 7/25/2005
Rep Rogers, Mike [MI-8] – 7/25/2005
Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] – 7/26/2005
Rep Kirk, Mark Steven [IL-10] – 7/26/2005
Rep Schwarz, John J.H. “Joe” [MI-7] – 7/27/2005
Rep Neal, Richard E. [MA-2] – 7/27/2005
Rep Bilirakis, Michael [FL-9] – 7/28/2005
Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] – 7/28/2005

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
July 29 2005

Foreign Minister to visit US

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is expected to visit the United
States on August 1-5 on the invitation of the US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice.

Mammadyarov is to meet with US officials in the White House and the
Pentagon and hold discussions in non-governmental organizations and
analytical centers, the Foreign Ministry told AssA-Irada.
US-Azeri economic and political cooperation, relations with
international organizations, democratization processes in Azerbaijan
and the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh will be
discussed.

ARKA News Agency
July 26 2005

1ST ROUND OF THE COMPETITION AMONG ARMENIAN YOUNG COMPUTER
PROGRAMMERS HELD IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, July 26. /ARKA/. 1st round of the competition among young
Armenian computer programmers was held Tuesday in Yerevan. According
to the head of the competition Arman Valesyan, young persons at age
up to 30 skilled at C++ and JAVA are eligible to take part in the
contest. The contest consists of two rounds – individual and team.
Valesyan said 200 young persons, including those from Russia and
Georgia were registered for participation in the contest. In his
words, 30first-round winners will be sent to Karabakh for training,
after which ten three-member teams will be composed for participation
in the second round scheduled for August 9. Awarding ceremony is to
be held on August 10.
According to Valesyan, $600, $300 and $200 awards will be handed to
the winners in individual race and $1200, $900 and $600 in team
contest.
The competition is organized by Enterprises Incubator Foundation,
Pan-Armenian Youth International Center and UITE.
Synopsys, Unicomp and CIT are sponsors of the competition. They
provide additional prizes. This is the third competition among young
computer programmers. The first one was conducted in 2002 in Yerevan.
M.V. -0–

CENN – JUly 25, 2005 Daily Digest
Table of Contents:

1.. Meeting with the Heads of “Madneul” and “Kvarciti”
2.. Mainstreaming Environment beyond MDG 7
3. Mehdi Safari and Armen Movsesian Highly Assessed Implementation
of Joint Energy Projects4. Japanese Tourists Will Discover Armenia
In 20065. EIA Reports6. Meeting on International experience
and perspectives in Strategic Environmental Assessment

1. Meeting with the Heads of “Madneul” and “Kvarciti”

On July 20, 2005 by the initiative of Bolnisi Public Informational
Center and Ecological Service of “Madneuli” meeting was held between the
local non-governmental organizations and heads of “Madneuli” and
“Kvarciti”. D. Jinjolia adviser of the Economical Development minister
in the enterprise privatization filed attended the meeting. The main
issue of the meeting was enterprise privatization, the construction of
cleaning means by the new owner, pollution of rivers Mashavera and
Poladauri and the conducting of the ecological monitoring. There was
mentioned that more than 20 companies are interested in privatization of
“Madneuli”. July 27, 2005 is the deadline for the submission of the
statements. In September 2005 the winner company will be announced. The
essential term for the participation in tender is to transfer 3.5
million USA dollars on the special account of the National Bank. The
representatives of the NGO consider that ecological aspects should be
introduced in the terms of privatization.

Director in corporate management A. Chargeishvili mentioned that during
last years a lot of ecological and social problems have been
accumulated. Also it was said that it is impossible to stop the
enterprise because it will cause more pollution of the rivers. So the
rational way out should be found. As Mr. Chargeishvili has declared,
directorate of “Madneuli” and Ministry of Economical Development
understand the great interest of local NGOs and community regarding the
ecological issues. During the week information will be exchanging. After
that the heads of enterprise will summarise all the submitted proposals.
Following meeting will be dedicated to the analyzing of the certain
proposals. After the summation of all the versions, Ministry of
Economical Development will introduce the final terms in the
privatization terms of “Madneuli”.

Prepared by CENN

Public Informational Center of Bolnisi

2. Mainstreaming Environment beyond MDG 7

Source: UNEP, Press Release, 15 July, 2005

The Division of Environmental Conventions convened a High-Level
Brainstorming Workshop for MEAs on Mainstreaming Environment Beyond MDG
7 on 13-14 July 2005 at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi.

In the context of the upcoming review of the Millennium Declaration at
the 2005 World Summit, the Workshop aimed at identifying possible future
common activities between UNEP, Secretariats of multilateral
environmental agreements (MEAs) and development agencies in order to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Approximately 50 participants attended the Workshop, including heads and
senior representatives of the Secretariats of global and regional MEAs,
the UN Millennium Project, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and
UNDP, as well as internationally recognized experts in the fields of
environment and development.

Following keynote presentations on the various aspects of the issues of
mainstreaming environment into the MDGs and the development process by
Guido Schmidt-Traub, UN Millennium Development Project, David Runnalls,
International Institute for Sustainable Development, Mohan Munasinghe,
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and A.H. Zakri, Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment and United Nations University Institute of Advanced
Studies, participants engaged in open and constructive dialogue under
the chairmanship of Gary Sampson, Former Senior Counselor at the World
Trade Organization.

Participants recognized that the environment is a precondition to the
achievement of the MDGs and that these will not be met unless the
sustainable use of ecosystem services is made an integral part of
development strategies. It was agreed that the crucial question is how
to operationalize environment in the MDG process.

Participants identified several avenues to place environmental
sustainability at the centre of the MDGs, including:

discussions between MEA Secretariats, through an appropriate existing or
new forum, to identify areas for synergies and better focus to
contribute to the MDGs;

bringing together national focal points of MEAs to work together and
with development agencies on MDGs;

using quick-win initiatives where environmental problems can be
addressed while alleviating poverty;

developing an inventory of best practices in the field of mainstreaming
environment;

establishing appropriate mechanisms for a two-way process to consider
requests from countries for technical assistance on issues related to
the environment and the MDGs; and increasing information, education and
awareness raising efforts.

Several short-, mid- and long-term follow-up activities were identified
as set out in the Chairman’s Conclusions. It was agreed that, for these
activities, UNEP should play a coordinating role.

3. MEHDI SAFARI AND ARMEN MOVSESIAN HIGHLY ASSESSED
IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT ENERGY PROJECTS Source: PanArmenian,Net, July
20, 2005 Iranian Special Envoy for Caspian Affairs Mehdi Safari met
Tuesday in Yerevan with Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsesian. As
reported by Irna news agency, the parties discussed prospects of the
energy cooperation and the development of the Iran-Armenia multisided
and mutually beneficial collaboration. They also highly assessed
implementation of joint energy projects

4. JAPANESE TOURISTS WILL DISCOVER ARMENIA IN 2006 Source:
Azg, July 21, 2005 “Japanese tourist will be interested in all these
that we saw in Armenia”, representative of one of five Japanese tour
operators visiting Armenia on July 16-20, Eiji Koyama, said. At a
meeting with Armenian Agency for Tourism Development (AATD) yesterday
the Japanese tour operators presented the aim of their four-day visit
and the possible expectations. Representation of Armenia at JATA
International Tourism Exhibition in 2002 and 2004 made Japanese turn
their look to Armenia as a possible destination to attract Asian
tourists. The AATD marketing expert said that the visit was of
familiarizing character and aimed at introducing Armenia to Asia. Mr.
Koyama said that the visit has changed their understanding of Armenia.
Armenia, along with the other states of the region, is seen to the
Japanese as a dangerous country. But Mr. Koyama stated that there is no
trace of danger, that Armenia is an interesting country and that the
Japanese will be interested in the history, production and daily life of
Armenia. The Japanese tour operator was greatly impressed by the Mount
Ararat, the Monastery of Geghard and the nature of Armenia. “It would be
nice if there were better roads and less cows on the roads”, Mr. Koyama
said. He noted that he had visited Khor Virap, Noravank, Hakhartsin,
Sanahin, Haghpat, Etchmiadzin, Matenadaran and the Cognac and Wine
Factory. The Japanese guests greatly enjoyed the process of lavash
(flatbread) baking in one of Armenian villages. Armenia, at any rate, is
not a good option for Japan for one-way tourism in view of the long
distance from Japan to Armenia. The Japanese tour operators will look to
organizing regional trips including Armenia in the list with its
neighboring countries. The group may comprise South Caucasian countries
or may be a separate group of Armenia and Turkey. As a result of the
newly launched cooperation first groups from Japan will visit Armenia in
2006.

5. EIA Reports

Source: “24 Saati” (“24 Hours”), July 21. 2005

In accordance with the Georgian legislation the following EIA reports
are submitted to the Ministry of Environment of Georgia to obtain an
environmental permit:

1. “Ashkaveti” Ltd submitted the EIA report on the activity of the
second category – Development of the Clay-Gypsum Deposit in Gardabani
region village Martkopi for production of lime;

2. “Koka -97” Ltd submitted the EIA report on the activity of the
second category – Project on the Development of the “Dokhoras
Chalk-stone” nearby Tkibuli;

3. “Alavani” Ltd submitted the EIA report on the activity of the
second category – The Technical-Economical Project on the Processing-
Extracting of the Sand-Gravel Deposit on the territory of the River
Mashavera nearby the Mtskneti Village, Bolnisi Region,

4. “Satsarmouzrunvelkofa” submitted the EIA report on the activity
of the second category – Project on the Development of the Career for
Extracting Volcanic Slag in Tsalki Region “Gunia-Kala” Deposit, for
using it as the Addition to Concrete;

5. Community Healthcare Regional Center of Imereti submitted the
EIA report on the activity of the first category – EIA Report on the
influence of the Mini-Incinerator Used for the Utilization of the Wastes
of Regional Epidemiological Monitoring Center of Imereti Community
Healthcare Regional Center;

6. “Avtogas” Ltd submitted the EIA report on the activity of the
first category – EIA Report on the Natural Gas Station in Gurdgani
Region Village Veliscikhe’

7. “Avtogas” Ltd submitted the EIA report on the activity of the
first category – EIA Report on the Natural Gas Station Nearby
Samtreduia’

8. “Kartuli Minerali” (“Georgian Minerals”) Ltd submitted the EIA
report on the activity of the second category – Resource-Audit and
Processing of Tuff Deposit in Kherordzula Region

9. Entrepreneur “Paata Sharashide” submitted EIA report on the
activity of the first category – EIA Report on the Liquid Gas Pour Out
Station in Ozurgeti;

10. Entrepreneur “Omar Tsereteli” submitted the EIA report on the
activity of the first category – – EIA Report on the Manganese
Enrichment Mini-Enterprise of Chiatura Region.

6. Meeting on International experience and perspectives in
Strategic Environmental Assessment

Meeting on International experience and perspectives in Strategic
Environmental Assessment will be held on September 26-30, 2005 in Prague
(CZ).

IAIA plans to publish conference proceedings on CD-ROM following the
conference. Preparation of a full paper is optional. If you choose to
prepare a full paper, it will be included in the CD-ROM.

For publication on the conference CD-ROM, materials must be submitted
electronically. File format: MS WORD or PDF. E-mail the file as an
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WE WILL FIGHT FOR INDEPEDENCE: NKR PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, JULY 19. ARMINFO. Karabakh excludes the possibility of
submission to Azerbaijan, NKR President Arkady Ghoyukassyan says in
an interview to Armenia’s Public TV Company.

Asked where is the limit of compromises Karabakh can make Ghoukassyan
says that Karabakh has not deviated an inch from the principles
proclaimed in 1991. “We will not submit to Azerbaijan, we will
fight for our independence. This is a long and hard proces and the
international community is not ready yet to recognize our independence
but this is not impossible,” says Ghoukassyan.

He notes that if formerly the talks considered Karabakh’s status
in the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity now all the
scenarios are on agenda. Both the international community and th
Azeri authorities realize that Karabakh will not agree to be part
of Azerbaijan.

Ghoukassyan also notes the importance of democratic processes in
Karabakh. It was not coincidence that the international community
attentively followed the last parliamentary elections in the country.
This may play a decisive role. This will show if Karabakh can build
an independent state, establish democratic relations, develop market
economy, be self-sufficient. Here we have serious advantages, says
Ghoukassyan.