Author: Torosian Aram

DASHNAKS MAKE THEIR ROUTINE REPORT

A1 Plus
01-10-2004

On Friday, Dashnaktsutyun party representatives Armen Rustamyan and
Levon Lazarian presented a regular report on the party activity at
Armenpress news agency office.

Rustamyan briefly spoke on the ruling coalition achievements then
turned to future plans.

Speaking on the situation in Armenia, he said unhealthy environment is
created in the republic that is derailing democratisation process.

Fundamental freedoms obtained for the period of transition led rather
to corrosive power of money than to lawfulness and justice.

Dashnak Rustamyan accused the republic former authorities of giving
start to the unpleasant and dangerous phenomena, with which they have
to deal now.

He said they will take whatever step necessary to make national line
development irreversible.

L’Humanité
27 septembre 2004

« Nous faisons entendre, dans cette assemblée très réactionnaire, la voix des salariés, de la population »

Réélue à Paris, Nicole Borvo, présidente du groupe communiste du
Sénat, était candidate sortante.

Quelle est votre appréciation sur ces résultats ?

Nicole Borvo. Les communistes retrouvent leurs sièges partout où ils
étaient renouvelables et gagnent deux sièges dans deux nouveaux
départements : l’Essonne et la Seine-et-Marne avec l’élection de
Bernard Vera et de Michel Billout. Je suis donc très satisfaite et
très contente de voir que les candidats communistes qui étaient des
candidats de terrain ont été reconnus et appréciés par les élus
locaux. Ils ont ainsi permis de gagner.

Le Sénat restera après cette élection une chambre âgée, masculine,
dont la majorité politique à droite apparaît immuable. N’est-il pas
en décalage avec la réalité du pays ?

Nicole Borvo. Ce décalage tient à son mode d’élection. Les communes
rurales peu peuplées sont surreprésentées par rapport aux communes
urbaines et le renouvellement par tiers bloque la répercussion des
changements politiques dans le pays. Il est anormal qu’en France une
assemblée soit élue selon un mode de scrutin aussi peu démocratique.

Le groupe communiste du Sénat n’est-il pas un peu atypique, en
particulier par le nombre des femmes qui le composent ?

Nicole Borvo. À l’époque où il y avait 18 femmes sénatrices, 6
étaient communistes. Et dernièrement pour 321 sièges, on comptait 33
sénatrices dont 11 communistes. De plus, deux femmes se sont succédé
à la présidence du groupe. Nous avons essayé de faire entrer la
parité dans cette assemblée où les hommes, il faut bien le dire, font
tout pour la contourner. Et cela va encore être le cas cette fois
(1).

Quelles sont les attributions les plus importantes du Sénat ?

Nicole Borvo. Il contribue à l’élaboration de la loi comme
l’Assemblée nationale. Avec pour seule différence que l’Assemblée
nationale tranche en dernier ressort. Le droit d’amendement, de
proposition est le même pour les sénateurs et les députés. Le Sénat
joue donc un rôle législatif important. Le fait qu’il soit toujours à
droite pèse sur la loi dans un sens conservateur.

Vous êtes très critique. Êtes-vous pour la suppression du Sénat, pour
sa transformation ?

Nicole Borvo. Depuis longtemps nous proposons une réforme très
importante du Sénat. D’une part en modifiant son mode de scrutin pour
qu’il soit représentatif de la majorité des citoyens, d’autre part en
lui donnant des attributions différentes de l’Assemblée nationale. La
France n’est pas un pays fédéral et n’a pas besoin d’une
représentation d’États ou, comme en Allemagne, de Landers. Et nous
sommes d’ailleurs opposés à une régionalisation dans ce sens. Nous
proposons donc que le Sénat ait un rôle d’initiative, qu’il permette
aux collectivités territoriales (conseils municipaux, conseils
régionaux, conseils généraux) et aux citoyens de faire des
propositions, de demander des débats parlementaires qui pourraient
donner lieu à des propositions législatives. Ce que la droite a fait
l’an dernier n’est qu’une réformette pour avoir l’air moins archaïque
: il n’était plus supportable que le mandat de sénateur reste de neuf
ans et que le corps électoral soit celui qui résultait du recensement
de 1965. Mais elle a refusé d’enlever au Sénat ce rôle conservateur
qu’il a depuis le début.

Quelle peut être, dans ce cadre, l’action de votre groupe ?

Nicole Borvo. Dans cette Assemblée vraiment très réactionnaire, le
groupe communiste fait entendre la voix des salariés, de la
population, et bien évidemment il continuera à le faire. Il a pris
des initiatives importantes. Par exemple, les premiers débats sur la
décentralisation ayant eu lieu au Sénat, nous avons alerté sur des
risques majeurs à un moment où cela paraissait peu clair pour la
population. Avec cette bataille est montée la prise de conscience que
la pseudo-décentralisation Raffarin était en réalité une
déstructuration de l’unité nationale. Le gouvernement a fait voter
cette loi au forcing avec le 49-3 mais beaucoup de résistance
s’exprime aujourd’hui dans le pays et nous y avons contribué. Nous
avons aussi proposé la journée des droits de l’enfant en menant une
grande bataille pour qu’elle finisse par être votée. Depuis longtemps
notre groupe a une activité importante pour la défense des droits des
personnes et quelquefois il est possible, sur ces questions, de
trouver des majorités. Cela a ainsi été le cas lorsque nous avons
fait voter la reconnaissance du génocide arménien.

Entretien réalisé par Jacqueline Sellem
(1) Pour contourner la loi
sur la parité et l’obligation d’alternance sur les listes,
on a vu se multiplier les listes de droite conduites
par un homme assurant
ainsi son élection.

The Times (London)
September 25, 2004, Saturday

Art of the Armenians

(Photograph) – A selling exhibition of Armenian art from the 12th to
the 18th centuries opened at the Sam Fogg gallery in Clifford Street,
London W1, on Wednesday. Those present included Bishop Nathan
Hovhannisian, with Sam Fogg, above; and Dr Vrej Nersessian, left, of
the British Library, and his wife Leila.

PHOTOGRAPHERS: DAFYDD JONES (Fashion events); SUSAN GREENHILL
(Michael Winner; Greg Dyke); DOMINIC O’NEILL (Art of the Armenians);
CAPITAL PICTURES (Layer Cake).

Armenian official says Karabakh report meets British oil companies’ interests

Mediamax news agency
24 Sep 04

YEREVAN

The draft report on Nagornyy Karabakh prepared by PACE ex-rapporteur
Terry Davis, who is presently holding the post of secretary-general of
the Council of Europe, “is not impartial and reflects the interests of
British oil companies”, the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament,
Vaan Ovanesyan, said at the National Press Club in Yerevan today.

According to him, “it should be taken into account that PACE’s new
rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh David Atkinson is also British and his
report will be most likely based on the documents prepared by his
predecessor”.

Armenianow.com
Sept 22, 2004
Coming of Age: Comments on change, as independent Armenia enters the teenage
years

By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent

Thirteen years ago this week (September 21), more than 95 percent of the
electorate voted in favor of Armenia becoming an independent republic.
It was an easy decision, made in difficult times. The soul of society still
mourned the death of 30,000 earthquake victims. The heart of society was at
war over Karabakh. And the psyche of society was challenged by the reality
of “freedom”, after 70 years of reliance on Soviet care-giving.
“The proclamation of the independence of Armenia took place in extremely
hard political and economic conditions,” reminds the head of the Museum of
History and Archeology in Avan Ara Demirkhanyan. “During the process of
acquiring sovereignty none of the former republics of USSR was facing such
hard and urgent problems, which were present in great numbers in Armenia.”

The will to build a nation faced odds created by energy crisis (a result of
losing USSR power supplies), by transport blockade (by Azerbaijan since 1989
and Turkey since 1991), and by the influx of 350,000 refugees fleeing
Azerbaijan.
”Of course, the simultaneous coincidence of such serious problems occurring
on such a small and weak country left an influential psychological impact on
the public consciousness of the population, who were not ready for such a
situation,” says Hayk Manaseryan, of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
“We should not forget that, for instance, unlike the Baltic States, Armenia
had never stood for secession from the USSR so zealously, but, first of all
it had always been aiming at the reunification with Karabakh even within the
framework of Soviet Union.”
Statehood, independence, reunification have been idealistic struggles for
nearly as long as there has been a modern Armenia.
“Over thousands of years the Armenian nation has developed a natural
characteristic of its development, which is statehood,” says Doctor of
Geographic Sciences Hovanes Sahadyan. “By force of historical circumstances
it lost its political independence at least 10 times but every time it was
strong enough to find strength and abilities to revive statehood. There are
few analogous examples in the history of the world. I think this example
demonstrates something.”
Karabakh war veteran Hamik Sahadyan believes it was that history of
political struggle that made the transition to independence less traumatic
for Armenia than for its neighbors. Some face common difficulties, but none
have faced the considerable obstacles unique to Armenia.
”In the beginning of 1990s each Caucasus republic of USSR was up against
precisely such strategic missions and it seemed that the positions of
Tbilisi and Baku looked more preferable,” Hamik Sahadyan says. “Georgia had
all-powerful water resources and Azerbaijan had fuel. Besides, both
republics took incomparably more advantageous geopolitical positions than
Armenia and had bigger populations. It is important to underline that at the
moment of the collapse of the USSR, the Kremlin was supporting Georgia and
Azerbaijan both in territorial disputes and in politico-military aspects.
However, the question of territorial integrity has never become a unifying
factor neither in Tbilisi nor in Baku.”
History proves that Armenia can survive struggle, war, hardship. But can it
grow to a future of peace and prosperity?
”During the process of historical development, Armenian socio-political
thought has collected sufficiently rich and useful material concerning
national behavior in war and extreme conditions,” says Vardan Mkhitaryan, a
cartographer. “However, it hasn’t developed an agenda for peacetime, when it
has already become an independent state.”
For just that reason, Mkhitaryan is among citizens who believe that
high-ranking officials and the oligarchs who underwrite them – whose only
understanding of governing is conditioned by a communist past – is no less a
threat to Armenia’s growth than the ill intentions of its neighbors. The
Parliament assassinations of 1999 were evidence of that condition, he says.
“Since 1995 the use of rough and rude force for the purpose of achieving
political goals became an integral attribute of the election campaigns,”
says Hayk Manaseryan. “Today a majority of deputies of the National Assembly
of RA are from criminal entities.
“All of this demonstrates a regression of statehood in Armenia and a sharp
weakening of positions of precisely political structures. For this reason,
since the mid-1990s the idea that the Armenian people cannot build a country
for themselves has been prevalent in Armenia. Nostalgia for the ‘Soviet Past’
has appeared in Armenian society and is why some have suggested the
necessity for an Armenian membership in the Russia-Byelorussia Union.”
The past 13 years (like preceding centuries for Armenia) have proven that
independence may be more a goal than a destination.
Nothing seems to be as hoped. But hope is enhanced by significant signs of
progress.
Against considerable odds not found in most Commonwealth of Independent
States, Armenia has survived, and might even thrive. The well being of the
average Armenian doesn’t differ greatly from the livelihood of those in
other post-Soviet countries, whose transition has been less challenged.
“The only factor which can level the wide difference between, for instance,
the biggest country of Europe, the Ukraine with population of 50 million
people, and small Armenia is its socialist inheritance,” says geographer
Hovanes Sahadyan.
And that inheritance, he reminds, was spread over 70 years. It will take
more than 13 years for that part of Armenia’s heritage to pass.
And while that recent past lingers, reflection on Armenia’s entry into the
teenage years of independence comes with a question:
If a referendum were held today, would 95 percent of the population vote in
favor of independence?

Russia, Armenia leaders meet in Astana

ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 16, 2004 Thursday

ASTANA, September 16 — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan had a working meeting on Thursday. The
two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation.

They took part in the 38th CIS summit here on Thursday. Also on
Thursday, Putin had separate talks with Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev.

GENOCIDE RECOGNITION REMAINS ON ARMENIAN FOREIGN POLICY AGENDA,
DEPUTY FM MINISTER SAYS

ArmenPress
Sept 15 2004

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: Speaking at public discussions
today, organized by Public Dialogue and Initiatives Center to look
into political prerequisites for opening the Turkish-Armenian border,
Armenian deputy foreign affairs minister Ruben Shugarian reaffirmed
that the recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide by Turkey remained
on Armenia’s foreign policy agenda, but added that Armenia did
not look at it as a condition for normalization of relations with
Ankara and establishment of diplomatic relations. He said Armenia’s
commitment to seek international acknowledgment and condemnation of
the 1915 genocide is viewed not only in the context of restoration of
the historical truth, but also in the context of reciprocal regional
confidence, security and prevention of such crimes in future.

He said a series of various-level meetings between Armenian and
Turkish foreign ministries’ representatives was important as they
provide an environment to discuss the most sensitive questions and
exchange views on regional and international developments. Pointing
out the attempts of both nations’ non-governmental organizations,
universities and businessmen to establish contacts, he said the
existing problems can be solved only on government level.

He also spoke about economic figures, saying that despite the absence
of diplomatic relations, trade turnout between the two countries is
growing yearly. Until 1995 Armenian exports prevailed over Turkish
imports, now the picture is different. According to official figures,
the amount of Turkish imports last year stood at almost $37 million,
while Armenian exports made only $1.1 million. In 2002 Armenian exports
amounted to $1.5 million. At the end of his speech he singled out US
and EU mediation efforts aimed at the opening of the border.

International Journalist’s Network
Sept 10 2004

Caucasus Media Institute Main Training Program (MTP)
Oct 01, 2004 – Jun 01, 2005

School

In Yerevan, Armenia. For journalists from countries of the former
Soviet Union. Organized by the Caucasus Media Institute (CMI).
Through four main courses – journalism, language and style, regional
studies, and contemporary studies – the year-long program provides
students with the basic journalism skills to cover issues related to
their native countries. The deadline for applications is August 30.
Applications will be accepted in July and August, and the program is
scheduled to begin on October 1. Applications:
For more information,
visit , or contact CMI at
[email protected], [email protected], or telephone
00374-1-540631, 00374-1-540632.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
September 7, 2004

Requiem Service in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On Sunday, September 5, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided during the celebration
of Divine Liturgy in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.
The celebrant was Very Rev. Fr. Armash Vardapet Nalbandian, Primate
of the Armenian Diocese of Damascus, who led a group of more than 30
Armenian faithful from Syria to the Mother See on a pilgrimage.

Following the Divine Liturgy, a solemn requiem service was offered
in memory of the hundreds of innocent victims of terrorism in Russia,
specifically for those who lost their lives in the recent explosions
of two aircraft, the bombing of a subway station and the horrific
acts of violence and terror in the school in Beslan, North Ossetia.
Prayers were offered for the repose of the souls of all those who
perished, as well as comfort and consolation for their families and
loved ones.

His Holiness Karekin II has sent telegrams of support and condolence
on behalf of all Armenians throughout the world to President of the
Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Russian Orthodox Patriarch His
Holiness Alexi II, and President of North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov.

##

ENERGY SYSTEM TENDS TO DEVELOP

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
4 Sept 04

The executive director of “Artsakhenergo” CJSC Slava Gabrielian
informed that during the past seven months (from January 1 to August
1) more energy was used then in the same period last year. Thus, the
use of electric energy in 2004 totals 96 million 500 thousand kWh
instead the 92 million 100 thousand in the same period of the past
year. By the way in 2003 the use of energy totaled 155.5 million
kWh. At the same time high rates were reported in the sphere of
realizing electric energy. In the mentioned period of the current
year 70.8 million kWh energy was realized against the 61.5 million
in 2003. All in all, the amount of the electric energy realized
in 2003 totaled 106.1 kWh. According to S. Gabrielian, due to the
measures taken by the personnel of the energy system energy loss was
reduced by 5.2 per cent. Thus, by August 1, 2004 the loss of energy
totaled 8.7 per cent against 13.9 per cent in the same period of the
previous year. According to the executive director, “Artsakhenergo”
has debts from previous years. The consumers in their turn also owe
to the company. According to the executive director, the means from
sales are first of all used for the obligations of the company to the
state budget and development of the system, including maintenance of
the substations. By the way, as S. Gabrielian mentioned, this year
the salaries of the staff were raised by about 22 per cent.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
04-09-2004