Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 5, 2004 Wednesday

Armenia sets up special department to fight corruption

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

A department empowered to fight corruption has been set up at
Armenia’s prosecutor general’s office. Its function is to combat this
evil in all bodies of state authority, including in the law
enforcement agencies and the prosecutor general’s office itself,
Prosecutor General Agvan Obsepyan declared on Monday.

“I am not so naive as to deny that corruption also exists in this
department,” he noted. Ovsepyan said the regulation for the new
department would be worked out within the next ten days to define all
the directions of the department’s activity.

According to the prosecutor general, the department would cooperate
closely with the president’s control service, the president’s
consultant on fighting corruption and other bodies of state
authority.

Corruption is spread specifically wide in the economic structures,
the prosecutor general said.

Houston Press, TX
April 29 2004

Capsule Reviews
A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions
BY JOHN DEVINE, KELLY KLAASMEYER AND KEITH PLOCEK
[email protected]

“Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective of Drawings”

Born in Turkish Armenia in 1904, Vosdanik Adoian would grow up to be
Arshile Gorky, one of America’s most important and influential
artists, but he would never forget the land of his birth and the
village of his difficult childhood. This intimate retrospective at
the Menil Collection follows Gorky’s progress from his apprenticeship
to the masters through his cubist exercises to his breakthrough in
the 1940s. Aided by a return to drawing from nature and abetted by
the surrealists, Gorky experienced a creative explosion as he
filtered the world before him through his imagination and memory —
he drew on his agrarian childhood for the sinuous shape at the heart
of the lyrical The Plow and the Song. The vitality and energy of his
drawings make their abrupt cessation (Gorky committed suicide at age
44) all the more poignant. As installed in the Menil, the exhibit has
been judiciously edited down from the ungainly sprawl and visual
overload of the Whitney’s version. Don’t miss the drawings of his
mother, especially the portrait on loan from the Art Institute of
Chicago, or the Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia series. Through May
9. 1515 Sul Ross, 713-525-9400.

CIS SECURITY BODY NEEDS TO RESOLVE INTERNAL PROBLEMS – RUSSIAN MP

Interfax-AVN military news agency web site
30 Apr 04

MOSCOW

Member-states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
should work out an efficient mechanism of enforcing mutual commitments
in the military sphere, Viktor Zavarzin, chairman of the State Duma
Defence Committee, said today.

“All CSTO member-states (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan) should develop their own mechanisms for
enforcing military-technical cooperation agreements that have been
reached. Legislation, regulating such a mechanism, has not been
developed yet because of domestic interdepartmental differences,”
Zavarzin told Interfax-Military News Agency.

Zavarzin emphasized that CSTO member-states have not shown the proper
interest in armament modernization and overhaul programmes proposed by
Russia within the framework of the Intergovernmental
Military-Technical Cooperation Commission.

As a positive example of cooperation within the CSTO framework he
cited cooperation, pertaining to CSTO infrastructure security
(railways, airlines, pipelines, sea routes, largest power plants,
etc.), which directly influences all the national security components
of each member-state. “For instance, this January the Russian
president submitted the bill “On ratifying the agreement on
establishing a single protection system for the railways of CSTO
member states” to the State Duma for consideration. The agreement
coordinates joint planning in this sphere,” he noted.

Zavarzin said that, on the whole, there were a number of serious
problems and difficulties in each CSTO workstream. Should such
problems be solved, the organization could achieve a qualitatively new
level of cooperation, and enforce decisions, meeting the challenges of
the contemporary military-political environment in CSTO member
states. It is also necessary to refine policy pertaining to
contemporary challenges and threats, Zavarzin said. He added that one
of the priorities consisted in establishing contacts between CSTO and
UN, and CSTO and OSCE. “The organization may also coordinate its
efforts with NATO in the future, first and foremost, in the sphere of
combating terrorism, religious extremism and drug trafficking,” he
said. (Passage omitted)

A1 Plus | 15:08:50 | 03-05-2004 | Politics |

RAMKAVAR-AZATAKAN ISSUES STATEMENTS

On Monday, Ramkavar-Azatakan party leader Harutyun Arakelyan told
journalists current political developments in Armenia are hobbling the
republic’s economy.

He urged opposition Justice alliance and National Unity party to enter a
long-term dialogue with the ruling coalition.

In one of its statements issued Monday, the party called on the opposition
forces to refrain from “sparking chaos in political field”.

In another its statement, the party addressed Armenian World Congress’s head
Ara Abrahamyan proposing to coordinate the Congress all steps with all
responsible parties. Otherwise, the Ramkavar-Azatakan will reconsider its
membership in the Congress.

The Times (London)
May 4, 2004, Tuesday

Brussels plans to expand its empire again

by Anthony Browne Europe Correspondent

With the largest-ever enlargement of the European Union behind them,
European officials are now preparing even more ambitious plans to
expand the Brussels empire across North Africa, the Middle East and
Asia.

They hope that just as the enlargement last weekend helped to
entrench democracy in eight former communist countries, this new
policy will stabilise much of the Arab world, as well as the
still turbulent far eastern regions of Europe.

Next week, the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, will
launch a strategy document setting out details of an effective
enlargement of the EU over decades across all the Muslim countries
lining the Mediterranean, from Morocco to Syria, as well as Israel,
Lebanon and all the former parts of the Soviet Union that are in
Europe, including Russia.

This is in addition to the well-advanced plans for Romania and
Bulgaria to become full members of the EU in 2007, followed by all
the Balkan countries, including Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.
The Commission will also announce in October whether it thinks that
Turkey is ready to join the EU.

Under the New Neighbourhood policy -also called the Wider Europe
policy – countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Ukraine and Russia
would be become full members of the single market, with open borders
for trade and investment, and their citizens given the full right to
live and work in the European Union. The policy has been agreed in
principle by the national governments of the EU.

However, they will be able to join the single market only if they
become democratic, improve human rights and establish free-market
economies upheld by Western-style commercial law.

The Commission spokesman said: “It is a win-win situation for us to
provide incentives for them to move closer to European standards.”

EU diplomats say that Jordan, Morocco and Ukraine are the closest to
meeting these criteria, but that for most of the North African and
Middle Eastern countries it could take ten or twenty years, or even
longer.

The new associate countries would initially be part of a single
European market, but wuold be denied membership of the
decision-making institutions -namely the Commission, the Council of
Ministers and Parliament.

Romano Prodi, the President of the Commission, said at the Dublin
enlargement celebrations this weekend: “The goal is to create a ring
of friends with whom we share common concerns, both political and
economic. In a sense, this is another concept of enlargement -an
enlargement without institutions.”

The Commission and European governments are worried about a popular
backlash against a policy that -combined with Turkey’s possible
membership -offers hundreds of millions of Muslims from across North
Africa and the Middle East the right to live and work in Europe.

Brussels officials are very keen to play down fears that it would
result in large-scale immigration. One insisted: “We are talking
about a very long time away. By opening their economy, and making
themselves investment and business-friendly, it will generate
economic growth, which makes less need to emigrate.”

In a further development, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, former
Soviet republics in the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and
Caspian Sea, will be told next month that they, too, eventually will
be eligible for the New Neighbourhood Policy. The three countries
have said that they want full membership of the EU, but initially
will be offered only access to the European single market.

Progress on the Balkan countries joining the EU is advancing fast.
Last month the Commission formally gave its permission for Croatia to
join, possibly as soon as 2007. The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia has formally applied to join.

The most controversial expansion is Turkey. EU governments have
promised to decide its future in Europe at a summit in December.
Britain and Germany insist that admitting Turkey, a country of 70
million Muslims, is vital to ward off the so-called “clash of
civilisations”. France has indicated that it is opposed.

Turkey’s population is expected to grow to 100 million by 2050, and
many European politicians worry that having a developing nation
almost entirely in Central Asia as the largest member will
effectively destroy the EU.

Gulf Daily News
Vol XXVII NO. 38 Tuesday 27 April 2004

Tehran gas exports push targets Asia and Europe

TEHRAN: Iran, which holds some 15 per cent of the world’s natural gas
reserves, is boosting exports of gas to its neighbours in the hope of
picking up sales to Asia and Europe in the future.

“In the short term, we are looking to export our gas to neighbouring
countries, but we are also working on exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
to Asia and Europe,” National Gas Export Company director Rokneddin Javadi
said.

“The issue is that the projects to export to neighbours, such as those
across the Persian Gulf, can be completed in two years. But an LNG export
project needs five years,” said on the sidelines of a gas export conference
in Tehran.

He said Iran expects to sign within the next two weeks a contract to supply
15 million cubic metres a day by pipeline to the UAE.

And he said the Islamic republic was also in talks with Kuwait and the UAE
for two other similar contracts, hoping to export 1.5 billion cubic metres
to the two countries each year.

Also expected later this year are contracts with Armenia and the Russian
Caucasus republic of Nakhchavan, covering the sale of 3bn cubic metres
annually.

And a 25-year contract with Turkey allowed Iran to sell 3.5bn cubic metres
there in 2003. That figure is expected to rise to 5bn cubic metres in 2004,
if a contractual dispute can be worked out.

Turkey, complaining the gas is of poor quality, has demanded a price cut and
has threatened to turn to Russia instead.

“You have to ask the Turks what is going on. If they abandon the contract,
they will have to pay a heavy fine,” an Iranian industry official said.

Mehmet Bigic, head of Turkey’s Botas company, hinted that the deal was still
valid: “It is not possible to quit a 25-year contract. But you can
renegotiate.”

Despite the ongoing difficulties with Turkey, Javadi nevertheless said he
hoped Iranian gas sales would total $2bn annually in 2010.

But Iran is also counting on this figure jumping dramatically if it can get
LNG exports by tanker moving further afield, notably to the potentially huge
markets of the Indian sub-continent, China – with whom a memorandum on
future sales has already been inked – and Europe.

But such sales are pending the completion of LNG production facilities, as
well as the costly laying of pipelines that need to cross sensitive areas
such as the Pakistani-Indian border.

Pasadena Star-News, CA
April 24 2004

Armenians speak out against genocide Armenians mark anniversary of
genocide
By Jason Newell @Staff writer:Staff Writer

:Garbis Der Yeghian wants the so-called “forgotten genocide’ to have
its place in history.

Eighty-nine years ago this week, a group of Young Turks forcibly
escorted Der Yeghian’s great-grandfather – a senior clergyman in the
Armenian Church – to the banks of the Euphrates river, stripped him
naked and beheaded him in front of 41 members of his family.

“They asked him to deny his Christian faith, and he said, ‘I will
never do that,” Der Yeghian said.

Der Yeghian, an Armenian activist and college president who lives in
La Verne, is one of thousands who will speak out during today’s
Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day.

Ottoman Turks are accused of killing 1.5 million Armenians between
1915 and 1923, in a systematic effort to destroy the entire Armenian
population.

Armenian-Americans will mark the 89th anniversary of the genocide’s
start with several memorials and events across Southern California.

Organizers of a 10 a.m. march through the Little Armenian
neighborhood of Hollywood expect 100,000 people to participate.

Others will attend a commemoration event at the Armenian Martyrs
Memorial in Montebello at 1 p.m.

A protest is planned in front of the Turkish Consulate on Wilshire
Boulevard in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. The Turkish government denies the
genocide, saying far fewer people died amid multiparty conflicts.

Der Yeghian, 53, past district governor for Rotary International and
current president of Mashdots College in Glendale, said the events
are important because they help bring attention to a tragedy many
young people haven’t heard about.

Der Yeghian, who is in Canada for three separate speeches today,
rarely passes up speaking engagements to talk about genocide and the
need for peace; he accepted 18 this week alone.

“Educating Armenian youth is not enough,’ he said. “We need to
educate all youth, because such genocide should never happen again.’

The Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century, was
the forerunner for subsequent genocides that claimed the lives of 170
million people, he said.

CBC TV
SHOW: The National
April 23, 2004 Friday

ANCHORS: MARK KELLEY

MARK KELLEY (HOST) :

In bad political times, there’s nothing like a united front, but
Liberal unity cracked this week over an unexpected issue. It was a
private member’s bill on the Armenian genocide, and it exposed some
deep divisions in Paul Martin’s government. Jennifer Ditchburn
reports.

JENNIFER DITCHBURN (REPORTER) :

Just weeks before a possible election call and Paul Martin is seeing
cracks in cabinet solidarity.

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE :

All those opposed…

JENNIFER DITCHBURN (REPORTER) :

Right on the front benches, ministers Stephen Owen and Rey Pagtakhan
are sitting when they’re supposed to stop and stand and vote against
a motion that declared there was an Armenian genocide in 1915. Owen
offered this explanation…

STEPHEN OWEN (MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS) :

I was not comfortable we with the Bloc resolution. I was not going
vote for it but I was not comfortable voting against it. Thank you.

JENNIFER DITCHBURN (REPORTER) :

But sources told the CBC that during their weekly meeting, Paul
Martin was forced to issue a stern reminder to Owen and other cabinet
ministers of their duty to vote along government lines, pointing out
that being in cabinet is a privilege. This may not have been a free
vote for ministers, but it was for everyone else, and most Liberals
voted against their government, even though Foreign Affairs Minister
Bill Graham had warned them that approving a private member’s bill
that recognized a disputed Armenian genocide could put a chill on
relations with Turkey and possibly hurt Canadian business. Since the
vote, Graham has been trying to reassure Turkey that the vote was not
an expression of government policy.

BILL GRAHAM (CANADA’S MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS) :

We’re an ally of Turkey. We will be working with Turkey. My belief is
they will accept that position, enable us to get on, turn a page, say
this is the past now, let’s move forward.

STAN DOMINSKY (ONTARIO LIBERAL MP) :

There is a certain amount of disarray in the House of Commons.

JENNIFER DITCHBURN (REPORTER) :

This MP says the vote was more about pre-election jitters, MPs
worried about Greeks and Armenians in their ridings reacting
negatively.

STAN DOMINSKY (ONTARIO LIBERAL MP) :

That security is not there right now. From what I can gather from so
many members of the Liberal caucus, they’re very uneasy. They’re
praying and hoping that they will glean enough votes out of their
constituencies so that they will able to be victorious.

JENNIFER DITCHBURN (REPORTER) :

These days, Liberals are divided on some big issues: riding
nomination battles, whether the prime minister is getting good
advice, and, most of all, on the right timing for an election. Not an
ideal situation for a party that’s considering going to the polls in
just a few weeks. Jennifer Ditchburn, CBC News, Ottawa.

CANADIAN COMPANY INDUSMIIN ENERGY INVESTS $10 MLN IN PROSPECTING OF GAS AND
OIL IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. The Canadian company Indusmiin Energy
invests $10 mln in prospecting of oil and gas in Armenia, Armenian
Minister of Energy Armen Movsisyan said at a press-conference today.

He said that a preliminary agreement on this has already been reached
with the Armenian Government, with the funds to be invested mainly in
prospecting of gas in Armavir region. The minister said that gas
reserves are not enough for industrial extraction, however, they are
of great importance for Armenia. Movsisyan said that Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan instructed that the whole energy potential
of the country be researched. As a result, Armenia proved to have
rather great potential of geothermal energy. At present, the Canadian
company continues this research and the exact volumes of oil and gas
reserves of Armenia can be determined in three months. “The
preliminary indicators are attractive enough,” the minister said.

He said that the prospecting on oil and gas were carried out yet in
the Soviet period, but they were not completed for lack of funds.

AZERBAIJANI HAS NO SUFFICIENT OIL FOR BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. Ayaz Mutalibov, ex-president of
Azerbaijan, believes that Azerbaijan has no sufficient oil reserves
for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

In his interview to the “Vremya Novostey” newspaper, he stated that in
1990 Azerbaijan’s oil reserves were estimated as amounting to
500mln. tons. “Later, talks about billions’ began. Still later,
contracts began to fail,” Mutalibov said. He added that most oil is
now being extracted at old deposits, which were developed in Soviet
times. Moreover, if “the Iraqi floor gets re-operated, the need for
Azerbaijan’s oil will no more be urgent. So the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline
is most unlikely to be filled without Kazakhstan,” Mutalibov said. He
expressed the opinion that the project has a geopolitical component.
“Geopolicy is in getting oil resources to pass by Russia,” Mutalibov
said. He pronounced for a “delicate and balanced policy on the part of
Azerbaijan,” first of all, toward Russia. “The Azerbaijani diaspora in
Russia provides Azerbaijan with sums considerably exceeding its annual
budget. What is called strategic partnership will in fact be a search
of separating the spheres of influence between Moscow and Washington,”
Mutalibov said.