Category: News

Armenian leader against post of capital’s mayor being elective

Mediamax news agency
19 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said today that he backs the idea
of passing a law on the status of Yerevan.

At the same time, he recalled, answering a question from a Mediamax
correspondent, that the constitution should be reformed to resolve the
problem as it equates Yerevan with other regions of the country.

As for the issue of whether the mayor of the capital should be elected
by the people or appointed by the president, Kocharyan said: “Only a
third of Armenia’s population lives in Yerevan, and if the mayor
represents a political force that is in opposition to the head of
state, this will contain quite serious conflict potential.”

The president stressed that the issue should be thoroughly discussed,
and “if the post of Yerevan mayor becomes elective, it will be
necessary to think about certain mechanisms of restraint, which will
make it possible to stabilize the situation in the event of a possible
political confrontation”.

Caucasian countries eye EU, NATO at conference in Slovak capital

Radio Slovakia, Bratislava
19 Mar 04

Announcer Representatives of the countries of the Caucasus region
confirmed in Bratislava today their interest in further rapprochement
with the EU and NATO. At the Enlarged Europe: New Agenda conference in
Bratislava top political representatives are discussing the fate of
the countries that will, after the EU and NATO enlargement, find
themselves beyond the border of these groups. Robert Petras reports:

Reporter Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are the countries that see
their future in the European space. However, the Caucasian region is
troubled by many unresolved conflict, the dispute over Nagornyy
Karabakh among them. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appealed to
the conference participants:

Aliyev in English faded into Slovak translation We would like very
much the international community to be more involved in the
conflict. We can see the EU interest, which is prepared to resolve the
dispute peacefully. We, too, want to tackle the problem at the
political level. However, I have to stress that our patience has its
limits.

PRESS RELEASE
KNIGHTS OF VARTAN ETCHMIADZIN LODGE-LONG ISLAND NY
CONTACT: MR. EDWARD BARSAMIAN
TEL 212-689-6273
FAX 2126892975
EMAIL:[email protected]

WOODSIDE, NY – The Etchmiadzin Lodge of the Knights of Vartan, will offer
a $1,000.00 scholarship as well as other smaller grants to Armenian
students who are
currently enrolled at an accredited college or university in pursuit of
an undergraduate or graduate degree. The applicants must have completed
at least one semester of college work.

The competition is open to residents of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk
counties of New York State. Residents of the above-mentioned counties,
who are attending schools out-side of the area, may also apply.

Applicants are additionally eligible for a second $ 1,000.00 scholarship
award if they are sons or daughters of a member of the Knights of Vartan
in good standing.

Information and application forms may be obtained by contacting Mr.
Edward Barsamian at 212-689-6273, e-mail request to [email protected] or by
writing to the following address:

Mr. Edward Barsamian
36 East 31 Street, Ninth floor
New York, NY 10016

Deadline for completed applications and supporting transcripts is May 18

Chess tournament ends in Karabakh

Artsakh State TV, Stepanakert
18 Mar 04

March

[Presenter over video of ceremony] On 17 March the closing ceremony of
the international chess tournament in memory of Tigran Petrosyan took
place in Stepanakert. NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Daniyelyan
presented prizes and souvenirs to the participants and thanked them
and the organizers of the tournament. The NKR prime minister
announced that the tournament would become a regular event. Upon the
order of the NKR president, the 10th world chess champion, Boris
Spasskiy was awarded the Gratitude medal for his substantial
contribution to the development of chess in Nagornyy Karabakh. Boris
Spasskiy said the following:

[Spasskiy] The chess tournament was politicized. I am not a specialist
in politics. I cannot say who is right and who is wrong. My function
is chess. I hope that next time when I come here there will be no
politics involved and the situation will be calmer.

Georgian crisis to negatively impact Azerbaijan, politicians say

Zerkalo, Baku
18 Mar 04

Azerbaijani opposition politicians have said that the latest events in
Georgia will have a negative impact on the geopolitical situation in
the region and on Azerbaijan’s economic interests. In an interview
with Zerkalo newspaper, the leaders of the main opposition parties
called on Azerbaijan to maintain neutrality on the issue. The
following is an excerpt from F.Teymurxanli, X. Safaroglu report by
Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 18 March headlined “Tension in
Georgian not in Azerbaijan’s interests”, subheaded “Local politicians
think so”; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

For obvious reasons, the Azerbaijani public cannot be indifferent to
the recent developments in Georgia. Baku expressed its stance in this
regard.

[Passage omitted: reported details]

What does the [Azerbaijani] opposition think of the situation?

In an interview with a Zerkalo correspondent, the AMIP [Azarbaycan
Milli Istiqlal Party] chairman, Etibar Mammadov, described the
Georgian events as a crisis, which might have a negative impact on the
whole region. He said that the events may get out of control if they
are not tackled. Touching upon the Ajarian authorities’ attempts to
prevent the Georgian president from entering the area, Mammadov said
that “the head of state has the right to move freely within his
country”. The AMIP chairman said that relations between Tbilisi and
Batumi were rather strained from the very start and therefore, the
attempts to enter Ajaria had just aggravated the crisis.

“The military solution to the issue means a civil war. Two flash
points of conflict already exist in Georgia, that is South Ossetia and
Abkhazia. No sensible president would aim at creating a third seat of
tension,” Mammadov said.

The AMIP leader said one should not draw parallels between Ajaria and
Nagornyy Karabakh, as “the first case is the country’s internal
affair, while the second one is the occupation of Azerbaijani
territory by another state”.

He said that the Georgian events would affect Azerbaijan’s strategic
projects and the geopolitical situation in the region. Mammadov said
that under the circumstances Baku should take a neutral position and
support Georgia’s territorial integrity.

Ali Karimli

The PFAP [People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party] chairman, Ali Karimli,
also said that Azerbaijan should support Georgia’s territorial
integrity. “Of course, we want the conflict between Tbilisi and Batumi
to be resolved peacefully. We hope that the issue will be resolved
through international mediators and efforts of the Georgian and
Ajarian authorities,” he said. He said that any attempts to prevent
President Mikheil Saakashvili from moving freely in his own country
are not logical.

The PFAP leader said that the status of Nagornyy Karabakh should not
be compared to that of Ajaria but of Abkhazia or South Ossetia with
their ongoing military conflicts. He said that unlike the
aforementioned regions, Ajaria supports the territorial integrity of
its country and “it is not talking about ethnic separatism”. He said
that in the worst case scenario the developments in Georgia will make
a negative impact on Azerbaijan’s interests.

“However, the development of communication lines in the region is in
the interests of the international community, of Georgia and Ajaria. I
think the subsequent developments will not have a negative impact on
Azerbaijan’s strategic interests,” Ali Karimli said.

[Passage omitted: other two politicians also do not see parallels
between Ajaria and Karabakh and stress the negative impact of the
situation on Azerbaijan.]

Araz Alizada

The co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, Araz
Alizada, was more resolute in his assessment of the situation in
Georgia. He said that a pro-western “sick nationalist” had come to
power in Georgia and he would do no good for his people and first of
all for the Azeris living in that country. Alizada said that nobody
would have tried to ban Saakashvili from entering Ajaria had it not
been with armed people, APCs and tanks. The social democrat thinks
that Saakashvili’s attempt to enter Ajaria with the armed people and
the power-wielding ministers was a coup d’etat.

He joined other politicians in saying that Nagornyy Karabakh and
Ajaria should not be compared, since the latter recognizes Georgia’s
territorial integrity.

He said that the aggravation of the situation in Georgia would
negatively affect Azerbaijan’s strategic interests. As for the
position of the Azerbaijani authorities, Alizada said that Baku should
maintain neutrality.

Karabakh main goal of EU envoy’s visit to Azerbaijan – paper

525 Qazet, Baku
19 Mar 04

Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper 525 Qazet on 19
March headlined “Heikki Talvitie has arrived in Baku” and subheaded
“The Baku government wants the European Union to be a mediator in the
Nagornyy Karabakh settlement”

The special representative of the European Union for the South
Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, arrived in Azerbaijan on 18 March. On the
first day of his visit, Talvitie met Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan
Nikolay Ryabov, US ambassador Reno Harnish, Turkish ambassador Ahmet
Unal Cevikoz and Norwegian ambassador Steinar Gil.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has told Azartac news agency that
Talvitie is to meet state and government officials within the
framework of the visit and discuss Azerbaijan’s integration into the
West, the acceptance of European values and issues of democracy. Ways
to settle the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict will be the main focus of the
discussions.

The ministry also said that the EU might play an important role in the
Nagornyy Karabakh settlement because this organization was of special
importance to the OSCE Minsk Group. The EU might participate in talks
together with the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen and entitle one of the
cochairmen to speak on behalf of the EU.

Baku Today
March 19 2004

Talvitie visiting Azerbaijan

Baku Today 19/03/2004 17:02

European Union’s special representative for South Caucasus Heikki
Talvitie will meet with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and
foreign minister Vilayat Guliyev on March 22, 2004.
Talvitie arrived in Baku yesterday on March 18. Talvitie has met with
leader of Karabakh’s Azeri community Nizami Bahmanov today. Bahmanov
has presented Talvitie archive materials on the history of Karabakh
during their meeting.
Whether Talvitie will visit Karabakh remains unreported.

The Daily Star, Lebanon
March 19 2004

Unifil Irish soldiers celebrate their last Saint Patrick’s Day in
Lebanon
Sprigs of shamrock had been flown in from Ireland

By Paul Cochrane
Special to The Daily Star

Saint Patrick’s Day is an event celebrated with a great deal of
gusto wherever the Irish, descendants or citizens, congregate. In New
York the river is dyed green, and in Dublin it is the biggest social
event in between New Year and Easter.
In Beirut, dozens of Irish came together at the palatial Daouk
residence in Ain al-Mreisseh, the home of Ireland’s Consul General
Khaled Daouk, to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland.
Although St. Patrick was born in Wales, the saint first arrived in
Ireland as a slave, where he turned to religion and began his mission
in life to convert Ireland to Christianity. Among the myths
surrounding Patrick’s life, one is that he could raise people from
the dead, and the more widely known is that he drove all the snakes
from the Emerald Isle.
With the death of St. Patrick on March 17, 461 AD, the event has been
commemorated as a Catholic holiday ever since.
Amid numerous Lebanese socialites at the event, the Irish were
conspicuous by the green shamrocks attached to their suit lapels. The
shamrock, which along with the harp are Ireland’s national symbols,
is a small three leafed plant
that is significant in that St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain
the Christian trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The shamrocks on display were the real McCoy, with over a 100 sprigs
having been flown in from Ireland with the fiancŽ of an Irish UN
Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) officer. There were seven Irish
officers, currently based in the South, at the event. Commandant
Timmy Daly said, “It is fantastic to be here as a guest, especially
as it is the last St. Patrick’s Day for Irish soldiers in Lebanon.”
The Irish contingent has been with Unifil in Southern Lebanon for the
past 26 years, but has been gradually phased out since the Israeli
withdrawal in 2000.
“When the Irish Army was here in force, I used to go down to Naqoura
every year as there was a big parade by the soldiers, a bagpipe band,
musicians from Ireland and a great banquet,” said Sister Mary
Delourdes, a teacher at Sagesse school. With fewer Irish in Lebanon,
St. Patrick’s Day has become a much smaller event.
Although whiskey and black stout beer are the traditional drinks of
Ireland, the black stuff was very much absent from the function, and
it was rather surprising to be served up Scotch rather than some of
Ireland’s best malts.
The event was celebrated with a buffet, a cake with the Irish
tricolors and an Armenian pianist tickling the ivories in the
background.

ARMENIANS IN EUROPE REACTED ANGRILY TO BRITISH AMBASSADOR’S
STATEMENT

A1plus | 20:04:23 18-03-2004 | Politics |

The Assembly of Armenians of Europe and its member organizations
reacted to the statement made recently by British Ambassador Thorda
Abbott-Watt in relation with the events of 1915 events by issuing a
common resolution.

The British Ambassador has said in her statement that although the
British Government condemned the massacres as an atrocity at that
time, the evidence was not sufficiently unequivocal that what took
place could be categorized as genocide under the 1948 United Nations
Convention on Genocide and that the debate on this issue continues
among historians and lawyers.

The Assembly expects the British Ambassador in Armenia, Mrs. Thorda
Abbott-Watt to apologize publicly for her statement and officially
retract them. If she refuses, the Ambassador should be declared
persona non grata in the Republic of Armenia, the resolution says.

At the same time, the Assembly demands Armenian Parliament and
Government to adopt all necessary legislative and diplomatic measures
to prevent in the future others from making such offensive statements
against the memory of the Armenian nation.

—

Los Angeles Daily News
March 19 2004

LAUSD English learners gaining
Fluency scores show progress

By Jennifer Radcliffe
Staff Writer

Students learning English as a second language in the Los Angeles
Unified School District made huge gains on the state’s
English-fluency exam and have nearly caught up with their peers
across California, officials said Thursday.

About 42 percent of LAUSD students who speak a language other than
English at home scored in the top two levels of the California
English Language Development Test, compared with about 29 percent
last year.

Statewide, 43 percent of English-learning students received the top
scores this year, compared with 34 percent in 2003.

“This is just further evidence that we’re really a district on the
move,” school board member Marlene Canter said.

When the test debuted three years ago, only 16 percent of LAUSD
students were considered proficient, compared with 25 percent
statewide.

Los Angeles Unified has put an emphasis on helping these students
achieve and that effort must continue, board President Jose Huizar
said.

“English-language learners make up 40 percent of our students. If
they succeed, LAUSD succeeds,” he said.

More than 1.4 million English-language learners in the state took the
test, including 276,000 in the LAUSD.

Nearly 95 percent of the LAUSD’s English-language learners have
Spanish as their native language. The next most common languages are
Armenian and Korean.

The test is designed to identify new students who are learning
English, determine their level of fluency and track their progress
annually.

Students are separated into five categories: beginning, early
intermediate, intermediate, early advanced and advanced.

Once students reach the early advanced level, they are usually
reclassified as fluent within a year, said Merle Price, deputy
superintendent of instruction.

LAUSD leaders attribute their success to better textbooks, more
teacher training and the implementation of structured reading
programs.

“The fact that we’re making this degree of progress is really
remarkable in a district that has the overcrowding we do and the
student population we do,” Superintendent Roy Romer said.

The largest gains in Los Angeles Unified were made at the middle
school level, where the number of students with advanced or early
advanced scores increased from 32 percent to 48 percent.

The number of elementary students in advanced or early advanced
levels increased from 27 percent to 39 percent, and the high school
students gained from 35 percent to 47 percent.

Price said it was open to debate whether the scaling back of
bilingual education mandated by Proposition 227 five years ago
contributed to the impressive gains.

Still, he said that while both bilingual and English-only programs
have their pros and cons, the current system under which most
students are taught primarily in English seems to be working well.

About 10 percent of the LAUSD’s English-language learners receive
waivers to attend bilingual classes and the rest receive most of
their instruction in English.

Price said phonics-based programs, such as Open Court, have helped
all student learn English skills.

“It validates the work we’ve been doing and shows we should stay the
course,” Price said. “That’s something new in education, which is so
full of trends, that we’re on to something that continues to show
progress.”

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said these
test gains rank among the top 10 educational achievements of the
year.

“Progress is our real goal. By any standard, we are seeing progress,”
he said. “This is just another indicator … that public education in
the state of California is on the right track.”

Jennifer Radcliffe, (818) 713-3722 [email protected]