ARMENIAN VETERANS OF PATRIOTIC WAR WANT TO RESTORE PRIVILEGES THEY HAD
BEFORE

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. 7898 veterans of the Patriotic War live
in Armenia at present. About 2000 of them are invalids. Veterans get
8300 drams (about 18.4 U.S. dollars) pension and invalid veterans get
12-21 thousand drams. Besides, according to the RA law “On Patriotic
War Veterans”, all veterans get monthly payment of honor, 10000
drams. Veterans pay for flat, litter, radio and phone subscribing 50%
of payments. They have privileges of getting free medical assistance,
medicine, free applies for accomodation in a sanatorium as well as to
run freely once in a year in the territory of the CIS countries.

Instead of some privileges of 2004, veterans get assistance of 3000
drams, and invalid veterans get assistance of 4500 drams. But, as
Major General Rafik Karapetian, the Chairman of the Veterans’ Union of
Armenia mentioned in the interveiw to the Noyan Tapan correspondent,
veterans want to restore their privileges. The Union is going to
address to the RA President, Prime Minister,

National Assembly Speaker with this issue. According to R.Karapetian,
it is necessary to undertake means to improve the social-economic
state of veterans, “They are already old people: the youngest of them
is 82 years old,” he mentioned, adding that 1400 veterans died the
last year.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

2ND INTERNATION CONGRESS OF HOMEOPATHS HELD IN YEREVAN ON MAY 8-11

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of the Armenian
Association of Homeopaths, the 2nd international congress of
homeopaths will be held in Yerevan on May 8-11. As the Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed by Association Chairwoman Marina
Gharabaghtsian, specialists invited from Russia, Romania, Germany,
Switzerland, India, Ukraine will participate in the congress.
According to her, issues of treatement of cancer, liver, kidney, skin
as well as children’s diseases by the method of homeopathy will be
discussed during the congress. It was mentioned that the first
international congress of homeopaths was held in 2003, again in
Yerevan.

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: GLORIOUS WAY PASSED BY YERKRAPAH IS GREAT AND
UNDENIABLE IN BUILDING AND ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR INDEPENDENT STATEHOOD

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian,
member of the Yerkrapah Volunteers’ Union board, Chairman of the
Republican Party of Armenia, sent a congratulatory message on the
occasion of the Yerkrapah’s (Defender of the Land) Day. The message
provided to Noyan Tapan from RA Government Information and Public
Relations Department read: “Dear companions-in-arms, I proudly and
warmly congratulate you on the occasion of the Yerkrapah’s Day. The
glorious way passed by the Yerkrapah is great and undeniable in the
issue of building and establishment of our independent statehood. At
the moment of the fatal danger threatening the country the Yerkrapah
Volunteer’s Union assumed the responsibility of defending the borders
of the homeland, providing the security of the country symbolizing the
will and unbending spirit of our fair struggle. We are bowing our head
before the memory of our combat friends, before the memory of the
perished freedom fighters who kept invincible the borders of our
country and the belief in the future. The Yerkrapah Volunteer’s Union
with a devotion and belief continues to have its considerable
contribution to replenishment of army cadres, to supporting its
perished and injured friends’ families, to military-patriotic
education of the young generation. These issues are vital now, too,
and should be solved as a result of the common efforts and united work
of all of us. I am convinced that relying on its glorious way and
professed values, Yerkrapah will continue to be guided by the
principles outlined by eternal Chairman of the Yerkrapah Volunteer’s
Union, Sparapet Vazgen Sargsian remaining loyal to its main title and
purposes. Congratulating you on the occasion of this beautiful day
that has become a holiday, I wish you, your families and the whole our
people peace, good health and happiness”.

PUBLIC TELEVISION OF SLOVAKIA TOUCHES UPON EVENTS DEDICATED TO 91ST
ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

BRATISLAVA, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The first channel
news program of the Public Television of Slovakia touched upon on
April 24 the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, covering the
events held at the Armenian khachkar (cross stone) placed on the bank
of Danube, in Bratislava.

Interview with representatives of the Armenian community of Slovakia,
guests arrived from Armenia and official representatives of Slovakia
were shown. Slovakian National Council Deputy Frantisek Miklosko’s
speech concerning the Armenian Genocide was especially important. The
Deputy stated that nobody understands Turkey’s refusal of the Genocide
and Turkey’s wish to join the European Union without official
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Organizer of the event, Chairman
of the Armenian community of Slovakia Ashot Grigorian who was in
Yerevan at that time, returning Bratislava, met with representatives
of the National Council of Slovakia and thanked for participation in
the event.

According to him, this event again proved the readiness of the
National Council of Slovakia in the issues of making adoption of the
Genocide a precondition in the struggle for the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and in the issue of Turkey’s
membership to the EU.

REED AMENDMENT REAFFIRMS PARITY IN DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ASSISTANCE TO
ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

WASHINGTON, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. In a legislative
reaffirmation of the 2001 agreement between the Congress and the White
House to maintain military aid parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) secured the adoption of an amendment adding
Armenia to the list of nation’s receiving Department of Defense
counter-drug assistance, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA). Commenting to the ANCA following the adoption of his
amendment, Senator Reed said, “I am pleased that the Senate Armed
Services Committee recognized the importance of providing military aid
to Armenia for training and equipment in light of its decision to
provide funding to Azerbaijan. It is essential that we maintain parity
between the two nations, and I am happy that my amendment was
accepted.” The amendment was offered by the Senator, a senior members
of the Armed Services Committee, to the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (S.2507). The measure added Armenia to the
list of eligible nations for a Defense Department counter-drug
assistance program. Azerbaijan was among the nation’s listed in the
original version of the Authorization bill authored by Committee
Chairman John Warner (R-VA). Significantly, the Armed Services
Committee report advises the Defense Department that the panel
“expects that the authority granted in this section will be
administered in the spirit of maintaining current military parity
between Azerbaijan and Armenia.” The Committee report language refers
to the agreement between Congress and the White House in 2001 to
maintain military aid parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2001,
Congress granted the President limited waiver authority over Section
907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricts U.S. assistance to
Azerbaijan as long as it continues to blockade Armenia and Nagorno
Karabagh, with the understanding that the Administration will not
provide more military assistance to Azerbaijan than to Armenia. “We
join with the Armenian American community of Rhode Island in thanking
Senator Reed for helping to ensure parity in the provision of
U.S. defense assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We will, in the coming weeks,
continue to share with legislators in both houses of Congress the
negative implications for peace and regional stability of the
Administration’s ill-advised proposal to break the military aid parity
agreement that has been in force for the past five years.” The House
Armed Services Committee has also finalized its version of the
National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2007 (H.R.5122),
which does include Azerbaijan, but not Armenia as an eligible
country. The two versions of the bill will eventually be reconciled
upon passage in both chambers. The ANCA will urge the conference
committee to accede to the amended Senate version of this provision,
and, more broadly, to work toward overall military aid parity to
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

PARTICIPANTS OF GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR AND ARTSKAKH FREEDOM-FIGHTING TO
HAVE POSSIBILITY ON MAY 9 TO RUN FREELY BY RAILWAY AND INTERURBAN
TRANSPORT

YEREVAN, MAY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The “Armenian Railway” LTD will transort
freely invalids and participants of the Great Patriotic War and the
Artsakha freedom-fighting by the innerrepublican and the
Yerevan-Tbilisi interstate flight on May 9. According to a message of
the RA Transport and Communication Ministry’s Information Service,
Minister Andranik Manukian signed a decree about it on the occasion of
the anniversaries of the victory in the Great Patriotic war and the
liberation of Shoushi. According to an agreement reached between the
Ministry and representatives of organizations implementing
transportations among marzes, participants of the Great Patriotic War
and the Artsakh freedom-fighting will have possibility to run freely
with correspinding certificates from marzes to the capital and in the
opposite direction by buses and microbuses.

Iraqi Kurdistan Region PM’s inaugural address

KurdSat TV, Sulaymaniyah
7 May 06

A live relay of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani’s
inaugural address to parliament was broadcast by KurdSat TV at 0952
gmt on 7 May 06.

Barzani announced his new cabinet, the reunified Kurdish regional
government, and then he and the ministers were sworn in.

Large cabinet

After he and his 42-minister cabinet took the oath of office, Prime
Minister Nechirvan Barzani opened his speech by drawing the attendees’
attention to the size of his cabinet, saying it was a transitional
setup tailored for the present situation and that in near future four
of the ministries would merge.

Barzani welcomed the guests “we are honoured by the presence of
Kurdish, Iraqi and foreign guests”. He said “Herby we stand before
parliament to announce the first unified Kurdistan cabinet after the
fall of Saddam’s regime. This step is a signal for a fundamental
change; it is anew record in our history.

Yet we have to remember that we have a lot of challenges a head of
us.”

Cabinet objectives

He said the main objectives of the cabinet are “to serve the citizens
equally and protect every single one of them; to promote equal
opportunities, to respect social, religious and political entities in
Kurdistan; to provide security and stability; to adhere to law and
respect the freedom of individuals and groups.”

He added that “we want to live in peace and amity inside the region
and with our neighbours. No one is more aware of the geopolitics of
Kurdistan than us. We know that we do not live an isolated island in
the world. We are well-aware that our future is directly tied to the
current developments taking place in Iraq. Although we live in a
troubled part of the world, but we have always been and will be a
factor for peace…”

He said “the rights that have been forcefully taken away from us in
Khanaqin, Mandali, Kirkuk, Makhmur, Shekhan and Sinjar will be claimed
back through peaceful means, within a democratic and lawful
framework. These actions will be taken in line with the new Iraqi
constitution.

He said the government would work to establish strong constitutional
institutions and to serve the democratic process, adding that
“enforcing transparency and accountability would be the main
objectives of the government.”

Reconstruction

He said the reconstruction of Kurdistan cannot be carried out in a
short period after being subject to long-time destruction, calling on
the Iraqi government to compensate the Kurdistan Region for the losses
of the past and to give it a fair budget.

Education

The prime minister said education and health would be in the forefront
of the cabinet’s agenda, “the education system should meet the current
needs. We will promote vocational schools of agriculture, industry and
commerce.”

He said there are currently in Iraqi Kurdistan schools teaching in
different languages including, Turkoman, Siryani, Armenian. He said
that “we respect the neighbouring countries’ languages. We want to
understand each other more.

We want to establish cultural, educational, art, sports, economic and
business ties with the neighbouring countries.”

He stressed the need to promote English language, saying “English is
an international language; we need to learn it very well. We need to
prepare our education system for such a programme.”

Water, Electricity, Fuel

“The provision of water and electricity will be the main task of our
new government. We will ensure that they are dealt with sufficiently
and proper solutions are constantly sought. We understand the needs of
our people. However, we have a lot of challenges ahead of us.”

He said that the government was aware of the present fuel crisis, it
would ensure that the crisis was dealt with sufficiently, adding that
the best solution was “to develop and make use of our own natural
resources – our success in this field will make our life easier.”

“We are consulting with high-level international oil companies on how
to make use our natural resources.”

Agriculture, investment

“Our new government should promote the villagers’ return to their
villages.

We have to work to revive our agricultural economy. We have to have
our food basket in our own hands. Economic elf-sufficiency should
become the fundamental bases of our villages. The regional government
will work to integrate science into the agricultural sector; to bring
modern technology to improve and increase productivity.”

He said the government will promote foreign investments and the
private sector.

EUROLINKS DAILY VIEW
Wall Street Journal, NY
Former Soviet Republics
Present Vast Opportunity
By MICHAEL CONNOLLY
May 8, 2006
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

Former Soviet republics were built on low-cost energy pumped out of
the ground in Russia and Central Asia, making them among the world’s
most energy-wasteful economies. But they now present a great
opportunity for energy savings.

The price jolt that OAO Gazprom caused in January with its brief
interruption of gas supplies to Ukraine, is beginning to force
fundamental change.

Ukraine, with its population of 50 million, has quickly produced a
program to reduce gas consumption, setting up an energy-efficiency
agency to direct the plan and pouring government money into efforts to
carry it out. Georgia, hit with a similar rise in gas prices, has
mothballed plans to build new gas-fired power stations, and will build
a hydroelectric plant instead. Armenia also has ordered up a plan
targeting gas consumption.

If all former Communist-bloc nations in Eastern Europe and Central
Asia could reach Western European levels of energy use per GDP unit,
world energy consumption could fall 7.2%, according to the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In addition, a fall in the
consumption of gas from Russia by Ukraine and its neighbors might make
supplies more secure for countries such as Germany and Italy.

New threat looms over Turkish accession

By Andrew Duff MEP
Published: May 8 2006 17:29 | Last updated: May 8 2006 17:29

A crisis is looming in Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.

By the end of this year the country is obliged to extend its current
EU customs association agreement to the ten new member states,
including Cyprus, which joined in 2004.

After a lot of fuss and bother, the relevant protocol was signed just
in time to allow the formal membership negotiations to begin on
October 3 last year. But Turkey suddenly added a unilateral
declaration to the protocol denying that the extension of the customs
union implied formal Turkish recognitionof the Republic of Cyprus.

As the Turkish statement merely reiterated Ankara’s long-held
position, it was deemed even by Turkey’s friends to have been clumsily
provocative. The EU Council of Ministers formally rebuked the Turks,
with the result that neither the Turkish Grand National Assembly nor,
therefore, the European parliament has yet ratified the trade
agreement. Unless the Ankara Protocol is implemented in the autumn,
the Greek Cypriots will have every excuse they need to call for a
suspension of the accession process.

Such a breakdown would be a pity because, trade with Cyprus apart,
Turkey’s efforts to absorb the European acquis communautaire are going
rather well.

The government has recently picked up the momentum of reform and
delivered another ambitious package of modernisation measures to the
Turkish parliament.

The economy continues to grow fast. The commitment of the government
to European integration is not flagging and in this it is still
supported by a large majority of Turkish public opinion, including the
business community, most of the media and human rights NGOs.

Even the main opposition party, the Kemalist CHP, says it supports EU
entry, despite being bitterly hostile to almost every other action of
the governing Islamic democrat party, the AKP.

The government is right to claim that Turkey’s democracy is growing
stronger. The judiciary is undergoing (for it) painful reforms. Old
taboos are now the subject of daily controversy. The struggle to adapt
European norms to Turkish particularities navigates a host of tricky
issues: tension between official secularism and popular Islam, the
role of the military, the position of the Kurds, the vulnerability of
non-conformists, the future of the Christian churches, the Armenian
`genocide’. All this, too, when Turkey’s eastern neighbourhood is in
chaos. As a remarkably cheerful foreign minister Abdullah Gül told
MEPs visiting Ankara last week, `democracy is all about pluralism’.

It is difficult to be optimistic about the Cyprus problem, however. Mr
Gül has offered to open all Turkish ports and airports to Greek
Cypriot carriers in exchange for a simultaneous end to the
international embargo of North Cyprus. This is rejected outright by
Greek Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos, currently fighting
elections in the South. Prime minister Erdogan fears he cannot make
more concessions to the Greek Cypriots without provoking a savage
nationalistic backlash at home which would drive AKP from office in
next year’ s elections.

The intransigence of Mr Papadopoulos in maintaining the blockade of
the north seems to be based on the presumption that isolation and
poverty will cause the Turkish Cypriot community to wither away. He is
likely to be proved wrong.

The rapid emergence of the Turkish motherland as a richer and
self-assured regional power will ensure the survival of the small
Turkish Cypriot entity.

The EU has at last begun to subsidise the North, initially to the tune
of=82¬ 139m. Evolving jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice
should gradually serve to spread the privileges of EU citizenship to
Turkish Cypriots.

The EU’s need to ensure security of oil and gas supply heightens the
strategic importance of the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey’s
integration with Europe may prove indispensable in the long run to the
development of a decent EU common foreign and security policy in the
Caspian region as well as to theEU’s efforts to bring lasting
stability to the Balkans. In Brussels, aggravation at the lack of
generosity of the Greek Cypriots towards their Turkish compatriots
grows.

Turkey is in a stronger position than it realises, and the stakes are
high.

It would be sadly self-defeating for Turkey to stop a Greek Cypriot
cargo ship from docking in Mersin. Better to call the bluff of Mr
Papadopoulos and do the deal on trade, bringing Turkey into line with
EU law and keeping the accession process on track.

To sweeten the bitter pill, Turkey should demand a joint EU-UN package
of measures for North Cyprus including visas, land swaps, cultural
exchange, financial and technical assistance – and, above all,
trade. Mr Gül rightly observes that `compromise is part of European
culture’. Nowis the time for all sides to the Cyprus dispute to show
themselves to be truly European.

Andrew Duff is vice-president of the EU-Turkey joint parliamentary
committee.

Find this article at:
ee-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=3Dd4f2ab60-c98e-11d7-81c6 -0820abe49a01,s01=3D1.html

Daily Star, Lebanon
May 9 2006

Turkey recalls ambassadors to France, Canada

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

ANKARA: Turkey said Monday it had temporarily recalled its
ambassadors in France and Canada for consultations over disagreements
with both countries on whether massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire should be termed genocide or not. “Our ambassador in
Paris, Osman Koruturk, and our ambassador in Ottawa, Aydemir Erman,
have been recalled to Ankara for a short time for consultations on
the latest developments,” the Foreign Ministry said in a brief
statement.

“We foresee that our ambassadors will return to their duties after
the consultations,” it said.

Last week, Turkey warned France that bilateral ties would suffer
“irreparable damage” if the National Assembly passes a bill that
would make it a punishable offense to “deny the existence of the 1915
Armenian genocide.”

If approved, the bill would provide for one year in prison and a
45,000-euro ($57,000) fine for any person who denies that the
1915-1917 massacres of Armenians were genocide.

The bill, which follows a 2001 French law officially recognizing the
massacres as genocide, was proposed by members of the opposition
Socialist Party (PS) and will have its first reading before the
Assembly on May 18.

Turkey was also angered when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
referred to the “Armenian genocide” in a statement praising
commemorations of the 91st anniversary of the killings on April 24.

The Foreign Ministry said at the time that Harper’s words were
“appalling” and would “negatively affect” bilateral ties.

In 2002, the Canadian Senate recognized the massacres as the first
genocide of the 20th century and the House of Commons followed suit
two years later.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917, as the Ottoman Empire,
modern Turkey’s predecessor, was falling apart.

Turkey categorically rejects the claims. – AFP