IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND THE BLACK BOX

Lragir.am
03 May 06

It is practically impossible to find the black box of the A-320 plane
of Armavia Airlines, state the experts, working in the place of the
crash. A-320, flying from Yerevan to Sochi, crashed on May 3 in the
morning, near the city of Adler, 5 km from the coast of the Black
Sea. The experts say the plane fell in a place where the bottom makes
it impossible to find anything. Rudolf Teymurazov, the head of the
center of air transport investigation, Interstate Aviation Committee,
stated this. “I do not believe that it is possible to find anything
on the bottom at one km from the coast,” said Teymurazov. The work of
the rescuers is made much difficult by the bad weather, as well as the
depth. The depth of the sea in the place of the crash is 300-400 m,
whereas the divers cannot go deeper than 200 m. However, the Russian
Ministry of Emergencies says if necessity occurs, robots will be
used, which can work at such a depth. Rescuing is carried out within
a range of 2.5 km with the depth of the sea 500-2500 m. By half past
two on May 3 the rescuers had found 46 bodies.

VICTIMS OF THE CRASH TO GET 20 THOUSAND DOLLARS

Lragir.am
03 May 06

The A-320 plane of Armavia, which crashed on May 3 when flying from
Yerevan to Sochi, the passengers and the crew were insured with the
Armenian Grand Insurance Company, said the deputy director of the
company Artak Antonyan to Interfax. According to him, the families of
the victims will receive 20 thousand dollars each. The size of the
compensation for the plane A-320 will be decided after the experts
give their assessment. Grand Company insured its risks with a big
British insurance company, but Artak Antonyan did not specify the
company. He added that the agent of the British company has already
been invited to Armenia. The compensation will be paid in case all the
rules of maintenance of the aircraft were observed. Armavia Airlines
declined to give any information about insurance.

Plane Crashes in Russia With 113 Aboard
By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press
May 2, 2006

MOSCOW – An Armenian passenger plane crashed in stormy weather early
Wednesday off Russia’s Black Sea coast as it was headed in for a
landing, killing all 113 people on board, emergency officials said.

The Airbus A-320, which belonged to the Armenian airline Armavia,
disappeared from radar screens about four miles from the shore and
crashed after making a turn toward the Adler airport near the southern
Russian city of Sochi, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor
Beltsov said. Rescue officials in the ministry’s southern regional
branch said all 113 people aboard the plane, including six children,
were killed.

Armavia officials said they believed the crash was due to the weather,
but Sergei Kubinov, regional head of the Emergency Situations Ministry,
said the age of the aircraft and technical problems could have been
involved.

Investigators did not believe terrorism was a factor.

Relatives of those aboard the plane were gathering at the Yerevan,
Armenia, airport for a charter flight to Sochi later Wednesday morning.

The plane broke up on impact with the water, and wreckage was thrown
into a wide arc, Kubinov said. Salvage workers said the fuselage was
recovered at a depth of nearly 1,500 feet.

Search and rescue teams had pulled 18 bodies from the water,
Kubinov said.

None were wearing life jackets, indicating they did not have sufficient
warning to prepare for an emergency landing.

Rough seas, driving rain and low visibility were hampering the search,
Russian news agencies reported. A deep-sea robot was to be used to
try to recover the plane’s black box.

The plane disappeared from radar at about 2:15 a.m. local time during
a flight from Yerevan to Sochi, Beltsov said. He said the plane went
down while trying to make a repeat attempt at an emergency landing;
the Interfax news agency quoted the Russian air control agency as
saying that the plane’s crew had not reported an emergency.

Andrei Agadzhanov, Armavia’s deputy commercial director, said the
crew had communicated with Sochi ground controllers while the plane
was flying over the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The ground controllers
reported stormy weather but told the crew the plane could still land,
he said.

Just before the landing, however, the ground controllers told the
plane’s pilots to circle again before approaching the airport. Then
the plane crashed.

Agadzhanov said that the airline’s deputy general director, Vyacheslav
Yaralov, had been aboard. He said the crew was experienced and that
the bad weather was “certainly” the cause.

___

AP reporters Avet Demourian in Yerevan and Sergei Venyavsky in
Rostov-on-Don, Russia contributed to this story.

Armenian jet crashes near Sochi

BBC NEWS:
europe/4967464.stm

2006/05/03 01:09:04 GMT

A passenger airplane flying from Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, to the
city of Sochi in southern Russia has crashed over the Black Sea,
officials say.

The Airbus 320 plane from Armenian Airlines was carrying about 100
people, when it disappeared from radar screens about 0215 (2215GMT
Tuesday).

Debris has been seen in the sea, about 6km (four miles) from the coast,
says Russia’s Emergencies Ministry.

Bad weather conditions are making the search for survivors difficult.

Life jackets have been found in the accident area, although no people
have been found, said deputy head of Russia’s Emergency Situations
Ministry, Viktor Beltsov.

Among those on board were eight crew and five children, he said.

Sochi is a popular Russian seaside resort, near the border with
Georgia.

CBC News, Canada
May 3 2006

No survivors after Armenian Airlines plane crashes into Black Sea

Last Updated Tue, 02 May 2006 23:06:22 EDT
CBC News

An Armenian Airlines plane carrying more than 100 people has crashed
into the Black Sea, just off the Russian coast. Emergency officials
say there are no survivors.

The accident happened near the resort city of Sochi in southern Russia.

Local media report that debris has been found in the water six
kilometres offshore. One report says the body of a woman – a passenger
on the plane – as well as lifejackets have been recovered from the sea.

The flight originated in Yerevan, Armenia and was to have landed
in Sochi.

But the Itar-Tass news agency reported that the aircraft, an Airbus
320, disappeared from radar screens as it was making its approach.

The plane was carrying 112 passengers and crew members.

Russian emergency officials said all of the people on board the plane
were killed in the accident.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTED 7 DRAFT LAWS

ArmRadio.am
02.05.2006 17:35

Today the regular four-day sittings started at the National
Assembly. The agenda includes more than 50 questions and 13
international agreement presented for ratification by RA President.

Before starting discussion of the agenda questions, the Parliament
adopted 7 draft laws discussed during the previous four-day
sitting. These envisage amendments in Laws in force.

AZERI PAPER SAYS KARABAKH LOW PRIORITY FOR US LEADER

Yeni Musavat, Baku
1 May 06

Text of Elsad Pasasoy report by the Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat
on 1 May headlined “Bush has forgotten about Karabakh” and subheaded
“Rasim Musabayov says that a peace deal may be signed at a G-8 summit”

The official publicity in the run-up to [Azerbaijani President]
Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the USA stressed that the visit was mainly
related to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. However, George Bush did
not mention the loss of a fifth of Azerbaijani territories at a news
briefing although he indicated Iran, energy and democracy among the
issues discussed. The leader of the super power, who mourned over
the fabricated “genocide” of the Armenians several days before that
meeting, could have at least touched on the Karabakh problem.

One should not think that Bush has forgotten about the Karabakh
problem. Making a special reference to the wedding of Aliyev’s daughter
and wishing happiness to the bride and groom, the US president did
not speak about the number one problem of Azerbaijan, which he sees
as a friendly country.

Political analyst Rasim Musabayov has no doubts that Aliyev informed
Bush of the Karabakh conflict though the latter did not talk about
Karabakh. The expert believes that Azerbaijan’s energy importance and
Iran are priorities for the USA, while the theme of Karabakh is also
a big issue.

“Bush spoke about the issues that are important to the USA,”
Musabayov said.

Musabayov stressed that as Azerbaijan’s position on energy projects
and Iran is important to the White House, it is natural for Baku to
request Washington to provide support for its number one problem –
the Karabakh conflict in return.

“I think Ilham Aliyev asked for US support in the Karabakh issue,”
he said.

Aliyev himself admitted earlier that the USA was putting pressure on
him in connection with the Karabakh issue. Can we expect this pressure
to fall after the visit? Musabayov recalled that the Armenian press is
also writing about pressure on [Armenian President Robert] Kocharyan.

“The Armenians want to retain control of [Azerbaijani districts of]
Kalbacar and Lacin together with Nagornyy Karabakh in order to legalize
their occupation at least temporarily. I think they will not manage
to do so. In any case, they understand in America that Azerbaijan
will not sign a defeatist peace deal.”

In the political analyst’s opinion, Washington understands that
Azerbaijan will spend the money it has gained to strengthen its army
some day and start liberating its lands. Economically weak Armenia
is incapable of maintaining the status quo.

“Then, the USA or Russia would have to cover all the expenses of
the Armenian army. I do not think that they want this. In this case,
they must either bring Armenia to reason or fight Azerbaijan instead
of its enemy.”

As for the reports saying that Aliyev and Kocharyan will meet in June
after the Washington tour, Musabayov does not think that any serious
deal will be signed.

“It is true that [Azerbaijani Foreign Minister] Elmar Mammadyarov
sounds optimistic. As far as I know, Kocharyan will be called to the
USA after Aliyev. Yerevan’s use against Iran cannot be in question
in view of the presence of Russian military bases in Armenia and its
membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. By inviting
Kocharyan to visit, Washington may want to get him out of isolation and
get rid of [the Armenian] lobby’s pressure. But Bush does not need the
Armenian lobby’s support very much because he will not be re-elected. I
think they [the USA] may want to bring Armenia to reason. It can
be felt that the State Department is more involved in this issue
rather than the White House. First, the issue was discussed at the
meeting between Mammadyarov and [Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan]
Oskanyan. Then they talked to Aliyev, while Oskanyan ran to Moscow
and Karabakh to have talks. The heads of states will meet again if
they manage to explain the existing situation to Kocharyan. If the
two are close to sign a deal, they may be called to the summit of
the G-8 in St Petersburg to sign a document.”

MICKAEL DOVLATYAN CONSIDERS THE ATTACK ON HIM IS A CHAUVINISTIC EXPRESSION

ArmRadio.am
02.05.2006 18:00

“Radiolur” has already informed that April 23 the Secretary of the
Union of Cinematographers of Armenia Mickael Dovlatyan was attacked
in a subway in Moscow.

The film director said today during the meeting with journalists
that he does not consider the accident a crime against Armenians; he
characterized it as a chauvinistic expression that has been largely
spread in Russia recently, against which no proper measures are being
undertaken by state authorities.

However, President of the Union of Cinematographers Ruben Gevorgyan
informed that several Russian female film directors refused to
participate in the film festival to be held in Yerevan, since they
are afraid.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR JEB BUSH RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Yerevan, May 2. ArmInfo. The brother of US President George Bush,
the Governor of Florida Jeb Bush has designated Apr 24 as Armenian
Martyrs Day, reports Hurriyet.

In his official proclamation Jeb Bush says that “the Ottoman Turks were
responsible for a mass extermination of an estimated one and a half
million Armenians that began Apr 24, 1915 and continued until 1923.”

The source also reminds that earlier the Governor of California Arnold
Schwarzenegger proclaimed Apr 24-29 as Week of Remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide.

Meanwhile, US President George Bush has not to date used the word
“genocide” in his statements despite huge pressure on him.

IN SOFIA, FM GUL DISCUSSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MATTER WITH FRENCH FM 27-28 APRIL

Yerevan, May 2. ArmInfo. At an unofficial meeting of NATO ministers
last week in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul touched on the Armenian genocide matter in comments
to French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, reports Hurriyet
on-line.

Referring to the drafts of 5 different bills in the French Parliament
which propose jail sentences for people denying the Armenian genocide,
Gul said to Blazy: “You are planning on giving prison sentences to
those who deny the Armenian genocide. But let’s say that either I or
the President of Turkey make an official visit to France, and that at
a press conference there, upon questioning from reporters, we say ‘The
accusations of genocide are lies. They have no ties to reality.’ What
would you do, throw us in prison? Would this suit France, a country
which is one of the champions of freedom of expression and thought
in Europe? So you are essentially giving one side the right to do
whatever they want, while you deny the other side the right to express
its feelings about lies that are being told about it. This perspective
runs contrary to European values.”

It should be noted that Hurriyet says nothing about the French FM’s
answer to Gul’s rhetorical question.