Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006

One killed, another wounded in Armenian truce violations

Baku, March 23, AssA-Irada

An Azerbaijani army soldier was killed on Wednesday afternoon in
another ceasefire violation by Armenia.
The Armenian armed forces in the occupied Cherabert village of the
western Terter District fired on Azerbaijani positions located on the
opposite, killing 20-year-old Azeri military man Safar Mokhurov, said
the acting Defense Ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev.
In another ceasefire breach, an Azeri civilian Anar Huseynov, 23, was
severely wounded after Armenians opened fire in the central Aghdam
District. He was hit while working on arable land in the area during
the incident.*

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006

Armenian minister cites two options for further Garabagh talks

Baku, March 23, AssA-Irada

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian says there are two
alternatives for the continuation of talks on settling the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
`One of them is the next visit of the [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs to the region, while the other one – holding the next
meeting of the two foreign ministers.’
Oskanian said the steps to be taken for the peaceful settlement of
the dispute have not been elaborated since the private meeting of the
OSCE mediators held in Istanbul on March 20.
`Armenia has done considerable work to solve the problem peacefully.
Now, we are waiting for the Azerbaijani side to take relevant steps,’
he underlined.
The Armenian official added that the hopes for finding a solution in
2006 that were cited earlier have somewhat decreased.
The discussions held by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian
in the French town of Rambouillet in February turned out fruitless,
as the parties failed to iron out issues of principle.*

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006

Gov’t slams Russian culture worker for grave destruction claim

Baku, March 23, AssA-Irada

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and Tourism has condemned a
Russian culture worker’s recent statement concerning the alleged
destruction of ancient graves in Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan.
Mikhail Piotrovski of Armenian descent, who heads the Hermitage, one
of the largest museums in the world and is a correspondent member of
the Russian Academy of Sciences, went as far as describing the
alleged destruction of Armenian tombstone crosses in Julfa,
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as a crime.
In a statement, the Ministry said the utterances by Piotrovski and
distortion of historic facts showed that he is poorly informed on the
matter. In 1960s, after an appeal by the Catalicos [clerical leader]
to then Soviet leadership, the tombstones in Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
and Julfa cemeteries were transferred to Armenia. Moreover, other
ancient tombstones dating back to the period of Caucasus Albania were
stolen from Azerbaijan’s Districts of Gazakh, Tovuz, Gadabay, Gubadli
and Lachin and also moved to Armenia. The views of Armenian
historians, who politicized the issue and distorted the facts were
reflected in the mentioned statements by the Russian cultural figure,
the Ministry indicated.
The statement said further that Armenian barbarians, ignoring the
demands of UNESCO and other international organizations, continue to
pursue their policy of aggression. It warned that Piotrovski’s views
do not reflect the attitude of influential and unbiased Russian
historians and scholars.
Piotrovski’s statement and his inclination to mix science with
politics comes as no surprise due to his origin. His mother is of
Armenian descent, while his father is an academician of the Armenian
Academy of Sciences, archaeologist and Orientalist.*

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 24, 2006 Friday

OUTPOST AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT ARARAT;
Armenia is the only CIS country whose border is manned by Russian
border guards

by Oleg Falichev

AN INTERVIEW WITH LIEUTENANT GENERAL SERGEI BONDAREV, COMMANDER OF
THE DIRECTORATE OF BORDER GUARDS OF THE FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE IN
ARMENIA; An interview with Lieutenant General Sergei Bondarev,
Commander of the Directorate of Border Guards of the Federal Security
Service in Armenia.

Russian border guards’ departure from the Tajik-Afghani border left
Armenia the only CIS country whose border is manned by servicemen
with the Russian tricolor badges on uniforms. The four detachments of
Russian border guards in Armenia have accumulated unique experience
in specialist selection, training and in service side by side with
the Armenians. What is Russia doing on somebody else’s border? How
does its presence there align with the state and national interests?
Here is an interview with Lieutenant General Sergei Bondarev,
Commander of the Directorate of Border Guards of the Federal Security
Service in Armenia.

Question: On what legal grounds do Russian servicemen man the
Armenian border? How are the Russian units here staffed? How do they
function?

Sergei Bondarev: Russia and Armenia signed a treaty on the status of
Russian Border Guards in Armenia and the terms of their functioning
here in 1992, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a
strategic partner of the Russian Federation, Armenia delegated the
powers of protection of its borders with Turkey and Iran to Russian
border guards.

Certain nuances were taken care of right away. For example, we agreed
that units of the Russian Border Guards would also include citizens
of Armenia. The units were staffed fifty-fifty until recently, but we
are reducing the Russian contingent now. These days, contract
servicemen from Russia account for only 40% of the complement.

The treaty also resolved the matters of maintenance and funding.
Russia and Armenia split sponsorship fifty-fifty.

Along with everything else, Armenia is a member of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty. We perform security maintenance functions here
within the framework of this document too. Yet, saying that only we
protect the border here would be wrong. Citizens of Armenia outnumber
Russians more than two to one already. As a matter of fact, even the
question of joint border protection under Russian aegis is on the
agenda now.

Should we depart, others will come in no time at all. That forces of
the West would dearly like to come here is clear. It and the fact
that a great deal of technical and other assistance is being showered
on the Armenian national army. American assistance is particularly
generous. The Americans do not spare money to buy special equipment
including all sorts of monitors and meters for crossing points on the
Georgian-Armenian and Armenian-Iranian border.

Question: What is the length of the border our and Armenian
servicemen man together? What is the situation there? What forces and
means do you deploy?

Sergei Bondarev: We protect 375 kilometers of the state border here,
including 330 kilometers of the border with Turkey and 45 with the
Islamic Republic of Iran. Russian and Armenian servicemen together
man the air traffic control center in Evartnots airport, Yerevan.

Generally speaking, the situation on the border is tranquil. Our
border guards detained 187 trespassers in the period since January 1,
2005. Ninety per cent of them were detained in Evartnots.

As for other parts of the border, we detain 10 to 12 trespassers
there every year. They are mostly bound for Armenia, men eager to
return to its territory without papers. There are lots of them
nowadays. Armenians by origin, they seek shelter in Armenia for some
reason or other.

As for the forces and means, we have and we deploy four detachments
of border guards here. Two detachments (the Gyumri and Armavir) are
the oldest in the Border Service. They already celebrated their 80th
anniversary. The Artashat and Megri detachments are 50 years old.
There are 59 outposts on the borders. Numerical strength of the group
is 4,500 men.

In the meantime, we are helping with establishment of the Armenian
Border Troops. The Armenian’s have two detachments of border guards
at this point, one on the Georgian border and the other on the
Iranian. Armenian youth study at military institutes of Border
Service in Moscow (up to a dozen enroll every year).

Question: Are there plans to use Russian servicemen on the
Armenian-Georgian border that attaches additional importance in the
light of Georgia’s hostility?

Sergei Bondarev: This question has never been brought up for
consideration. The Armenian leadership is doing what it can to
fortify this part of the border as it is. Fourteen outposts were
built there, and I can tell you that it cost the Armenian budget a
lot. Border protection there is tight. In short, I do not think that
the matter will be raised in the foreseeable future.

Question: You say our border guards are helping with establishment of
the Armenian Border Troops. Well, they are bound to become a
self-sufficient structure sooner or later. What then?

Sergei Bondarev: According to the treaty, parts of the state border
will be turned over for protection to the Armenian Border Troops as
they are developed. The situation on the Armenian state borders being
what it is, the matter may be safely shelved for the time being. I
dare say that our help and assistance will remain handy for a long
time yet. That is why we speed up the training of Armenians for
contract service on the border even though the institute of contract
service in the Armenian national army is but in the early stages of
development.

Armenia faces a lot of problems with its borders yet. Say, the
Azerbaijani-Armenian border requires a great deal by way of finances
and personnel. This particular border is more than 900 kilometers
long. Units are deployed there, units that have to be maintained,
staffed, and provided for. We are protecting the borders with Turkey
and Iran, and that’s a great deal of assistance to the Armenians.

Question: Are there attempts to gather sensitive information,
including data on how the Russian contingent is functioning, from
across the border?

Sergei Bondarev: As for intelligence services, we all know that they
did not go out of business with the end of the Cold War. We
established close contacts with Turkish and Iranian border guards for
the purpose of border regime observation. All the same, vicious
clashes between units of the Turkish national army and Kurd gunmen
that take place near the border worry us greatly.

Several attempts to smuggle drugs were thwarted at the crossing point
on the Armenian-Iranian border. Mules are probably testing this
particular channel nowadays. Should they decide we are weak, traffic
there will swell. We hope it will never happen. By the way, we are
expecting the head of our Drug Enforcement Committee here in late
March. All these matters will be discussed then.

Generally speaking, the Armenian-Iranian border is difficult to
protect with all its mountains, gorges, and chasms. There is only one
crossing point and one bridge operating along 45 kilometers of the
border. We always bear this in mind. In fact, borders are manned in
so tight a manner practically nowhere else, not even in Russia
itself. Outposts here are responsible for between 1.5 and 3
kilometers of border. All of them are outfitted with elaborate alarm
systems. If we leave, I cannot vouch for efficiency of all of that
without Russian servicemen. Neither can I vouch for where drugs will
end up. Probably in Russia.

Question: What can you say about smuggling as such. It is becoming a
problem everywhere.

Sergei Bondarev: As for smuggling, we encounter it on the
Armenian-Iranian border. Not a great deal of it, not on a scope that
would make us particularly worried. Cattle smuggling is a problem
here. We even ran a special operation in the responsibility zone of
the Gyumri Detachment last year and prevented the driving of cattle
across the border.

>From our folders:

Sergei Pavlovich Bondarev was born in the family of an officer of
Border Guards in the Chita region in 1958. He finished the
Dzerzhinsky Supreme Command School of Border Guards of the KGB
(1979), Frunze Academy (1989), Academy of the General Staff of the
Russian Armed Forces (2002) with distinction. Bondarev began his
career in the Border Guards as outpost second-in-command and
eventually became second-in-command of the Caucasus Regional
Directorate of the Federal Security Service and commander of the
territorial department in Makhachkala. Bondarev became chief-of-staff
of the Group of Border Guards in Armenia in August 2002, and its
commander on July 15, 2003. Bondarev was awarded the Order Of Merit.
He is married with two children.

Source: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 11, March 22 – 28, 2006, p. 7

Translated by A. Ignatkin

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part B (Russia)
March 24, 2006 Friday

WEAPONS ARE AN IRREFUTABLE ARGUMENT

by Ara Tatevosjan, Alexander Reutov

Russia and Armenia: cheap arms as compensation for expensive gas;
Russia and Armenia are supposed to sign a new gas payment arrangement
on April 1, but complete clarity of the issue has not been reached
yet. Moscow and Yerevan are frantically seeking a mutually acceptable
solution to the problem.

Russia and Armenia are supposed to sign a new gas payment arrangement
on April 1, but complete clarity of the issue has not been reached
yet. Moscow and Yerevan are frantically seeking a mutually acceptable
solution to the problem.

When Gazprom spokesman Alexander Medvedev said in late 2005 that the
price of gas for Armenia would be raised to $110 per thousand cubic
meters in 2006, official Moscow made it plain that its mind was made
up. Medvedev emphasized that political alliances have nothing to do
with gas delivery prices. Moscow only promised to consider
compensation options that would make the new price more bearable for
Armenian consumers.

Russia said for example that it could buy a sizeable chunk of
Armrosgazprom from Yerevan. What money Yerevan would have been paid
was more than adequate for maintaining low gas prices for domestic
users in Armenia. Another option proposed by Moscow was for Armenia
to give Russia the fifth bloc of the Razdan Thermal Power Plant and
all of Armenia’s gas transportation system. Russian specialists
valued these facilities at $140 million.

It was Iran, Russia’s “bitter partner,” that disrupted these plans.
It is Tehran that finances construction of the fifth bloc at Razdan
and Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. When the news of the Russian proposals
reached it, Iran vehemently objected and threatened to withdraw from
the projects altogether. Yerevan gave in with ill grace.

President Robert Kocharjan of Armenia visited Moscow in January, but
not even his talks directly with President Vladimir Putin resulted in
any considerable progress in the gas matter. The government of
Armenia was walking on thin ice and knew it. Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisjan denied the idea of demanding payment from Moscow for its
military base in Armenia.

“I don’t know what the price of gas will be after April 1,” Kocharjan
said. He added that negotiations over “compensation mechanisms” were
under way. Absorbing the shock of new prices for Armenia, these
mechanisms “may function for two or three years only.”

The citizens of Armenia were informed of the solution finally found
on Wednesday night.

According to our sources, the idea was conceived and developed into
the mechanism of salvation in Moscow. Along with the gas, Yerevan
will receive a bonus that will be no less valuable than the main
product as such. The matter concerns Russian arms export to Armenia
at a discount. Some of the future contracts will even stipulate
permanent loans to the Armenians. This year, Armenia expects to get
1.7 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia. Since the new tariffs
are to come into effect on April 1, they will only apply to three
fourths of the volume. It means that Armenia’s actual losses will
amount to about $83 million. Armenia’s entire defense budget is $155
million. Judging by official reports, 15% of the budget or more than
$23 million are channelled into weapons acquisition. Actually,
countries usually spend nearly twice as much on new weapons as they
officially reveal. It means that the Russian bonus will enable
Yerevan to save up to $50 million on weapons. The generosity of the
Russian military-industrial complex knows no limits.

Source: Kommersant, March 24, 2006, p. 9

Translated by A. Ignatkin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 24, 2006 Friday 03:40 AM EST

Georgia pres orders to set up border demarcation com

TBILISI

President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia has ordered to create a
state commission on issues of delimitation and demarcation of the
borders with Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

An appropriate decree of the Georgian head of state was made public
on the official presidential site on Friday.

In accordance with the document, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister
Georgy Mandzhgaladze, who is given the right to form the commission
and groups of experts to hold talks with Russia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan on the given issues, was appointed the head of the state
commission.

The state commission, in particular, is entrusted with “the holding
of works on delimitation and demarcation of Georgia’s borders with
Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the process of
delimitation on the Black Sea of the territorial sea between Georgia
and Russia, in the special economic zone and the continental shelf.”

The state commission “is bound to preliminarily coordinate issues of
principle and present regular reports on its work to the Georgian
Foreign Ministry, and if necessary, to the president, security
council, parliament and government of the country,” the decree
notes.

The Boston Globe
March 24, 2006 Friday
THIRD EDITION

ARA BARMAKIAN; LEADING JEWELER HELPED MANY IMMIGRANTS; AT 77

BY GLORIA NEGRI, GLOBE STAFF

Ara Barmakian, who took his father’s small business and turned it
into one of the largest family-owned jewelry companies in the
country, died Sunday at his Belmont home after a brief illness. He
was 77.

Mr. Barmakian, who trained as an engineer at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology but entered the jewelry business in his 20s
when his father died, was considered one of the biggest diamond
dealers on the East Coast and a giant in the jewelry industry.

“This man built an empire in Massachusetts, and he helped everyone
who needed help along the way,” said Souren Maserejian, a Boston
jeweler, who was one of many new Americans Mr. Barmakian sponsored
and mentored in the jewelry business.

The son of Armenian immigrants himself, Mr. Barmakian not only
sponsored his arrival in this country from Armenia in 1972,
Maserejian said, but gave him a job in his office at Barmakian
Jewelers for two years.

“He was like an older brother to me,” he said. “My dream was to have
my own place, and I got it in 1975.”

Though Mr. Barmakian was an MIT graduate, Maserejian said, “he could
sit down and talk to the plainest person with plain language and be
their friend. For any person, he gave the opportunity to encourage
him.”

Mr. Barmakian helped many young immigrants realize their dreams, said
his daughter Gail, of Oak Bluffs.

“Dad had the biggest heart in the world,” she said. “He bonded with
people quickly. He was also a workaholic.”

Mr. Barmakian was renowned for his knowledge of the jewelry business.

“He was a maven,” said Deepak Sheth, a New York jewelry and diamond
wholesaler. “He was one of my first customers when I came here from
India, a noble and generous man who treated others with tremendous
dignity. He took care of people and gave them respect. He was honored
and recognized in the jewelry industry for his knowledge and plans
for its growth.”

Last year, in Basel, Switzerland, the Armenian Jewelers Association
made Mr. Barmakian its international president. Three years earlier,
also in Basel, the AJA elected him chairman of its East Coast area
and gave him its lifetime achievement award.

“Ara was a born leader,” said Hagop Baghdadlian, owner of Cora
Diamonds in New York City. “He was shrewd, smart, and an inspiration
to all of us.”

Ara Levon Barmakian was born in Cambridge to Levon and Hripsime
Barmakian, who had fled the Armenian genocide from their home in
Malatia in Turkey.

Mr. Barmakian spoke no English until he was 5 and started attending
the Watertown public schools, his family said. He quickly
demonstrated an aptitude for all things mechanical, “as well as hard
work.”

His mother died while he was in college studying engineering, and his
father soon after.

Levon Barmakian left behind his interest in a small shop he had
opened with his brothers in the Jewelers Building downtown “with a
shoebox of inventory,” the family said.

“Dad was always the dutiful Armenian son,” Gail Barmakian said, “and
knew what he had to do. He became the patriarch of the family to his
younger twin brothers and director of the company.”

With his brothers as partners, the three built the business. Today it
consists of stores in Boston, Framingham, and Nashua.

Mr. Barmakian had learned “by necessity and by his growing interest”
all aspects of the business, from gemology to metallurgy, design and
manufacture, marketing and sales. He traveled the world on business
trips.

In 1952, Mr. Barmakian married Natalie (Gazoorian) of Worcester.

Marcia Gazoorian of Worcester said her brother-in-law was “definitely
a self-made man.”

“He was a no-nonsense person,” she said. “If something had to be
done, he learned how to do it and did it.”

“He was compassionate and inquisitive. . . . He learned a lot by
talking with people. If you wanted to talk something through, he
would ask the right questions,” she said.

Mr. Barmakian’s favorite place away from work, his wife said, was at
Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, where the family had a home.

“That’s where he would relax. He loved the water and the ocean,” she
said.

Besides his wife and his daughter, Mr. Barmakian leaves two other
daughters, Karen Herosian of Belmont and Janice McCullough of
Sudbury; his son, Ara Jr. of Belmont; two brothers, Diran and Vahan,
both of Winchester; and 11 grandchildren.

A service will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. James Armenian
Apostolic Church in Watertown. Burial will be in Mount Auburn
Cemetery, Cambridge.

US Fed News
March 23, 2006 Thursday 1:18 AM EST

AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER BUILDS CROSS-CULTURAL
RELATIONSHIPS IN ARMENIA

WASHINGTON

The Peace Corps issued the following press release:

When Nicole “Nicki” Hendrix, a Peace Corps volunteer from Los Angeles
arrived at her site in the former Soviet republic of Armenia in 2004,
her presence caused quite a stir: the 35-year old community
development volunteer was the first African-American to ever live and
work in the village.

Upon her arrival, Hendrix had large groups of people, young and old,
who came running up to her while calling out the “n-word” – one of
the most hurtful racial slurs imaginable to Hendrix. She didn’t know
it then, but this was the only word most of the local Armenians knew
for “African-American.” She later learned that during the Soviet Era,
although students were taught about the history of African-Americans
in America, school books referred to African-Americans by the racial
slur. Many Armenians, Hendrix discovered, were not aware of the
negative connotation that word has in the United States.

Changing perceptions: Nicki Hendrix and the mayor of her host
community in ArmeniaAlthough she was shocked by the greeting that
first day, she didn’t turn around and leave – she had a job to do, a
job that became even more critical as a result of that initial
greeting.

“I use each encounter involving the word’s usage as a chance to teach
Armenians about African-Americans and our history, if they are not
familiar with it. It also gives me the opportunity to tell those who
do not already know that the U.S. is a very ethnically diverse
country with people from many different nationalities and ethnic
groups that live and work there,” Hendrix said of her experience of
dispelling stereotypes in an ethnically-homogeneous society like
Armenia.

Hendrix set out to not only accomplish her goals as a community
development volunteer, but also to help change the perception of
African-Americans in Armenia by helping to eradicate the use of the
racial slur. “The challenge is getting people to see things
differently and to embrace the unfamiliar, instead of the familiar. I
know this will not happen overnight, but I am at least planting the
seed for change in the people that I meet. I believe these
experiences define my minority Peace Corps volunteer experience:
educating and introducing a different aspect of American culture to
the people of Armenia,” she said.

Since she arrived in Armenia, Hendrix feels she has made a real
impact on her village. Working with the members of her community,
Hendrix helped renovate a local park (“Peace Park”), which services
not only her town, but also the seventeen surrounding villages.
During the Soviet Era, the park was once considered the central
meeting place for the exchange of culture, business and fun for
children and adults. But when the Soviet Era ended, the town could no
longer afford to maintain it; the equipment became dilapidated and
was later taken away for fuel and heating during the initial
tumultuous years of becoming a newly independent state.

For nearly a decade, the renovation of the park had been a top
priority among community members, businesses, and the town’s
municipality, to provide the villagers with a place to rest, exercise
and communicate with each other – and to prevent people from taking
the park land for their own personal use. Hendrix said she was glad
to be able to help assist the members of her community in making
their dream come true. The park now serves a population of over
100,000 people.

Nearly two years have passed and Hendrix’s service in Armenia is
almost finished. “I can honestly say that I am not the same person I
was before becoming a Peace Corps volunteer. I am a better person. I
am able to see all sides of an issue or situation. My views on life
and people are no longer narrow – they are multifaceted and global. I
am confident and self-assured in my skills and abilities, and best of
all, I am a more compassionate person,” Hendrix said.

Serving as a minority volunteer has not been easy for Hendrix, but
she has learned a great deal from the experience. “The most prominent
challenge I faced upon arriving to my host country was getting the
host country nationals to see me as a person instead of an object. As
an African-American living in Armenia, I received a lot more
attention than my fellow Caucasian Peace Corps volunteers,” she said.
“I find that some Armenians are still learning how to treat
foreigners who look differently than them.”

Hendrix noted that her presence in Armenia has also helped some host
country nationals see that all African-Americans are not just
entertainers and athletes, because she is neither. According to
Hendrix, her presence also showed Armenians – who are unfamiliar with
the concept of volunteerism – that African-Americans volunteer to
serve others, too.

“Being a minority Peace Corps volunteer has made the world seem
smaller. We all have the same fears, hurts, pains, problems, issues,
and we all want to be loved, respected, heard, accepted, successful,
happy, and needed. We just say it in different languages and with
different customs,” said Hendrix.

“We can all help each other if we have a desire to do so. In every
country, there are the ‘haves and have-nots,’ and in each country,
there are those who are trying to rid the world of divisiveness and
make the world a better place for everyone. I believe that the U.S.
Peace Corps is one of many organizations that is trying to make the
world a better place for everyone, regardless of race, class, creed,
or educational background. I believe that my service as a minority
Peace Corps volunteer helps to get this message across to the people
in my region and the country at large.”

The Peace Corps has been sending volunteers to Armenia since 1992.
Throughout the country, volunteers work in the fields of business and
community development, education, health and environment. There are
currently 86 volunteers serving in Armenia and, since the program’s
inception, 442 volunteers have served. To learn more about Armenia,
please visit the Where Do Volunteers Go? section.

The Peace Corps is celebrating a 45-year legacy of service at home
and abroad, and a 30-year high for volunteers in the field. Since
1961, more than 182,000 volunteers have helped promote a better
understanding between Americans and the people of the 138 countries
where volunteers have served. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S.
citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a
27-month commitment.
From: Baghdasarian

Congressional Quarterly
March 24 2006

J. ADAM ERELI HOLDS STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING

SPEAKER:
J. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN

WASHINGTON, D.C.

[parts omitted]

QUESTION: One question on Armenia: The Los Angeles Times, in an
editorial from your ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, under the
title, in quotation, “It Was A Genocide,” wrote, inter alia, quote,
“Punishing an ambassador for speaking honestly about a 90-year-old
crime befits a cynical double-dealing monarchy, not the leader of the
free world,” unquote.

How do you respond to that?

ERELI: I haven’t seen the article. Let me look at it.

Thanks.

END

Armenpress

SUBSISTENCE LEVEL IN ARMENIA IS $65

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: An ordinary Armenian
citizen has to spend 30,000 drams ($65) a month, not
counting gas bills which are expected to rise soon ,
as a subsistence wage, a senior member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) told a parliament
briefing.
Hrayr Karapetian, the secretary of the ARF faction
in the parliament, said the faction was drafting a new
bill on subsistence level. He then described a
yesterday statement by Central Bank governor, Tigran
Sarkisian that the gas price hike will lead to a one
percent price rise in other goods as ‘strange.’ He
said the faction will have to look deeper into Central
Bank’s calculations to voice its opinion.
Galust Sahakian form the Republican party
reiterated that the gas price rise will affect the
entire economy, saying also that Armenia should
exercise active efforts to seek energy independence.