Congressional Record
June 14, 2005 (Extensions)]

HONORING HIS HOLINESS
KAREKIN II

HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

of california

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor His Holiness Karekin II,
the Supreme Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians and universal head of
the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church, upon his visit to the San
Joaquin Valley. An event to celebrate his pastoral visit will occur on
June 12, 2005 in Fresno, CA.
His Holiness Karekin II, baptized Ktrij Nersissian, was born in 1951
in the village of Voskehat in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. In
1965, he entered the Theological Seminary of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin and graduated with honors in 1971. Upon graduation from the
seminary, he was ordained a celibate priest, taking the religious name
Karekin.
Father Karekin then graduated from Bonn University in Germany while
serving as pastor to the local Armenian community. He earned a
postgraduate degree from the Russian Orthodox Academy in Zagorsk,
Russia in 1979.
In 1980 he was assigned to the Araratian Pontifical Diocese, the
Armenian Church’s most populous diocese, which includes Yerevan, the
capital of Armenia. In 1983, he was appointed primate of the Araratian
Pontifical Diocese, and was elevated to the rank of Bishop and
subsequently to Archbishop.
His Holiness was elected as the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians on October 27, 1999 by delegates from
Armenian Churches worldwide at a National Ecclesiastical Assembly, in
the Republic of Armenia.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme
Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians and universal head of the
Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church, upon his pastoral visit to the
San Joaquin Valley. I invite my colleagues to join me in thanking the
religious patriarch for his dedication to the service of all Armenians.

US STATE DEPARTMENT
15 June 2005

Principles in U.S. Declaration of Independence Remain Powerful
John Evans, U.S. envoy to Armenia, discusses U.S. principles of freedom
The principles of freedom and democracy contained in the American
Declaration of Independence have echoed down through the centuries, and the
power of those principles is bringing change to countries around the world,
said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans in a June 10 speech in
Yerevan, Armenia.
“The idea that ‘all men are created equal’ and are ‘endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights’ was put forward as a universal claim. It
has been cited by revolutionaries seeking to break the bonds of oppression
from South America to Africa to Asia,” Evans told an audience of more than
100 students and faculty of the American University of Armenia.
Having unleashed these revolutionary ideas into the world in 1776, he said,
the United States “has never wavered in its basic commitment to them. And
the spirit of democracy that we attempt to live by, that we try to
demonstrate in our daily lives and in our political life, is contagious.”
“It is primarily the power of those principles and ideals, and not the power
of today’s American Government and its embassies, that is bringing change to
countries around the world,” Evans said.
He noted that in the wake of the so-called Rose, Orange and Tulip
revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, some conspiracy theorists
have suggested that the United States is busy fomenting revolution.
“These allegations are, of course, entirely unfounded,” the ambassador said.
“The United States Government is not embarked on a campaign to destabilize
the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, which we count
among our friends. The United States does not advocate mob violence in the
streets or unconstitutional or illegal activities of any sort.”
He said the United States gives material support to governments, parliaments
political parties and nongovernmental organizations “to help them
establishment of conditions in which democracy, and free and fair elections
in particular, can flourish.”
Evans quoted President Bush, who said in a speech in May that there are
always setbacks in the transition from tyranny to a free society, but those
countries that succeed do so because they are able to establish free
institutions. “So to help young democracies succeed, we must help them
build free institutions,” the president said.
“Far from giving up on this part of the world, and making the condescending
assumption that populations of the newly independent states of the former
Soviet Union are somehow ‘not ready’ for democracy, the United States has
persisted in its encouragement of the development of true democratic
institutions,” Evans said.
He noted that in Bush’s second inaugural address, the president said “it is
the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic
movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate
goal of ending tyranny in our world.”
Evans explained that “this is not a call to revolution in the streets;
rather it is a challenge to all citizens of the world to engage in the hard,
daily work of perfecting the democratic institutions of their own
countries.”
As for Armenia, he said, the task of building democracy “has been well
started,” but that work still needs to be done in building and strengthening
the institutions that make a democracy function.
“The United States remains committed to helping Armenia — its government,
courts, parliament, political parties and citizens — build, strengthen and
refine the free institutions of which President Bush has spoken,” the
ambassador said.
Following is the text of Ambassador Evans’ speech on “The Continuing Effect
of the American Revolution”:
(begin text)
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans
Remarks at American University of Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia
June 10, 2005
THE CONTINUING EFFECT OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
I am delighted to be with you this evening at the American University of
Armenia. There is nothing more important to the development of any society
than education, and this relatively new university is already making a solid
contribution to this old, but newly independent land, the Republic of
Armenia. I am proud that the United States Government supported the
establishment of this institution, and continues to support its quest for
full accreditation. The State of California, among the fifty states of our
Union, is a proven leader in public education, and this university’s
connection with the University of California seems to me a most appropriate
and fortunate one.
This evening I want to address a subject that has been much in the news
following the Rose Revolution in Georgia eighteen months ago, the contested
elections in Ukraine last fall, and the recent events in Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan. I have borrowed the title of my talk from the eminent British
historian Arnold Toynbee, who delivered a lecture in Williamsburg, Virginia,
a cradle of the American Revolution, forty-four years ago today, on June 10,
1961. Toynbee entitled that lecture “The Continuing Effect of the American
Revolution.” The subject was relevant then, and it is newly relevant again
today. I will state my conclusion here at the outset: the principles of the
American Revolution continue to reverberate down through the centuries to
our own day, but it is primarily the power of those principles and ideals,
and not the power of today’s American Government and its embassies, that is
bringing change to countries around the world, and to this region in
particular.
There has been much loose talk and conspiracy theorizing in the post-Soviet
media about the so-called Rose, Orange and Tulip revolutions and what
brought them about. There has been considerable speculation about what
country in this region might be “next in line” for a revolution in the
streets. One hears and reads that U.S. embassies have been turned into
headquarters for fomenting such revolutions, that millions of dollars have
been channeled to groups plotting to seize power. I have not yet heard it
alleged that the United States has sent anyone into this part of the world
in a sealed train, but it would not surprise me to hear such a thing.
These allegations are, of course, entirely unfounded. The United States
Government is not embarked on a campaign to destabilize the newly
independent states of the former Soviet Union, which we count among our
friends. The United States does not advocate mob violence in the streets or
unconstitutional or illegal activities of any sort. To the contrary, we
believe whole-heartedly in the principle that the citizens of a democratic
state should choose their new leaders via the ballot box, through free and
fair elections. And we are unabashed about saying so. We also are
unashamed of the fact that we have extended material support to governments,
parliaments, political parties and non-governmental organizations in this
part of the world to help them establish the conditions in which democracy,
and free and fair elections in particular, can flourish. Far from giving up
on this part of the world, and making the condescending assumption that
populations of the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union are
somehow “not ready” for democracy, the United States has persisted in its
encouragement of the development of true democratic institutions. The
people — the voters – of Armenia and other countries in this region deserve
no less.
But let us go back for a minute to the eighteenth century and the American
Revolution, and to Arnold Toynbee.
It has been said that the division between the English-speaking peoples of
the world that took place in the last quarter of the eighteenth century was
a tragedy for mankind. Be that as it may, one effect of the American
Revolution was to alienate Americans from their English cousins. It is
indicative that Toynbee was only the second Englishman to be invited to
address the annual Prelude to Independence celebration in Williamsburg.
John Kennedy was our new president at that time, and Toynbee’s main purpose
was to explore the question of whether the United States would prove true to
the principles of its own revolution, as Kennedy had recently indicated in
his inaugural address that it might. Toynbee pointed out that every
revolution since 1776 had owed something to the American Revolution. He
warned that if America did not choose to lead humanity toward a more free,
just and democratic future, others would claim that right. He noted, in
1961, that the majority of mankind was suffering not only from political
injustice, but from social and economic injustices as well. He called on the
United States to take the lead in what he called the “American-born world
revolution of our time.”
Let us look back at the American Revolution itself. The men who made the
Revolution were educated men, lawyers mostly, steeped in the thinking of
John Locke and other theoreticians of what was, at that time, the most
advanced political culture in the world. They were Englishmen still, very
hesitant, for the most part, to break with the Mother Country until a series
of ill-advised actions taken by the Government of Lord North drove them to
the extreme expedient of declaring their independence. England herself had
gone through a bloody civil war and the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688.
Many, if not most, of the principles of the American Revolution were already
established in English precedent. But like most revolutions, the American
Revolution had its origin not only in the thinking and writing of
philosophers and intellectuals, but in a spark provided by a real political
crisis. In the American case, it was the imposition of taxes and customs
duties, on tea and other goods, that ignited the conflict. The high-handed
actions of the British Crown and Parliament revealed and made actionable
their lack of accountability to the citizens they presumed to govern. “No
taxation without representation” became the fighting slogan of the American
Revolution.
The men who made the American Revolution were, with the possible exceptions
of John and Sam Adams in Boston, Thomas Paine in Philadelphia and Patrick
Henry in Virginia, not hot-blooded or inclined to violence. It took several
years for the trans-Atlantic dispute over taxes and import duties to reach
the point of no return. But when the first shot rang out at Lexington and
Concord in the spring of 1776, it was indeed, “a shot heard ’round the
world.”
Although it began as a dispute over taxes and import duties, the American
Revolution ultimately gave voice to certain principles that were said even
at the time to have universal applicability, and which have, indeed, proven
to have universal appeal. It is those principles, and not the machinations
of the American foreign policy apparatus, that account for the “continuing
effect of the American Revolution.”
Toynbee noted in his speech in Williamsburg in 1961 that Britain herself was
actually the first country to profit from the liberalizing impetus of the
American Revolution. France’s Revolution may have been stimulated in part
by the American example, but its excesses had a chilling effect on most of
Continental Europe. Once recovered from the trauma of dealing with
Napoleon, Great Britain went on to adopt the Reform Bill of 1832, and the
19th century saw Britain become the leading example of a limited
constitutional monarchy — albeit without a written constitution, which
eloquently demonstrates that the spirit of democracy, and the daily
implementation of democratic principles, may well be more important than
what is written down on paper.
The American Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776 in
Philadelphia contains principles that have echoed down the centuries. The
idea that “all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights” was put forward as a universal claim. It has
been cited by revolutionaries seeking to break the bonds of oppression from
South America to Africa to Asia.
Having unleashed these revolutionary ideas into the world, the United States
has at various times taken greater or lesser interest in propagating them
overseas, but it has never wavered in its basic commitment to them. And the
spirit of democracy that we attempt to live by, that we try to demonstrate
in our daily lives and in our political life, is contagious.
The idealist and student of American history Woodrow Wilson was perhaps the
most outspoken of our Presidents on the desirability of “making the world
safe for democracy,” as he put it. But in our own time, President Reagan
and President Bush have renewed the call for liberty that first was heard in
the Declaration of Independence. In his Second Inaugural Address, President
Bush stated clearly that “it is the policy of the United States to seek and
support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation
and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.” This
is not a call to revolution in the streets; rather it is a challenge to all
citizens of the world to engage in the hard, daily work of perfecting the
democratic institutions of their own countries, to make governments fully
accountable to their citizens, to reinforce the rule of law and to ensure
respect for the individual. This challenge is in many ways more demanding
than a simple call for revolution, because it asks of each of us that we
contribute our time, efforts and skills in the arts of public discourse to a
never-ending struggle.
Let me quote Professor Toynbee once again. As he put it, in an echo of
Winston Churchill’s famous phrase, “…democracy has proved itself by
experience to be the least unsatisfactory of all political regimes that have
been devised so far.” But he went on to say that “Democracy, in the sense
of representative self-government. . .has been indigenous in only a few
countries; and, even in these countries, it has taken ages of time, and
successions of efforts and sacrifices to bring democracy to maturity.
Democracy is difficult to achieve and to maintain, because it requires for
its successful operation the active cooperation of a large contingent of
able, experienced, and public-spirited citizens. . . The supply of citizens
of the kind that is democracy’s lifeblood has never been sufficient even in
the handful of countries in which democracy is indigenous and more or less
effective.”
This, of course, is where education comes in, and where a university of this
kind can play a major role. Not that democracies should be run by
intellectuals, but an educated citizenry that can engage in civilized debate
and think about the important issues facing society, and not just about
where the next meal is coming from, is essential.
The job of building and perfecting democracy is never completely done. As
President Bush said recently, “the path to a free society is long and not
always smooth.” Speaking at a dinner of the International Republican
Institute recently, the President recalled the history of our own country,
noting that “the American Revolution was followed by years of chaos” and
that “it took a four-year war, and a century of struggle after that, before
the promise of our Declaration [of Independence] was extended to all
Americans.” And, the President said, “No nation in history has made the
transition from tyranny to a free society without setbacks and false starts.
What separates those nations that succeed from those that falter is their
progress in establishing free institutions. So to help young democracies
succeed, we must help them build free institutions to fill the vacuum
created by change.”
Let me relate what I have been saying — and what the President has said —
to the Republic of Armenia.
The job of building democracy in the Republic of Armenia has been well
started. The main principles of freedom and democracy have found their
expression in the Constitution and major legislation that is now on the
books. But what still needs work is the job of building and strengthening
the institutions that make a democracy function as it should. The United
States remains committed to helping Armenia — its government, courts,
parliament, political parties and citizens — build, strengthen and refine
the free institutions of which President Bush has spoken. Over the next few
years, and in particular in the time remaining before the elections of 2007
and 2008, the United States will work actively with our Armenian partners to
help make those institutions as good as they can be, for the good of the
people of Armenia, and for the advancement of freedom in the world. As
President Bush said on May 18, “This is the challenge of a new century. It
is the calling of our time. And America will do its duty.”
Thank you for your attention.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )

The Garden Life: Ultimate Flower Power
By ROBB ROSSER for The Columbian

Thursday, June 9, 2005

Most gardens are at their peak of flower bloom in the month of
June. Since this is the time of year when every nursery and garden
center across the land draws you in with sheer flower power, even the
beginning gardener with a newly planted garden will be able to have
a blooming border. For most of us, our gardening obsession begins
at this time of year. We are so moved by the experience of creating
color combinations or the simple, overwhelming beauty of a single
blooming rose, that we commit ourselves to perpetuate the spirit of
this creativity in our lives.

Anyone who dallies in the fields of creativity will tell you right
up front to give the process of flower gardening free reign. Trying
to control the nature of a garden is a full time job; often fraught
with frustration.

Chaos is a more reliable helpmate to the creative spirit than is
control.

Just last week I begged my oriental poppies, Papaver orientale,
to hold off blooming until the second weekend of June. “Wait for the
summer parties and the big garden events,” I pleaded. “Think of all the
accolades as visitors “ooh” and “aah” at your vibrant delicacy.” They
immediately turned towards the sun and burst into mouth-watering color.

The oriental poppies are reliable, hardy perennials, easy to grow if
planted in a sunny location with well drained soil. If you have heavy
soil, add compost and a handful of grit before planting. Think of them
growing in their homeland of Armenia, where they emerge from rocky
slopes and in dry meadows. Their large taproot ensures a tolerance of
drought once established. Few flowering plants can compete with the
strength of oriental poppy color. My favorite is the first poppy I ever
planted, Papaver orientale ‘Allegro’, with its bright orange-scarlet
flowers and bold, black basal markings. They bloom in striking scarlet,
vermilion and hot pink with a steady stream of new introductions in
purples, plum, salmon and white.

For a moment in June the oriental poppy appears to be the perfect
perennial but, alas, if I didn’t at least comment on the other side
of growing poppies I would feel as if I’d introduced my sister
to Mr. Wonderful without mentioning his rather severe bi-polar
condition. Once the flowers are spent the only thing left is the large
clump of broadly lance-shaped or toothed, rough, hairy foliage. It
sounds like a weed and looks like a weed, too. My large planting of
poppies is hidden from close inspection at the foot of the ‘Tibetan
Cherry’ behind a groundcover bed of cotoneaster.

Another solution would be to surround them with a strong foliaged,
late flowering perennial such as daylilies or fall blooming
asters. Christopher Lloyd suggests that after flowering, the plants
can be cut right down, including the foliage, and be interplanted
with summer bedding.

For many years now, gardeners in the Northwest have focused on
perennials in the garden for flower color. We grew tired of the
process of planting annuals each year which also meant having to live
with large, empty spaces in beds and borders until the annuals were
ready to plant. It seems that many have finally found a comfortable
medium point where the bones of the plant world, the trees, shrubs,
groundcovers and seasonal perennials supply the bulk of garden interest
and annuals are used to fill what gaps remain. Annuals help us decide
what it is we want our flower gardens to become. They also give us
the chance to highlight an area of the garden when it needs it most;
along an entry walkway leading to the front door or in planters on
decks and patios.

Whether you’re planting annuals or perennials, before you go to the
nursery, take the measurement of the area you are planting. A five
by ten foot bed is fifty square feet (multiply the length by the
width). When you find the plants you want, make sure you know how tall
and wide they will eventually grow. Ask the nursery personnel how many
plants you will need to fill the space or read the plant label and do
your own math. Don’t skimp on annuals. In this case, more is better. At
some point over the summer, as you visit nurseries and other gardens,
you may run across a perfect perennial that could do the job as well
as this year’s annuals have done. When we begin to garden seriously,
we start looking ahead and often into the next year. In the process,
we unearth this grand obsession to create the ultimate flower garden.

Robb Rosser is a WSU Master Gardener. He is a freelance writer,
photographer and speaker and you can reach him at [email protected].

Small Victories, Big Hopes
By Georgy Bovt

Moscow Times
June 16 2005

Can the defenders of human rights actually score a victory in Russia
today? Can a single individual’s rights be protected in the face of
overbearing and uncontrolled bureaucrats and utterly partial judges?

Unfortunately, too many people feel that the answer to these questions
is no. They have lost faith in their own ability to insist on others’
rights. This only makes the small, isolated victory last week all
the more inspiring.

The victory came when a Moscow court overturned an earlier ruling
against a young Moscow woman by the name of Alexandra Ivannikova. She
had initially been given a two-year suspended sentence for murder.
Then, the Moscow prosecutor’s office recommended the verdict be
reviewed, thereby contradicting the position of the official prosecutor
on the case.

About two years ago, Ivannikova accidentally killed a man who was
trying to rape her. It has been established beyond the shadow of a
doubt that she was the victim of an attempted rape. Yet, according to
official statistics, Russian courts today are far less likely to acquit
a defendant than they were during the darkest days of Stalinism. They
seem to have forgotten the words “not guilty.” Moreover, they are
staffed primarily by former prosecutors and detectives who out of
habit tend to side with the prosecution. It is very difficult for
former defense lawyers to reach the judge’s bench.

Thus, the judge in the first trial of the case simply declared
Ivannikova guilty and exhibited some leniency in the sentence — not
because she was defending herself out of desperation but because she
had a small child. And perhaps the judge was also influenced by the
nationality of the assailant, who was Armenian, one of the “persons
of Caucasus nationality” little loved by law enforcement officials.

But here’s the most interesting aspect of the case: The verdict was
disgraceful in its denial of a person’s right to defend herself. This
right is guaranteed by the new version of the law on self-defense,
which does away with the old stipulation that the means of defense
must match the means of attack. In any other normal country, the
ruling would have upset public opinion. More likely than not, this
sort of disturbing verdict would have caused a minor political crisis
in Europe or the United States. It would have been discussed in the
press, and opponents and supporters of the verdict would have held
protests. The scandal would have resonated in the corridors of power.
Heads would have rolled.

This is not exactly how things work in Russia, of course. This is
especially true in terms of resignations. Officials rarely leave
their posts willingly, even for far more serious infractions.

However, something else is worth noting: Even an extremely limited
outburst of public discontent appears to have a powerful effect.
Actually, this discontent was not really public per se. It came from
a small group among the media and the political elite.

The reaction to the Ivannikova verdict evolved gradually. First,
a Moscow FM radio station picked up on the case. Then, after the
sentencing, human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin spoke critically
about it. The case became the topic for a political talk show on
television. Soon, Rodina took the issue to the streets and used it
to remind the public once again of the party’s existence. But you
have to give Rodina its due: The nationalist and racist party found
the perfect case to wake Russia’s public opinion from its slumber.

It turned out that these public discussions and protests were enough
to push the prosecutors to do something practically unprecedented in
post-Soviet Russia. They called for a review of an existing ruling
despite the loss of face.

Public opinion works, it seems. Even in this elite and watered-down
form. Apparently, protests can actually accomplish something in
Russia today. At least in one little case, public opinion was able
to score a minor victory. The authorities fear public opinion. They
listen to it. Perhaps they could be scared into listening to more
serious complaints.

This case seems to touch on a very sore subject that forced the wheels
of democracy and civic consciousness to start rolling. It’s one thing
to come out in support of abstract principles and slogans, even great
ones. This is precisely what Russia’s now politically marginalized
liberal and democratic parties have been doing for years. But it is
another thing altogether to fight for the rights and the life of a
particular person in a particular case.

And if people can be convinced that they can make a small change,
they might just believe they can make a big difference.

Georgy Bovt is editor of Profil.

French Help for Pipeline?

Moscow Times
June 16 2005

Business in Brief

LONDON — Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukraine’s state-owned natural gas company,
is seeking Gaz de France’s help in planning a pipeline from Iran that
will allow Ukraine to lessen its dependence on Gazprom.

The pipeline will go across Armenia, Georgia and under the Black Sea
to Ukraine, and may be extended to Europe, Naftogaz spokesman Dmitry
Marunich said Wednesday.

Gaz de France may also cooperate with Ukraine in marketing gas in
Romania, where the French utility owns a network. (Bloomberg)

WHAT ABOUT EVALUATIONS?

A1plus

| 20:25:20 | 15-06-2005 | Official |

Today Robert Kocharyan had a working meeting with the leaders of the
member-parties of the political coalition. The draft Constitution
was discussed.

This is the only information spread by the RA President information
service and we can only guess what the authorities will answer the
Venice Commission which is not at all satisfies with the coalition
draft constitution.

APPEAL TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT

A1plus

| 20:18:22 | 15-06-2005 | Official |

In the House of Lords in Great Britain an International Conference
devoted to Genocide took place organized by the British-Armenian
multi-party Parliamentary group. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
who had arrived the previous evening from Peking was invited to the
Conference as the main speaker.

The issue of the Armenian Genocide was discussed in the context of
Turkey’s membership to the EU, according to which Ankara ought to
recognize it and regulate relations with Yerevan.

Oskanyan invited attention to the contradiction between the words
and actions of the Turkish Government, which on the one hand tries
to show itself as proponent of conciliation before the International
community and on the other hand criminalizes the term “Genocide”,
prohibits as public discussion with that theme in their country and
even demands the British Government to reconsider the history recorded
by diplomat James Brown and historian Arnold Toynbee.

Nevertheless, Oskanyan expressed the readiness of Armenia to regulate
the Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions as he did not
see any alternative.

In the afternoon the British-Armenian Parliamentary group appealed to
the British Government with a petition ratified with 3000 signatures
demanding to recognize the Armenian Genocide carried out by the
Ottoman Empire in 1915 and contribute to the reconciliation of the
two countries.

In the same evening Minister Oskanyan left London for Brussels to
represent the plan of actions of Armenia to the North-Atlantic Council
and the EU.

PEOPLE’S PARTY IS 7 YEARS OLD

A1plus

| 18:32:53 | 15-06-2005 | Politics |

Today the Armenian People’ Party was celebrating its 7th
anniversary. Almost all the oppositional parties of the republic were
invited. The authorities were not, and APP leader Stepan Demirchyan
did not hide the fact.

According to him, for the last 7 years the party has proved its being
a uniting power “winning in all the state elections”.

“The party has existed for only 7 years, and for those years it
has had a rich experience overcoming different obstacles, and the
desire of the authorities to oust them from the political field”,
said Stepan Demirchyan.

Asked how many years are needed for the party to come to power Mr.
Demirchyan answered, “The same People’s Party left the authorities
and became opposition for not agreeing with their policy. As for your
question, I cannot say how much time is needed for it”.

UNDP ARMENIA AND THE PROSECUTOR GENERAL JOIN EFFORTS TO FIGHT TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS

Armenpress

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS: The United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of
Armenia signed on June 14 a Memorandum of Understanding that marked
the new phase in cooperation between UNDP project on “Anti-Trafficking
Program: Capacity Building Support and Victims Assistance” and the
Government of Armenia.

Representatives of UN family in Armenia, diplomatic corps, government,
and major partners were present at the event.

A press release by UNDP Armenia Office said the enhanced cooperation
is aimed at preventing and effectively responding to trafficking
in human beings and illegal migration, as well as at boosting the
effectiveness of counter-trafficking activities. The Parties to the
Agreement agreed to jointly work in the area of institutional and
legislative development, as well as capacity building of the law
enforcement bodies of Armenia. UNDP and the Office of Prosecutor
General have a rich history of cooperation in the past few years
in a number of areas. The Memorandum signed yesterday represents
a timely response to the challenges of trafficking in Armenia,
especially through prevention of trafficking in human beings and
illegal migration, and prosecution of traffickers.

The Memorandum signed is in line with the National Action Plan for the
Prevention of Trafficking in Persons from the Republic of Armenia. Mr.

Alexander Avanessov, UNDP Armenia Resident Representative a.i.,
noted in his speech: “Trafficking is an evil that destroys the very
fabric of life of Armenian families, and jointly with the Government,
we are confident that that the results of our enhanced cooperation
will be seen in the near future. We will focus our efforts not only
on prevention of trafficking, but also to direct assistance to those
suffered from this evil.”

The aim of UNDP two-year project on “Anti-Trafficking Program:
Capacity Building Support and Victims Assistance” is to facilitate
the development of a national framework to tackle the problem of human
trafficking at the policy and institutional levels as well as provide
direct assistance to victims of trafficking. The project has three
components; a) strengthening national capacity for policy elaboration;
b) raising public awareness, and c) assistance to victims.

IRAN’S EDUCATION MINISTER DISCUSSES BILATERAL TIES WITH TOP ARMENIAN OFFICIALS

Armenpress

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS: Chief of Armenian president’s staff,
Artashes Tumanian convened today in Yerevan with the visiting education
minister of Iran, Morteza Haji. Tumanian is also a cochairman of
Iranian-Armenian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation.

The press service of Armenian president said the two men discussed a
wide scope of bilateral relations and emphasized the need to expand
these relations. They, particularly, spoke about expanding scientific
and educational cooperation parallel to boosting economic ties.

Tumanian was quoted as saying that the wider Armenian-Iranian ties the
stronger intergovernmental ties will become. Morteza Haji was quoted
as saying that regardless of who is elected Iranian next president
the ties between the two friendly nations and bilateral cooperation
plans will not change. The Iranian minister was also received today
by prime minister Andranik Margarian, who conveyed his condolences
on the occasion of a wave of bombings in Iran that claimed several
lives. Margarian said he believes that these developments would not
effect the June 17 polls.