www.Asbarez.com news room 08-16-2000

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2. Lebanon Interior Minister Announces Solidarity with ARF

 

BEIRUT (Aztag)--Lebanese deputy prime minister and interior minister Michel Murr Monday announced his alliance with the Armenian

Revolutionary Federation for the Armenian Apostolic slot in the Metn district for the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections.

 

Murr, who was expected to reveal his list on Tuesday, made his announcement at ARF's Sardarabad Center in Bourj Hammoud, which

he called "the capital of northern Metn." The interior minister was greeted by the ARF Central Committee of Lebanon representative

Benjamin Bechkejian and United Armenian Bloc candidate Sebouh Hovnanian, as well as Bourdj Hammoud mayor Antranig Meserlian.

 

"We affirm to our people and brothers our continued alliance with the ARF, which has lasted over 40 years due to our mutual

dedication," Murr said.

 

Murr added that the solidarity between the ARF and his political apparatus will continue and is not a subject of discussion. Furthermore,

the deputy prime minister added that this alliance advocated against unlawful and illegal activities and aimed to ensure employment

opportunities for the young and a healthy brotherly relations with Lebanese-Arabs.

 

The Lebanese leader said that his alliance with the ARF was borne from the ideal of economic and political reform, which can be realized

only through cooperation between the two entities.

 

Metn member of parliament Sebouh Hovnanian was expected to be named as the ARF's Metn candidate during Murr's press conference

on Tuesday.

 

"The Armenian community is an indivisible segment of the Lebanese nation," Murr said. "They have always made honest standpoints and

their support to our list has never been questioned."

 

Bechkejian hailed Murr as a faithful friend of the party, adding that the Deputy Prime Minister wants to seek a comprehensive

parliamentary representation for all Metn residents.

 

"We all hope that we can create a homeland which will ensure a prosperous future for its children," added Bechkejian.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Armenia's Olympic Hopefuls Set for Sydney Games

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The Armenian Olympic Committee announced Tuesday that the Armenian delegation to the Sydney Games

will leave for Australia next month, one group going ahead of another to make preparations for the delegation.

 

The Armenian delegation includes 28 athletes, 17 coaches or trainers and six doctors. Armenia was represented with 32 athletes at the

Atlanta Games in 1996.

 

The Armenian team includes six weight lifters, eight wrestlers, three boxers and three track and field athletes. The team also includes two

participants in the swimming competition, two rowing competition participants, as well as one each in the Judo, riflery, tennis and diving

competitions.

 

Representatives of the Armenian Olympics Committee will arrive in Sydney on Sept. 5 to meet with members of the Armenian community

there and to make preparations for the arrival of the team late that month.

 

Reports also indicate that President Robert Kocharian is planning to visit Sydney during the games. Also expressing interest to attend the

games is Armenian Parliament Speaker Armen Khachatrian.

 

During the previous Olympic Games, the Armenian leadership had not shown its official support to the team.

 

Prime Minister Andranik Markarian Tuesday met with chairman of the Armenian Olympic Committee Benur *****yan and committee

secretary Gagik Chobanyan, who outlined the team's activities in preparation for the Sydney Games.

 

Stressing the importance of Armenia's Olympic competitors, Markarian pledged the government's support, adding that his government

will do its utmost to ensure that the athletes receive anything they need.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Hovsepian Replaces Hakopian in ARF Bloc

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenia's Central Electoral Council Tuesday officially registered Rouben Hovsepian as a member of

parliament and the ninth person in the Armenian Revolutionary Federation parliamentary bloc.

 

Hovsepian replaced Rouben Hakopian who was appointed Armenia's Consul General to St. Petersburg.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Markarian Makes Changes in Government

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenia's Prime Minister Andranik Markarian issued several decrees appointing new directors and deputy

ministers in various government posts.

 

Per Markarian's decree Vartan Grigorian was appointed deputy minister of education, replacing Robert Zargarian. Grigorian was also

relieved of his duties as deputy minister of culture, sports and youth affairs.

 

Alissa Adamian was appointed to replace Grigorian as the deputy culture minister.

 

In another decree, Markarian appointed Shoghik Assoyan as deputy chairperson of Armenia's Commission on Historic and Cultural

Monuments.

 

Also relieved of his duties was Tavoush Deputy Governor, Albert Ghaltakhtchian, who is now the executive director of Armenian

government's economic reform research and information center.

 

Mihran Stakyan was relieved of his duties as deputy education minister.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Murder Trial of Alleged Rebels in Turkey Begins

 

ANKARA (Reuters)--Seventeen suspected Islamic militants went on trial before an Ankara court on Monday accused of murdering 22

of Turkey's leading secularist journalists and liberal thinkers over the last decade.

 

Prosecutors said the victims included former Culture Minister Ahmet Taner Kislali and investigative reporter Ugur Mumcu, who wrote

extensively about the ties between Turkish Islamic militants and Iran. Both men died in car bomb blasts--Kislali in 1999 and Mumcu in

1993.

 

The accused, said to belong to a small, secretive group called Selam-Tevhid -- meaning Hello Unification in Arabic--were also blamed

for the bombing murders in 1990 of leftist law professor Muammer Aksoy and academic Bahriye Ucok.

 

At the time, the government suspected Iranian involvement, but Iran denied any part in the killings.

 

Prosecutors were expected to seek the death penalty for nine of the defendants accused of carrying out the murders, and lengthy prison

terms for the others, accused of plotting them.

 

The 17 have denied the charges, Anatolian news agency reported. Some said they had been tortured in police custody and forced to sign

false confessions. None of the names on the charge sheet were familiar to ordinary Turks.

 

Anatolian said the defendants denied any connection with Islamic militant group Hizbullah, which is accused of trying to replace Turkey's

secular order with one based on strict Sharia law.

 

The discovery earlier this year of around 60 bodies, believed to be victims of Hizbullah, shocked the country and led to a clampdown on

Islamic militants. That effort included Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's recent decision to sack some 400 civil servants suspected of links

with armed Islamic groups.

 

The authorities view Islamic activism as the number one enemy of Turkey's secular constitution.

 

The trial resumes next month.

 

 

 

 

 

7. Armenia Investment Forum Again Postponed

 

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—A major international business forum designed to highlight investment opportunities in Armenia has again been

postponed to give the authorities in Yerevan more time for preparations, a senior World Bank official said on Tuesday. Originally slated

for last May, the forum was due to take place this October in London with the participation of leading Western lending institutions and

business people.

 

According to Oweis Saadat, the World Bank's resident representative in Armenia, the gathering - the first in its kind - is likely to be held

early next year, most probably in New York. The decision to change the venue was made during President Robert Kocharian's official

visit to the United States in June, Saadat told RFE/RL.

 

Other informed sources suggested that the move may have been related to the sacking last May of former prime minister Armen Sargsyan

as Armenia's ambassador to Britain. Sargsyan, whose dismissal was widely believed to be politically motivated, is known to have strong

connections with the management of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), one of the organizers of the

planned business forum.

 

While accepting that EBRD has now a more lukewarm attitude to the undertaking, Saadat denied that political considerations were

behind change of the venue. He said that the stabilization of the political situation in the country after last year's parliament shootings

creates more favorable conditions for foreign investments in the struggling Armenian economy. The government, he said, should use the

forum as an opportunity for arousing stronger international interest in Armenia.

 

"One of the key things here is to have at least five or six good projects, which can be put on the table and offered to the people to

immediately consider for investments," Saadat said. He added that the government still has a lot to do for improving the investment climate

in the country.

 

A recent report by the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank division, singles out regional instability, corruption, bureaucratic

red tape and political scandals over a number of privatization deals as the main factors impeding greater influx of foreign capital to

Armenia. The volume of direct foreign investments in the Armenian economy was just around $100 million last year, far lower than the

record high figure of $240 million registered in 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Peace Flag to Be Raised On Top of Mount Ararat

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Yevgeny Gviniashvili, a Georgian who founded and heads the 'Peace Standard-Bearer' international

organization, has arrived in Yerevan to seek support of Armenian authorities to realize a project the aim of which is to raise the Peace

Flag in Yerevan.

 

According to Gviniashvili, he has been involved in this program for fifteen years and has managed to hoist the flag in the South Pole, in the

space and numerous cities in the world.

 

This September 2 Gviniashvili intends to hold an action which will be devoted to the 55th anniversary of the end of World War II.

 

It will start in Jerusalem, after which the Flag will be hoisted in many other countries, including Yerevan. An arrangement has been already

made on it with the mayor of Yerevan Albert Bazeyan Gviniashvili said he is negotiating with the Armenian authorities on holding a festival

"Miss World Standard-Bearer" in Yerevan.

 

Gviniashvili also plans to raise the 'peace flag' on top of Mountain Ararat, where the dove, the symbol of peace, appeared first. As he

said, it was the wish of the late Catholicos of all Armenians Vazgen I.

 

On returning to Tbilisi, he will leave for Ankara to negotiate with Turkish authorities. He is sure that the answer will be positive, as

Turkey's ambassador to Georgia gave his liking to the association's activities.

 

Gviniashvili wishes that the flags were raised at the same time in Yerevan and on the top of Ararat, as it would be the first time the two

flags will face one another.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Vital Armenian Lake Continues To Shrink

 

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—The level of Lake Sevan, Armenia's largest water reservoir, has further decreased over the past few years,

Minister of Environment Eduard Madatian said on Tuesday, blaming the alarming drop on the "inefficient use of water resources."

Madatian told RFE/RL that the surface of the mountainous lake is now four centimeters lower than a year ago.

 

Situated about two kilometers above sea level, Sevan has a pivotal role in Armenia's ecological system. Decades of Soviet

mismanagement and experiments have resulted in an unprecedented shrinkage of the lake's depth and area. Rescue programs

implemented by successive Armenian governments have had mixed results.

 

The authorities claim that the use of Sevan's waters for irrigation purposes and energy generation has been cut drastically in the last

several years. "We are doing our best to minimize the outflow of water from Sevan," Madatian said. He said this policy has already put

him at loggerheads with the ministry of agriculture which seeks to alleviate effects of the continuing severe drought by boosting irrigation.

 

 

 

 

 

10. Dispute over Brand Names Continues

 

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)—"I don't know what the minister proceeded from when he recently stated that problems with YBC are

settled," commented Yerevan Brandy Company President Pierre Larretche on a recent statement by Armenia's Minister of Agriculture

Zaven Gevorgian.

 

YBC has repeatedly expressed its discontent with the registration of brand names belonging to it by the "Don Kilikia" firm in Russia, the

use of the "Great Ararat" logo by a Cypriot company and the manufacture of cognac by Armenian enterprises in Russia.

 

In July, Larretche acknowledged that the factory in Saratov will be privatized with the requirements of Pernod Ricard taken into account,

i.e. the factory will not manufacture any sort of cognac until 2004.

 

Larretche said that the use of the "Great Ararat" logo by another company damages the interests of YBC and therefore must be stopped

immediately. A court in Moscow is currently considering Don Kilikia's claim against one of the YBC distributors. The verdict is expected

to be handed down August 25. In case of a favorable decision, YBC is going to apply to the Russian Bureau of Patents to be reinstated

in its rights.

 

YBC managers acknowledged that these issues have repeatedly been discussed at different levels lately and that certain steps are being

taken towards reconciliation. Yet, he regretted to say that the matter may still be on tenterhooks by the time the harvest of grapes begins.

 

The new managers of Pernod Ricard are expected to come to Yerevan in late August to examine the situation on the spot and make a

decision on further steps.

 

 

 

 

 

11. Date of Babayan's Trial to Be Announced Soon

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The date for the trial of former commander of the Artsax army Samvel Babayan and other 15

defendants, arrested on charges of masterminding an assassination attempt on the life of Artsax president Arkady Ghoukassian March

22 will be announced by Supreme Court of Artsax Thursday, Babayan's lawyer Judex Shakarian told Armenpress.

 

He said that the Supreme Court will also discuss his appeal against conducting Babayan's trial in Artsax. "We shall insist on giving the

trial to an Armenian court," Shakarian said.

 

 

 

 

 

12. Turkish Netex Plans to Buy Textile Factory in Gumri

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The textile factory in the second-largest Armenian town of Gumri, that has been standing idle for years, is

likely to go to the Turkish Netex company, the semi-weekly Golos Armenii reports. The representatives of Netex visited the factory

recently which was one of the biggest in the former USSR, to continue negotiations.

 

If the talks yield a positive outcome, the Turkish Company will modernize the enterprise investing around $1 million in the first year and

creating 300 new jobs. According to preliminary estimation, the factory will produce $2 million worth of output in the first year.

 

In the course of the second year the amount of investments will reach $2 million and another 700 jobs will be created with $5 million

worth of output.

 

It is not clear what amount of shares will be given to the Turkish company. It is quite likely that all 100 percent of shares will go to Netex.

 

 

 

 

 

13. Diaspora Teachers Finish Re-Training Courses

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—After an exciting month, spent in Yerevan, more than two dozen teachers of the Armenian language from

Armenian communities in many countries completed re-training courses Tuesday organized by the Spyurk scientific-educational center of

the Yerevan Khachatur Abovian Pedagogical Institute.

 

"Ten years ago the arrival of an Armenian teacher from Istanbul to Armenia was a great event, today it seems to be an ordinary thing,"

said the head of the center Suren Danielian.

 

Sirarpi Ter-Avetisian from faraway Australia who founded an Armenian school there, said the courses were important with respect to

maintaining Armenian identity in Diaspora communities.

 

"I shall send all three of my sons to Armenia," she said adding that one cannot form an idea about Armenia by reading books and looking

at maps."

 

 

 

 

 

14. Ghoukassian Meets with Defense, Foreign Ministers of Artsax

 

STEPANAKERT (Armenpress)—Artsax president Arkady Ghoukassian met August 14 with Artsax defense minister Seyran

Ohanian and Colonel Simon Hakobian. As Ghoukassian's press office reported, the meeting was focused on reforms which are underway

in the Artsax army and issues related to army building.

 

The same day Ghoukassian met with visiting foreign minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian and his deputy Tatul Margarian to discuss

issues related to the recent mediatory efforts of the OSCE Minsk group co-chairmen aimed at Artsax conflict resolution.

 

The security council of Artsax also held its recurrent session Tuesday to discuss social-economic, political and a number of other

urgent issues.

 

Elsewhere in Artsax news, in accordance with the earlier arrangement, the OSCE Mission conducted a regular monitoring of two

sections in the southeast of the contact-line of the Karabagh and Azerbaijan armed forces Tuesday.

 

In the Artsax territory the monitoring was led by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and

Head of the High Level Planning Group Colonel Bernard Vialatte. The group also comprised Field Assistants of the Personal

Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Carel Cratky (Czech Republic), Jan Koeler (Germany), Vladimir Tolkach (the

Ukraine), as well as the representatives of the Artsax ministries of foreign affairs and defense.