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2006 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ...
2004,
2005
Civil Initiative 31January
The 23 rd issue of “Civil Initiative” was printed on January 17, 2006 .
- The editorial column is about the rise in prices of intercity transport. The cost for one passenger of a microbus rose up to 100 drams from t 70 and the cost for one passenger of a bus from 50 drams up to 80. This price change must have had a serious economic justification. The survey carried out among several drivers found out that each driver paid the organization providing the route 3500 drams every day regardless of his income, and now he must pay 6000. Therefore, the rise of prices directly influences not only the passengers but also the drivers. In this way, the monthly profit from one means of transport increased 26 times in an average.
- No sooner had the New Year celebrations finished than the citizens of Armenia were deprived of the minister of culture. We can expect anything from the regime but at least on time and in the right place. But it turned out that authorities don't have time or place limit to express their character. The main problem is that they dare to switch off the current in the minister's house. The reason for damage is justified for a usual citizen but the same justification for the clan is senseless. Of course, the police are collecting materials on the fact of beating the electricians with a revolver, but we think that nobody will be called to criminal responsibility.
- The director of the children's home A. Harutyunyan states that 10-15 children are admitted to the children's home monthly. The general number of children is 115-120 instead of the foreseen 109. If 7-8% used to be new –born babies, today their number makes 1-2 %. 80 % of 113 children have parents. This number is very high according to the special working group founded in the administration of Lori region. The department of children's defence will function very soon. Their main task is to return the children home.
- The article “The state of freedom of expression in the Republic of Armenia and correspondence to international standards, the legislation and practice” presents in detail the freedom of expression and freedom of speech, freedom to get information, the limitation of expressing opinions in Armenia.
- During 2005, 47 journalists were killed in the world. Moreover, ¾ of the murders were performed to punish the journalists for doing their job or for making them keep silent. According to the data of the committee of journalists' defence during the last year, 22 journalists were killed in Iraq . Philippines are in the second place with 4 killed journalists during 2005, 2 persons were killed in Russia during performing their work.
- On December 25, 2005 Vanadzor hunters Ashot Hovhannisyan and Artak Atoyan went hunting and were caught by a sudden avalanche. Their bodies have not been found so far. Just the next day the department of emergency situations started searching. In the gorge where the hunters were the thickness of the snow layer is 15-40 meters, therefore searching work in these conditions is very dangerous.
You can get the 16th issue of “Civil Initiative” from the office.
Address: Tigran Mets 59, Vanadzor
Tel: (0322)4 22 68
Civil Initiative 31January
This year's second issue of “Civil Initiative” was published on January 31.
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The editorial column refers to several most important problems existing in Armenia . Being different by character these problems have inner logical connection. Blowing up of the Mazdok-Tbilisi gas-main and stopping to provide gas, the question of increasing the prices of gas from Russia and visits and negotiations around the Karabakh problem directly concern Armenia – as the security of the independent state.
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 Head of the department coordinating the sphere of transport considers that the resolution of the mayor on the rise in prices of intercity transport since January 1 is justified. Viktor Darbinyan considers that even 100 drams is not enough, as the organizations spend money on development expenses, to get transport means, and to create production bases. In answer to the suggestion to allocate money from local budget to the organizations running the routes and to reduce the prices the representatives of the municipality stated that the local budget did not have the possibility. Anyhow, head of the department coordinating the sphere of transport assured that in case of rise in the prices of gas, transport costs would not increase.
 Rescuers could not find Vanadzor residents who went hunting about a month ago. They are waiting for the weather to become better. On December 25, 2005 a group of five people went hunting but only three of them could come back. The rescuers cannot approach the place where the hunters got lost. Norik Babayan says it is covered with a thick layer of snow and one careless step can put the life of rescuers in danger.
 In the program of A. Mamontov on Russian TV, 5 leading right protective organizations were blamed for getting finances from Mark Dow, second secretary of the Embassy of Great Britain in Moscow for the realization of their activities. Federal security service accused Mark Dow of espionage, so it meant as right protective organizations had connections with British spies. Right defenders evaluate the defaming and realized information preaching campaign against organizations dealing with human rights protection as a step which has a long-range goal; it is to close such organizations.
- At the end of December avagani ( counsellors ) of Alaverdi town approved of the results of the income recruitment and expenses for 9 months, 2006-2008 three year program of social – economic development of Alaverdi and the budget of 2006. But Alaverdi residents remained uninformed on the discussion of the important issues. Even the heads of budget institutions of the municipality, head of the tax inspectorate and cashier, Lori region governor and other officials did not participate in the discussion though their presence was obligatory. Their absence can be qualified as indifference to community problems.
 Human Rights Watch published the annual report presenting the problems of human rights, means of mass media, civil society in the countries of South Caucasus . It is mentioned in the report that in spite of the favourable attitude of the international society towards Armenia during 2005, important changes have not been made in the sphere of human rights.
- The newspaper also presents the announcement of the Russian NGOs in connection with the TV program on January 22, 2006 where those organizations are accused of having connections with British espionage.
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Civil Initiative February 15
This year's 3 rd issue of “Civil Initiative” was printed on February 15, 2006 . The newspaper refers to the reduction of the intercity transport costs, indifference of avagani (counselors) and application of the right to information freedom.
 The prices of intercity transport in Vanadzor have been reduced since February 1. The municipality of Vanadzor managed to decrease the cost from 80 drams to 70. Anyhow, the cost of micro-buses remained the same. “Civil Initiative” newspaper and HCA Vanadzor office still insist on the fact that the rise of the transport costs is not appropriate and it includes in it secret desire of making profit, which is not in line with the consumers' in this case, the passengers' interests.
- The newly selected avagani (the counselors) met with the voters for the first time. Only 2 members were present and later on another member joined. Instead the voters were active. There were 30 citizens at the meeting. They raised both problems concerning diffdrent spheres of the town and personal problems. The avagani members promised to discuss those issues during the coming session and take steps to regulate them.
 The law “On Information Freedom” adopted in 2003 provides the right of citizens to get information from different structures. With the aim of applying the provisions of the law, HCA Vanadzor in cooperation with “ Information Freedom Center ” helps citizens to make requests from different departments and follows the provision of the dates within which the answer is received. During May-December 2005, 56 citizens applied to HCA Vanadzor and 93 requests have been made for them. Besides, HCA Vanadzor made 23 requests for different structures. We may say that this law functions partially and we have much to do to get the officials familiar with the principles of the law and make them apply the law.
- 235.6 million drams granted to Armenia can be stopped if our government does not review its way of governance. The grant within the frameworks of the project “Millennium Challenges” will be directed to the improvement of community roads and irrigation sub-structures. Ambassador John J. Danilovich, head of Millennium Challenge Corporation mentioned that the course of Constitutional Referendum in Armenia underwent serious suspicions in connection with the correspondence to fair governance standards. Whereas Armenia was included in this project on the basis of those standards.
- The law “On Alternative Service” was adopted in 2004. The study of Armenian Helsinki Committee showed that even after the adoption of the law the representatives of religious organizations were sentenced to imprisonment for escaping from military service. Though the law has functioned for already two years, the problems of passing to military service for religious organizations still exist. You can read more about this in the newspaper “Civil Initiative”.
- Article “Freedom of speech in Armenia , Guarantees and New Challenges” presents fragments form the observations of Boris Navasardyan, president of Yerevan Press Club. They concern the right to freedom of speech in Armenia.
- American youth, which gave the start for an enormous social-political event of the 20 th century, draw the attention of the whole world to the problems of its time for two decades. In 50-s youth movements started in America were widely spread in developing capitalist countries involving thousands of young people. The youth was fighting not only for physical violence but also for new hand made music, literature, new ideology and way of life.
- In order to avoid the danger of bird flu by the order of the ministry of Nature Protection regional environmental departments will conduct a strict control on prohibiting bird hunting. There is no bird flu in Armenia yet. “The danger of infection will be possible in spring”- the epidemiologists say.
- In July 2005 several residents of Ukraine arrived in Yerevan to earn money in night clubs. The director of the night club “Eliza” in the town of Masis took their passports in order not to lose them and told them that he was not going to sign a contract with them, would not give them USD 1000 salary and the earned money will equally divide into 50%-50%. RA General Prosecutor's office brought a criminal case against the director of the night club by the 2 nd part of article 132 of RA Criminal Code – trafficking.
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Civil Initiative February 28
The 4th issue of “Civil Initiative” was printed on February 28, 2006.
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Civil Initiative March 15
The 5 th issue of “Civil Initiative” was printed on March 15.
- Since April 10, the population of Armenia will pay 90 drams for one cubic meter of gas instead of 59. According to the resolution of the commission on regulating public services, the average price for 1000 m 2 of natural gas will make USD 162.4. The reasons for reconsidering gas price are the change in the price of imported gas, increase in the expenses of exploitation and maintenance, as well as inclusion of the investments of 2004-2005 in the price in the form of profit and amortization.
- At the end of March Armenia and US will sign the contract of “Millennium Challenges” in Washington . Within the program 235 million allocated to Armenia will be used on improvement of community roads and sub-structures of irrigation. HCA Vanadzor spread an announcement where it is said: “Attaching importance to the restoration of democratic principles, provision of human rights defence during the execution of the “Millennium Challenges” by the authorities HCA Vanadzor Declares about the necessity of presenting the project for providing democratic principles and institutions, freedom of speech and fair elections of society by RA authorities parallel to the solution of technical and organizational problems of implementing the project “Millennium Challenges”.
Otherwise investment of finances is senseless in non democratic conditions, because the money will vanish because of widespread corruption by strengthening the position of illegitimate authorities”.
- The road leading to one of the districts (district called Vanadzor) of Vanadzor became a construction site for already several years. Even after the exploitation of St. Grigor Narekatsi church, one part of Abovyan street had been impassible for cars. At last Vanadzor residents grew impatient and they took the huts out of the street with their own initiative and opened the road. The members of avagani (counselors) Vahan Mkhitaryan, Gayane Kalantaryan and Aram Mkrtchyan were for people. No representative from the municipality of Vanadzor was present there.
- The city stadium of Vanadzor appeared in the hands of two owners. “Lori” football club manages the stadium with its property, but the juridical owner is the municipality of Vanadzor . During the Soviet period, a resolution was adopted according to which the city stadium was given to “Lori” football club. The municipality does not take into account the resolutions made during Soviet period. The sides decided to solve this issue in the court.
 In this issue of the newspaper you can read about the interview of Vahan Hovhannisyan-deputy speaker of the National Assembly, given to REGNUM agency. It concerns the speech of Robert Kocharyan on the resolution of Karabakh conflict. According to Vahan Hovhannisyan the essence of Kocharyan's speech was left out of attention. “He answers not Nagorno Karabakh or any structure inside the country but the Azeries.”
- The ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan has lasted for 15 years. But recently parallel to active negotiation processes the violations of ceasefire regime became often. The Armenian side assures that all the time the Azeri side violated ceasefire and the Azeri side insists on the opposite. OSCE carried out monitoring on the frontline of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan military forces. The monitoring results assure that there are no cases of ceasefire violation.
- Armenian and Azeri women met in Georgia . During the three-day discussions initiated by NGOs of HCA South Caucasus network they discussed the impact of the conflict on the two countries, the role of peace and war in the development of Armenian and Azeri societies. According to Karine Boyajyan-representative of YMCA Vanadzor, thinks that Armenian and Azeri societies are not ready for peace and it is necessary to work in this direction. After the meeting, mother of a missing soldier changed her negative attitude towards the opposite side. Armenian and Azeri women parted with each other by giving exchanging presents and kind wishes for the sake of peace. 23 year-old Armenian Grand master Levon Aronyan won in the Linares Super Chess Tournament.
- We present the details on Roman Temnikov's visit to Stepanakert, who is the representative of Azerbaijan NGO “Peace, Democracy, Culture”, employee of “Obazrevatel” newspaper, member of the party “Democratic Reforms of Azerbaijan” within the project “ Caucasus is our common house”.
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Address: Tigran Mets 59, Vanadzor
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Civil Initiative March 30
The 6 th issue of Civil Initiative was printed on March 30, 2006.
 Deputy chairman of the National Assembly, co-chair of the commission on Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary cooperation Vahan Hovhannisyan stated that, the increase of the prices of natural gas imported from Russia causes anti-Russian attitudes in Armenia . According to him, “The wrong policy of Russia will cause the condition where in Armenian political field orientation to the West will become active and strong, which is a serious danger for the security of Armenia ”.
 Samvel Darbinyan, the mayor of Vanadzor, held a press conference, during which he confessed that he liked an ordinary Vanadzor resident best of all and would protect his interest. At the same time, the protest initiated by the same Vanadzor residents, which was raised for opening Abovyan Street , Samvel Darbinyan called an action organized by a crowd. He informed that the construction of Abovyan Street had not finished yet, and only specialists could decide how to arrange the traffic of that street. He confirmed that the traffic would be regulated and that no one intended to close the street before the public. He also informed about the work of this year. It is foreseen to repair roofs of buildings, illuminate the streets, and repair the holes on the roads.
- Posters sentencing “sects” to death have been fixed on the walls of buildings in Vanadzor. The authors of the posters are the Armenian nationalists. They are angry with religious organizations “for destroying and separating Armenian race”. Article 226 of the criminal code of RA foresees from 2 to 4 years of imprisonment for racism and religious hostility. HCA Vanadzor turned to Vanadzor police department asking to take steps to reveal those who spread such announcements and call them to responsibility.
- “Civil Initiative” again referred to the causes of the rise in the prices of intercity transport. The data and justifications of the municipality of Vanadzor and the investigations of HCA Vanadzor are compared in the article. The survey showed that in the condition of today's gas price the cost of the transport makes not 81 but 65 drams. It means that in case of rise in gas prices the municipality can organize intercity transportation of passengers without harming the people running economy.
- Armen Yeghyan, deputy coordinator of the civil initiative “Defence of Liberated Regions” calls the actions of RA minister of defence “immoral and illegal”. In his announcements, Serge Sargsyan mentions that “during the war Armenians were not liberating territories but they were destroying the positions of the opponent”. He puts under suspicion the existence of “liberated territories” calling them “zone of security”.
- Narek Karapetyan, (the name is changed) a soldier of the Armenian army said that he had been raped by his fellow soldiers and an officer during the military service in Mardakert region of Nagorno Karabakh. In the consequence, he got to hospital. Advocate Zaruhi Postanjyan protects his interests. She presented other soldiers' interests too, And she is familiar with the complaints and accusations common in the Armenian army. Z. Postanjayan assures that depending on the results of the examination materials are being prepared for starting a criminal case.
- On March 17, Arusyak Melkumyan famous in Vanadzor was sentenced to a four-year imprisonment by the court of first instance of Lori region on the charge of trafficking. Her partner from Yerevan Kalipse Hovhannisyan was sentenced to a two-year imprisonment. 51-year-old Arusyak Melkumyan had been imprisoned twice. Once there were doubts that she was dealing with trafficking of children, but because of absence of justified facts criminal case was not brought.
- On March 20, Italian TV aired a program during which “past, present and future of Armenian-Turkish relations” was discussed. Ruben Shugaryan –ambassador of Armenia in Italy and Ugur Ziyal ambassador of Turkey in Italy , as well as Turkish historian Omar Turan participated in the program. The cause of the meeting in a live broadcast was the program of March 20, which concerned Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turkey in 1915. The program started with the interview of French chanson, Armenian by origin, Charles Aznavour. After that, Turkish diplomat blamed Italian mass media for unilateral highlighting of the Armenian genocide.
You can get the 16th issue of “Civil Initiative” from the office.
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Civil Initiative April 15
The 7th issue of “Civil Initiative” was printed on April 15.
- In the editorial column of the newspaper it is anticipated that change of authorities in Vanadzor has started. A campaign of changing the heads of executive bodies in Vanadzor was held in 2000. At that time the prosecutor of Lori region, chief of police and head of tax inspectorate changed. Those changes followed parliamentary elections of 1999. “And it seems that it is a tradition when we witness the process of changes after the elections of self-governmental bodies and constitutional referendum of the last year”-writes the editorial column of the newspaper. This year the prosecutor and the chief of police changed. According to rumors changes in the court of first instance are expected. The mayor is expected to change, as the government is likely to express mistrust towards him. We will see later whether this news will become reality.
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 It has become a habit of avagani (counselors) of Vanadzor to hold sessions with shouts. This time the subject for the argument was the city stadium. The majority of avagani members decided to take it away from “Lori” football club and give it to youth's sports school of football. In spite of this “Lori” football club applied to the court to dispute the right of ownership registered by the municipality of Vanadzor .
- On April 13 soldiers Razmik Sargsyan, Musa Serobyan and Arayik Zalyan, charged with “Mataghis case” again went on hunger strike. The same day their relatives went on hunger strike in the defence of their sons. This extreme means of protest is directed to the illegitimate actions of Mher Armaghanyan-judge of the court of appeal and prosecutor Anahit Yeghiazaryan. . Announcing the end of the trial, the court did not give the boys the chance to exercise their rights defined by the law. You can read about this in the 7 th issue of “Civil Initiative”.
- The transparency of the management of “Millennium Challenges” is in danger. Armenian Constitutional Right Protective center (ACRPC) announced about this. “Numerous suggestions, including the suggestion providing the presence of mass media were rejected by the deputy minister of finances”-it is said in the announcement. During the session presided by the deputy minister, the work of one month of the formed electoral commission, as well as the regulations worked out by the working group which functioned for two months were annulled,. The head of ACRPC Gevork Manukyan called mass media to be present at the session of the new secretariat and provide highlighting of the work of that structure.
 South Caucasus countries lack in cross-border cooperation. During the international conference held in the town of Telavi , Georgia the perspectives that are needed for the development of Armenian-Georgian and Georgian-Azeri cross-border were discussed. The two-day conference was initiated by three organizations of HCA South Caucasus network - HCA Vanadzor, HCA Kazakh and HCA Georgian National Committee. The aim of the conference was to support the formation of cross-border cooperation on the Armenian-Georgian, Georgian-Azeri and Georgian-Russian borders.
- Javakheti without Armenians? Azat Shibaktsyan, the head of the union of Javakheti intellectuals, stated that if the authorities of Georgia did not change their policy towards Javakheti Armenians, they would lose every kind of respect and opportunity to hold dialogue with them. Javakheti Armenians intend to go by the legislative way and to appeal the normative acts in the future. “Why do Ajaria, South Ossetia have a claim on independence, and Javakheti can't?”- asks Azat Shibaktsyan. If it goes on like this Javakheti will remain with no Armenians.
- “The speech of Ilham Aliyev is nothing else than a vaccine which destroys the immunity system of the Azeri people. In this way, having concrete goals stupefaction of Azeri society is going on”-Davit Babayan, Kharabakh politician declared. He commented the message of Azerbaijan president on the occasion of the anniversary of so-called “Azeri Genocide”. The analyst referred the impact and consequences of Azeri policy on not only peaceful regulation of Kharabakh conflict but also the stability of South Caucasus in general.
You can get the 16th issue of “Civil Initiative” from the office.
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Civil Initiative May 1
The 8th issue of “Civil Initiative” was published on May 1, 2006.
 The National Senate of Argentina adopted a special statement on the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The Senate condemned the crime which had been performed against Armenians and sent condolences to the relatives of the victims of the tragedy.
- The prosecutor demanded life imprisonment for the three soldiers Arayik Zalyan, Musa Serobyan and Razmik Sargsyan charged with murder in one of the Mataghis military unit. According to the information of the NGOs engaged in the defense of the three soldiers, RA Court of Appeal did not pay attention to a number of facts and rejected petitions of the defending party.
- In order to be more transparent and to have control over the process of spending 235 million dollars allocated by US Government, Armenian NGOs must be involved in a so-called Board of Beneficiaries. On April 21, the NGOs were presented the order according to which on May 2 the election will be held and the names of the NGOs will be known. They will control the processes held in Armenia.
- Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor undertakes a project on religious minorities. The goal of this project is to arrive at a pluralistic society in Armenia in which there is a true freedom of religion. Through a series of meetings over the country, it is intended to increase the awareness in the Armenian society about the various religious convictions and create an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding whereby a variety of religion is viewed upon as an asset for the society.
- The internal net providing water supply in Lori region is in an extremely damaged state. The director of “Lori-Jrmughkoyughi” CJSC Ararat Ginosyan mentions that it has not been repaired for already 20 years. In order to improve the course of water supply agreement was made between Armenia and Germany. A 6-year project will be implemented in the result of which 24-hour water supply and improvement of services is expected. On April 8-9, 2006, a seminar devoted to the problems of education was held in Athens. Representatives of communist parties of the whole world complained about paid education. Head of the Communist Party of Vanadzor- Andranik Ghukassyan thinks that Soviet period were the years of Armenian golden school. At the end of the seminar the participants were invited to the meeting of representatives of Communist Party to be held in Lisbon.
- The NGO “Protection of Consumers’ Rights” made an investigation on security of the food imported to Armenia. The results showed that several goods imported from Turkey are very dangerous for health. You can get information about those goods in this issue of the newspaper.
 According to the data published by “Amnesty International” about 20 thousand people in the world are waiting for death penalty. 2148 people of 22 countries were inflicted penalty in 2005. 94 % of them was in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and USA. According to the investigations of “Amnesty International”, execution of death penalty can depend on financial interests.
- Academic of The Russian Academy of Science Yevgeni Velikhov finds that the collapse of USSR destroyed more lives than the aftermaths of Chernobyl Atomic station. According to statistics of death rate, the impact of Chernobyl on the death rate was slight. However, the accident of Chernobyl made us be careful with atomic energy.
- In connection with the French youth movement “Civil Initiative” applied to Bernard Dreano – coordinator of HCA France. The prime minister of France Dominique de Villepin wanted to reform French labour law in order to introduce more flexibility. This was mostly directed to youth, which became a reason for protests. The struggle is more against a precarious way of life. It is not only against a specific contract or a specific government but for “a possible other world”.
- The chronology of public speeches of young generation shows that the spirit of struggle is young today, too. Western youth movements started in 1960s and passed through the cities of USA, Vietnam, France, German Federal Republic, Japan, Italy, Spain and Mexico. The current events of France testified the barricades existing in the hearts and brains of youth.
- “Human Rights Watch” international human rights organization applied to George Bush in connection with the visit of Ilham Aliyev to White House. The organization calls to demand from Ilham Aliyev to take concrete steps for improving the situation of human rights in Azerbaijan.
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Civil Initiative May 15
The 9th issue of “Civil Initiative” newspaper was printed May 15, 2006.
- On May 9-10, in Tbilisi, the meeting of the state commission of Armenia and Georgia took place on demarcation of the Armenian-Georgian state border. The parties agreed on the major part of the state border, as well as on continuation of work done in this direction.
- In the interview with the president of the Armenian Union of Veterans, general-major Rafik Karapetyan the problems of veterans are discussed. According to him, each anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War is the only day when veterans are paid attention to. On the other days they are forgotten.
- On the 12th anniversary of the Ceasefire in Karabakh the head of the Centre of Civil Initiatives Albert Voskanyan sent his congratulations on behalf of Karabakh people. He thanked those people who could stop the war during that difficult time.
- The chronicle-documentary films “In that far away neighbouring village...Aygepar” and “In that far away neighbouring village... Alibeili” which tell about the people and post-war situation of these two bordering villages are devoted to the Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue. Armenian and Azerbaijani specialists participated in the preparation of the films. Each of them presented Armenian-Azeri conflict with his director’s interpretation.
- In the session of the political party
Orinats Yerkir“ a resolution was made to leave the coalition which supposes A. Baghdasaryan’s resignation from the position of the Chairman of the Parliament. By the official formulation of OYP the main disagreement with the other partners of the coalition was not only their position on the privatization program of 2001-2003 but also their concern on the privatization of Metsamor power station. The head of National Democratic Party Shavarsh Kocharyan thinks that Arthur Baghdasaryan should resign. “Of course, it is likely that the chairman of the NA will be republican, if the president does not object, because the tradition was that the decisions were made by the president of the country and not the majority”-mentions Shavarsh Kocharyan.
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9 citizens of Armenia applied to RA Prime Minister demanding their salary, pension and allowance for 18 months. They were deprived of the right to get them as they had refused to receive social cards. “Our spiritual beliefs are the reason for getting social cards” –it is said in the complaint-appeal.
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The newspaper presents the list of victims of the accident of A-320 plane belonging to “Armavia” company.
- On May 9-11, the employees of HCA Vanadzor organized meetings with representatives of self-governmental bodies of Akhalkalak, the community head, officials, NGOs, political organizations of Akhalkalak region, international organizations working in Akhalkalk. Besides economic problems and problems of Javakheti develompent, on which there were different approaches and opinions, a common and important issue was providing the usage of the Armenian language. In the next issue of Civil Initiative you can see how the idea of Akhalkalak residents on self-governance of Javakheti is commented.
- Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor undertakes a project on religious minorities’ roundtables. The goal of this project is to arrive at a pluralistic society in Armenia in which there is a true freedom of religion. Through a series of meetings over the country, it is intended to increase the awareness in the Armenian society about the various religious convictions and create an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding whereby a variety of religion is viewed upon as an asset for the society. in this issue of Civil Initiative you can read about the organization of Jehovah Witnesses, Our Lady of Armenia Boghossian Educational Center” of Gyumri which belongs to the Catholic Church, as well as about the church “Kyanki Khosk” created in Armenia.
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Senior scientific worker of International Economy and International Relations University of Russian Academy of Science Alexander Krilov who participated in the international Science Congress “Caucasus 2005” held in Yerevan, expressed his opinion on the process of the regulation of Karabakh conflict. According to him, the fact that NK is not involved in the negotiation process must be taken into consideration and the negotiation process without their involvement will result in a deadlock, as any resolution made by Yerevan or Baku may be unacceptable by Karabakh.
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HCA Vanadzor hosted the representative of the foundation of legal and economic reforms support of Kyrgyzstan. Yelena Romanova came to Armenia to get familiar with the activities of Armenian right defenders and to find ways of cooperation with them. You can read more about her visit in this issue of “Civil Initiative”.
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“Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations” writes that the employee of the newspaper “Obazrevatel” visited Nagorno Karabakh and met with Karabakh Armenians. During the meeting they expressed their good attitude towards the Azeri and Azerbaijan , saying that they consider themselves as the captive of the current regime. The observation of the journalist eliminates the roots of the declaration of Robert Kocharyan that the Armenians and Azeri are genetically incompatible.
HCA Vanadzor and HCA Georgian National Committee organized a joint event. Representatives of ministries of foreign affairs of Armenia and Georgia, parliament of Georgia, OSCE Yerevan office, Dmanisi, Lori and Shirak regions, mayors of Dilijan and Tashir participated in the event. During the discussion it was decided to organize celebrations devoted to the days of Dmanisi and Tashir towns with bilateral participation. The participants considered realistic to organize a joint fair of agricultural goods. It was decided to create information centers where information and legislations concerning cross-border settlements of the two countries will be available even for an ordinary peasant.
