1995_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1995

              6-News
Hye Sharzhoom
December 1995
Armenia Update co^oy
Regions of the Western Diocese. In
New Round of Peace Talks
Begins in Moscow
YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)-
A new round of peace talks began
in Moscow, Monday, under the
auspices of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The agenda of the current negotiations included a number of
military and technical issues, an
agreement to promote the strengthening of the cease-fire, peacekeeping operations, as well as the further development of the Minsk process.
Sources from the Armenian
foreign ministry reported that the
negotiations will last until Saturday, after which the OSCE Minsk
Group is slated to meet to assess the
progress of peace talks.
Another Minsk Group summit
is scheduled at a later date with the
participation of the conflicting
sides.
The OSCE Minsk group is to
discuss the possibilities of continuing negotiations, as well as issues
related to the December 7 and 8
summit of heads of OSCE member
states.
The Armenian delegation was
led by deputy foreign minister
Vardan Oskanian, who also met
with a high-level OSCE military
delegation Friday, to discuss several military and strategic issues
related to the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict.
The OSCE delegation, headed
by Finnish general Haikke Vileni
was briefed by Oskanian on the
process of a peaceful resolution of
the conflict, and Armenia's position at the peace talks, stated press
and public affairs office of
Armenia's foreign ministry.
The delegation also included
high-ranking Swiss military officials, whose main objective was to
assess the situation and the role
Switzerland will play in the peace
process when it assumes the presidency of the OSCE in 1996.
Oskanian also met, Friday,
with German ambassador to the
Minsk Group Frank Lambach, at
which time the results of the latest
peace talks were discussed and
evaluated.
Karekin I to Visit North
America
PASADENA-His Holiness
Karekin I, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, will
pay an official first-visit, as the
Catholicos of All Armenians, to
North America from January 10
through February 13,1996.
The itinerary for His Holiness
will be as follows:
Eastern Diocese-
Jan. 10 to Jan. 24
Canadian Diocese-
Jan. 24 to Feb. 1
Western Diocese-
Feb. 1 to Feb. 13
His Eminence Archbishop
Vatche Hovsepian and the Diocesan Council of the Western Diocese will be the official hosts of the
Western Diocese visit, and Diocesan Council Chairperson Deacon
Allan Y. Jendian will be the General Chairperson of the pontifical
visit.
His Holiness plans to visit the
Southern, Central and Northern
order to plan a dignified visit for
the Catholicos, the Diocesan Council will appoint Regional Chairpersons, who will be responsible for
their respective regions. •
Since his enthronement, April
9, His Holiness Karekin I, has made
pontifical visits to the Dioceses of
Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Artsakh
and Romania, among others.
"We will extend the warmest
welcome to our 131st Catholicos
and do everything feasible to make
his visit to the Western Diocese a
memorable one," Primate
Hovsepian.
Ter-Petrosyan Among Leaders at Rabin's Funeral
JERUSALEM (Reuter)-
Armenia's President Levon Ter-
Petrosyan and foreign minister
Vahan Papazian headed an Armenian delegation to Jerusalem, Monday, to take part in the state burial
by Barlow Der Mugrdechian
the Six-Day War army commander
to conclude the emotional ceremony.
Some 4,500 mourners stood
beneath the pines and cypresses of
Mount Herzl National Cemetery
where Rabin's wooden casket was
lowered into a sandy grave. Only a
small group of relatives and dignitaries were allowed to the graveside
where they put earth onto the flag-
draped coffin.
Tens of thousands of Israelis,
stunned that a fellow Jew had broken a taboo on spilling Jewish
blood, had followed the cortege to
the cemetery.
Medzamor Begins Generating Electricity
YEREVAN (Reuter)-The
Medzamornuclear power plant near
Yerevan started generating electricity again after lying idle for over
six years following a devastating
1988 earthquake, a government
bassy in Armenia. At present the
French Embassy is located a building which formerly housed the
Actors' Union located near
Sundukian Theater.
The opening ceremony was
attended by President Levon Ter-
Petrosyan, French Envoy on Europe Affairs Michele Barnier and
Armenian Ambassador to France
Vigen Chitechian.
At a news conference held in
Yerevan on Saturday Barnier said
that Armenia, which borders on
various countries of differing characters, is of great importance to
France as a partner. Moreover, stability in the region is of paramount
significance for France, he added.
He pointed out that old ties between the two nations, as well as a
large Armenian community in
France, promoted development of
bilateral cooperation.
According to Barnier, France
maintains three principles in relation to the peaceful settlement of
Armenia 1995
of slain Israeli prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a fellow Jew opposing his
peace with Palestinians.
Soldiers and statesmen sobbed
as mourners ranging from President Bill Clinton to Rabin's granddaughter praised the prime minister who died for Middle East peace.
Clinton and Israel's former
foes, Jordan's King Hussein and
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,
said the greatest memorial for Rabin
would be to continue his drive to
end half a century of Arab-Israeli
fighting.
In Tel Aviv, student Yigal
Amir confessed in court to shooting Rabin because he was handing
back land to Palestinians. His
brother Hagai Amirpreparedatleast
one of the dumdum bullets that
shattered Rabin's chest at a peace
rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday, police said.
The entire Israel stood in silent
tribute for two minutes when sirens
that each year commemorate the
Nazi Holocaust marked the start of
the two-hour-long funeral on a
Jerusalem hilltop. Seven soldiers
fired three volleys over the grave of
spokesman said.
The first block of the reactor,
15 miles southwest of Yerevan,
began producing 50 megawatts of
electricity a day on -Sunday, the
spokesman told Reuters.
But Yerevan's residents,
starved of heat and light, were still
receiving electricity for only about
an hour a day.
The power station, with a capacity of 450 megawatts a day,
would gradually increase output as
winter takes hold in this
Transcaucasian republic, the
spokesman said.
Constructed on an earthquake
fault, the Medzamor plant was undamaged by the 1988 earthquake
thatkilled more than 25,000people,
but it was subsequently closed due
to public worries about its safety.
The government, facing a crisis due to chronic electricity shortages, in 1993 decreed in re-opening.
New French Embassy
Opened in Yerevan
YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)-
A solemn ceremony was held Friday to mark the opening of a new
building housing the French Em-
the Karabakh conflict: maintenance
of territorial integrity, security guarantees for Armenians in Nagorno-
Karabakh and support for efforts
being made by the parties seeking a
political solution and French preparedness to promote deployment
of peace-keeping forces.
Barnier said that he expects
Armenia will be granted special
status to attend meetings of the
European Council.
Barnier said that France supports rapprochement between Armenia and European structures and
intends to defend ArmeniaARs interests on this issue.
Noting that he was the first
French official to visit Armenia
since Jacques Chirac's inauguration, Barnier said that it was more
than a coincidence that a French
governmental official, responsible
for problems concerning Europe,
had been charged to visit Armenia.
Barnier underlined the importance of developing bilateral cultural and scientific ties. He said that
France would render its assistance
to Armenia in teaching French at
Armenian schools. He also announced that a special children's
clinic (the so-called "Green room'>
was planned for Vanadzor.
During his two-day visit to
Armenia Barnier met with Ter-
Petrosyan, Prime Minister Hrant
Bagratian," National Assembly
Chairman Babken Ararktsian and
Catholicos of All Armenians
Karekin I.
Armenian Caucaus Continues To Advocate Armenian Issues
WASHINGTON-The Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues held the fifth in an ongoing
series of Capitol Hill briefings last
week, addressing the political and
economic situation of the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America.
The latest briefing, held on
November 9, featured Colonel
Moorad Mooradian, a Ph.D candidate in international conflict resolution, on the topic of "A Perception of Armenia and What the US
Congress Can Do to Assist."
The Caucus on Armenian Issues, initiated earlier this year
through the joint efforts of Repre-
sentativesFrankPallone (D-NJ) and
John EdwardPorter (R-Ill.), is comprised of a bipartisan group of legislators dedicated to maintaining
and strengthening US- Armenian
relations. In a January 10 letter to
their colleagues, Reps Pallone and
Porter stressed that the goal of the
Caucus was to create af orum where:
"... individual Members
would contribute their ideas and
support on how the United States
canbetterhelp the Armenian people
recover from the disasters of recent
years and restore a sense of hope
for the future. The Caucus can play
an important role in promoting legislation and monitoring other developments affecting Armenians,
and mobilizing support It would
also function as a clearing house
for information. We intend to work
very closely with the Armenian
community."
During the past ten months,
the Caucus has actively supported
legislation calling for maintaining
the ban on US assistance to
Azerbaijan, continued US assistance to Armenia and reducing US
economic assistance to Turkey
based on its ongoing blockade of
Armenia. Caucus briefings have
included presentations by the Armenian Ambassador to the US,
Ruben Shugarian, a diverse group
of Armenian parliamentarians, and
an analysis of the Armenian Parliamentary elections by representatives from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the
National Democratic Institute, the
Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
Armenian American Congressional
staffers and the Armenian Assembly.
Caucus Co-chairman Rep.
Frank Pallone recently organized a
briefing by Armenian parliamentarian and former Prime Minister
Vazgen Manukian, on the subject
of democracy in Armenia.
The Caucus is currently composed of 43 House members, including Representatives: Gary
Ackerman (D-NY-5), Robert
Andrews   (D-NJ-1),   Howard
See UPDATE, Page 8