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EARTHQUAKE TOOK PLACE IN ARMENIA
FEBRUARY 4. A 5-point earthquake (MSK-64 scale)
took place near Ashotsk (Armenia) today 5:50 am. One could feel the
shocks also in Yerevan, Gumri and Stepanavan. No casualties
reported.
ARMENIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS DIRECT CONTACTS MAY BE ESTABLISHED
BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY TO NORMALIZE BILATERAL RELATIONS
FEBRUARY 4. Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanyan told the RFE/RL that Armenia and Turkey may establish
direct contacts to normalize their bilateral relations,
He said in this context his New York meeting with his Turkish
counterpart Ismail Cem proved to be quite fruitful. Oskanyan did not
exclude the possibility of his new meeting with Cem in the very near
future.
He said both sides intend to normalize their bilateral relations
through a dialogue. Oskanyan refused to tell about his meeting with
Cem in detail. He only said that this meeting should not inspire
special hopes as there are several outstanding issues between the two
countries.
FEB 26 - 14TH ANNIVERSARY OF EVENTS IN SUMQAYIT (AZERBAIJAN)
FEBRUARY 4. Feb 26 Armenia is going to commemorate
the 14th anniversary of the Sumqayit pogroms in Azerbaijan, claiming
lives of dozens of innocent Armenians. Representatives of some
Armenian NGOs are going to lay flowers on the Memorial to the Victims
of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan.
The Azeri Parliament is reported to also be going to commemorate this
day. The Parliament's Speaker Murtuz Aleskerov said the Parliament
will give a political assessment of the events at its session Feb 20.
The Azeri MPs will also discuss documents submitted by the Azeri
Defence Minister adducing some "facts of Armenia's orchestrating the
disorders in Sumqayit in 1988."
FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: I PREFER LANGUAGE OF HEART TO
DIPLOMATIC OFFICIALESE
FEBRUARY 4. I prefer language of heart to
diplomatic officialese, French Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Armenia Henry Cuny said during his meeting with
the teaching staff and students of French University to Armenia
today.
He said on his way to Armenia he found out that there are three
places in Armenia that represent France. These are the French Embassy
in Armenia, the Yerevan Brandy Company and French University in
Armenia. First of these places the ambassador visited is the
University opened by Armenian President Robert Kocharyan in July,
2000.
Henry Cuny is of the opinion that the students of French University
in Armenia are very lucky. First, they live in such an old country as
Armenia, which is more than enough to be proud. The French ambassador
said during his recent meeting with Catholicos of All Armenians
Karekin II, he emphasized the contribution of the Armenian alphabet
to the history and further intellectual development of the country,
and it was when French did not differ from Latin. Second, today's
students are lucky because they live in a new and young country. What
else could the young people want, but build a new country themselves?
Hence it is today's youth, who will build the future Armenia, the
ambassador said.
THREE US CONGRESSMEN SUPPORT DRAFT RESOLUTION 162 BANNING FINANCING
OF CONSTRUCTION OF OIL PIPELINES BYPASSING ARMENIA IN SOUTH
CAUCASUS
FEBRUARY 4. Three other American Congressmen supported draft resolution 162, which stipulations the US Congress imposing a ban on the construction of oil pipelines bypassing Armenia in the South Caucasus. According to the information reported to ARMINFO by the press service of the Armenian Assembly of America, the number of proponents of this resolution reached 48 at the US Congress. This time, the initiative was supported by members of the House of Representatives of the OS Congress Patrick Kennedy, Chris Smith and Hilda Solis. The draft resolution was submitted by the representatives of the pro-Armenian group of Congressmen Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone. The document, in particular, points out that the USA must not finance projects whose implementation will impede Armenia's integration into the regional economic system. The matter chiefly concerns the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Before, the US administration announced its intention to invest 2.5bln. USd in the projects of transporting Azerbaijanian energy resources to western markets.
ECONOMIC BLOCKADE IN ARMENIA IMPOSED BY TURKEY SERIOUSLY PREVENTS
ARMENIA'S DEVELOPMENT: FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
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