November 17, 2005 - 17:27 AMT
Phonothon to Collect Means for Karabakh Development Began in France
A phonoton held under the auspices of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund commenced in France November 17. The donations will be spent on development of NKR Martakert region, which suffered the most in the course of the hostilities. Being in Stepanakert the other day Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Director Naira Melkumyan remarked the Fund is launching a new program in Nagorno Karabakh named Revival of Artsakh. The program has 3 phases. Martakert region will be restored during the first phase, which provides for solving economic, humanitarian and demographic problems. Specifically, the infrastructure destroyed in the course of the prolonged Azeri-Karabakh war, objects of vital importance will be restored. Special attention will be paid to agriculture. A group of scholars from Armenia, France and the US worked on the program in that field. Hadrut region will be restored during the second phase, while the completion of the construction works of the North-South highway with a length of over 160 km is planned during the third one. The NK leader Arkady Ghukasyan, who is in France on these days, stressed the economic, social, psychological, educational and cultural importance of the phonoton in France and the coming telethon in the US for the Artsakh people, reported IA Regnum.