Month: June 2005

A1plus
| 15:56:35 | 10-06-2005 | Politics |
THE THREE-PARTY FORMAT WILL NOT BE FORMED YET
`The Party `Heredity’ has authorized me to start a number of inter-party
meetings which will include not only famous names – Aram Sargsyan, Hovhannes
Hovhannisyan, but also the whole specter of the political field, both
oppositional and pro-governmental’, said today Raffi Hovhannisyan, President
of the Party `Heredity’ about the pro-western format of the three parties.
`We will meet with everybody, but we will not go to their offices, but our
doors will be open to all’.
After the conference of the party the creation of the regional departments
of the party has started. The party has about 3000 members. According to
Raffi Hovhannisyan, 46 organizations are already acting. And the aim of the
party is to realize the development of democracy in the country as soon as
possible and to restore the reputation of Armenia as an isle of democracy.
Raffi Hovhannisyan noted that it is of no importance who will realize the
democratic reforms – the authorities or the opposition, `and whoever starts
the reforms, be it the opposition or the authorities, its reputation will
rise’, announced Raffi Hovhannisyan.
He indirectly blamed the oppositional political bodies for struggling for
the change of the `chair’ after which one of the journalists asked Mr.
Hovhannisyan in which filed he sees himself – in the oppositional or in the
pro-governmental. `In the oppositional’, answered Raffi Hovhannisyan. As for
how he imagined the transformation to democracy, Mr. Hovhannisyan said that
at the initial phase they will visit the regions, will have meetings with
the members of the parties and will have active participation in all the
coming meetings.
He also added that if there is no transformation to democracy during this
year, we will face the reality of becoming the least important country of
the region.

A1plus
| 15:25:54 | 10-06-2005 | Social |
IN REGIONS HUMAN RIGHTS ARE FORGOTTEN MORE OFTEN
RA Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan has been to Gyumri on official duty
recently.
About 20 citizens had come to receive the Ombudsman. The reception took
place in the Gyumri branch of the non-governmental organization of the
`Armenian Center of Defense of Human Rights after A. Sakharov’. The main
issue the residents of Gyumri were concerned by was of course the housing
problem.
According to Mrs. Alaverdyan, the Human rights defense is realized more
badly in the faraway regions. A case of this is the village Voghji. The
facts of complaints to the Ombudsman from this village were registered
during the visit of her representatives. Moreover, the regional governor had
applied to Regional Governing Minister Hovik Abrahamyan in March with the
request to resign the head of the village from his post but there has been
no answer yet.
The lands which are cultivated by the residents of the village are near the
border. In order to go there a permit is needed. The permits are given to
the people 1.5 month before the spring and autumn agricultural seasons.
Those people who had «dared» to send a complaint to the Ombudsman, in
contrast to the rest, had not received their permits by June 7 in order to
cultivate their lands.
Today the residents of the village do not have Property documents of their
houses. Under the present head of the village the population of the village
has been considerably reduced.
According to L. Alaverdyan, the actions of the Voghji head do not suit a
local governor.

Armenian citizen charged with espionage in favour of Azerbaijan
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
9 Jun 05
[Presenter] An engineer named Andrey Maziyev is being charged with
espionage in favour of Azerbaijan. His trial started at the court of
first instance in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebatia community today. The
prosecution is represented by Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan.
According to the bill of indictment announced at the trial today,
Armenian citizen Maziyev has handed over various types of information
about the domestic political and economic situation in Armenia and the
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic to the Azerbaijani special services over
the last five years. Maziyev has been convicted of hooliganism before.
[Correspondent over video of trial] Andrey Maziyev was born and
educated in Armenia. He has also been convicted of hooliganism
before. His relations with Arayik in prison played a great role in his
future life. After his release from prison in 1999, at the request of
his friend Arayik, Maziyev took advantage of his Russian origin and
tried to take the letter to Arayik’s relatives in Naxcivan
[Azerbaijan]. The Azerbaijani law-enforcement bodies arrested Maziyev
on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border when they saw that he is an
Armenian citizen and released him only after they received Maziyev’s
written agreement to cooperate with the Azerbaijani special services.
[Maziyev speaking in Russian with Armenian voice-over] At that moment,
I did not understand what I was doing. My only thought was to escape
from the law-enforcement bodies. Since I signed the agreement,
employees of the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry have been
following me. They threatened my family if I refused to cooperate with
them.
[Correspondent] Apart from that, Maziyev handed over information about
the domestic political and economic situation in Armenia and Karabakh,
about the military-industrial complex and the situation in the
army. He also helped the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry
prepare terrorist acts against the Armenian president.
Maziyev worked as an engineer at Zvartnots airport, knew the area
around airport very well and took photos of the president’s return
from a visit, the landing of his plane, helicopters guarding the
territory of the airport, the president and his escort. He handed over
the photos to the Azerbaijani special services.
During this period, engineer Maziyev managed to change not only his
speciality, but also his surname several times, for example, Frolov
and Kuzin. The Azerbaijani special services gave him an old Soviet
passport under the surname of Maziyev so that he could freely visit
[Azerbaijan’s] Qazax District. It became clear that the Azerbaijani
special services are very mean even in paying for such useful
services. They paid only 150-180 dollars for his services during each
visit. Maziyev paid only 18 visits.
Witnesses were also interrogated. The court of first instance of
Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebatia community will continue the trial on 13
June.

Armenian daily says US envoy deprived of award in fear of Turkish reaction
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
9 Jun 05

By Anna Akopyan
Very strange things have recently happened to US Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans. There are every reason to say that the diplomatic mission
in Armenia will have a special place in John Evans’s diplomatic
career. We said several months ago that the US Department of State was
discussing recalling Evans from Armenia. The reason was his close
relationship with the Armenian authorities, in particular with Defence
Minister Serzh Sarkisyan.
Last week another report came from the US Department of State – Evans
had been granted the Constructive Dissent Award. While analysts were
trying to clarify the background, another sensational report was
received from the Department of State – the award has been withdrawn
from Evans.
The matter is that a columnist of the California Courier, Harut
Sassounian, learnt about Evans’s award from our newspapers and phoned
Washington to get an official confirmation from the American Foreign
Service Association [AFSA]. Mr Sassounian has said that AFSA confirmed
the report as well as the fact that Evans was awarded for his
statements about the Armenian genocide.
“However, when my article was ready for publication, I received an
unexpected call from AFSA which said that the award commission has
decided to ‘take the award back’ from Ambassador John Evans. When I
asked why, the reply was: no comment,” the California Courier
columnist said. This is a real sensation. This is the first case in
the history of AFSA which was set up in 1968.
Irrespective of whether this is the first case or not, this is a
really shameful event; it is an honour for an American diplomat to be
granted such an award and it is a disgrace to find oneself in a
situation which Ambassador John Evans has found himself.
Anyway, one thing is clear – the US Department of State slapped John
Evans in his face with the assistance of AFSA. What is the reason for
this kind of attitude towards poor Evans? We may say that the decision
to withdraw the award is in the first place connected with USA-Turkey
relations since rewarding Evans for describing the 1915 events as
genocide would cause Turkey’s displeasure and this made AFSA to
withdraw the award.
Sassounian suggested that the Bush administration had forced AFSA to
take this unusual step taking into account its relations with
Turkey. He also called on everybody to protest against the decision
and ask US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to restore the award.
We should say that the names of the nominees to the award were already
known on 15 March, and if the Bush administration believed that
granting the award [to Evans] would worsen Turkish-American relations,
this problem would have been settled before the decision of the award
commission.
The decision to withdraw the award was prompted by new circumstances
which might not be the Turkish factor.
Anyway, this is an action against John Evans and a great shock in his
life. Information received from Washington in connection with John
Evans shows that there are speculations and processes going on around
him, and nobody knows what they will end with.

Foreign service union withdraws award from ambassador who made `genocide’
reference
AP Worldstream; Jun 09, 2005

The union of career diplomats has withdrawn an award it had granted to
the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who classified as
“genocide” the deaths of large numbers of Armenians at Turkish hands
in 1915.
Evans’ comments to an Armenian group in California did not reflect
official U.S. policy.
In recognition of his independent stand, the American Foreign Service
Association decided to present Evans with its “constructive dissent
award.”
The Washington Post reported Thursday that the association decided to
withdraw the award because Evans did not meet the selection criteria.
It said that after complaints from Turkey, Evans amended his remarks
to say the events of 1915 represented an “Armenian tragedy” but not a
genocide.
The Post reported that Evans said he had used the term “genocide” in
his “personal capacity” during “informal meetings,” and “this was
inappropriate.”
The newspaper said the association decided to withdraw the award
shortly before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with
President George W. Bush on Wednesday in Washington.
Separately, Armenia’s foreign minister also was scheduled to hold
talks this week with senior officials.

Pan Armenian News
PROTEST ACTION HELD IN FRONT OF TURKISH EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON
10.06.2005 04:58
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The American National Committee of America reported that
Armenian Americans stood vigil in front of the Turkish Embassy on June 5,
calling attention to that government’s ongoing denial of the Armenian
Genocide, as Turkish and American government officials and industry leaders
attended a kick-off reception for the American Turkish Council (ATC) annual
conference, reported the Armenian National Committee of Greater Washington
(ANC-GW). ANC-GW representatives passed out flyers to reception attendees
informing them that the ATC `has used your good name to deny genocide – a
misguided act that embarrasses you, disgraces the Council, and calls into
question the core values of the company you represent.’ The flyer called on
ATC members to `perform a true service for U.S.-Turkey relations: Urge the
ATC and Turkey to stop denying the Armenian Genocide.’

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
“DIALOGUE IS NO MORE A QUESTION OF CHOICE; IT IS A NECESSITY”
Stated His Holiness Aram I
In his concluding remarks addressed to the international inter-religious
Conference taking place in Geneva, His Holiness Aram I, the Moderator of the
World Council of Churches, said:
“1. Papers that were presented from this podium, interventions that were
made from the flour and discussions that took place in the groups were all
motivated by your sincere desire and strong engagement to continue the
inter-religious dialogue with renewed emphasis and growing pace and by
broadening the scope of our reflection, and by concretising the agenda of
our action. This was, indeed, one of the most significant features of this
gathering.
2. We spoke about issues that separate us. We also spoke about values and
concerns that unite us. Mutual respect and understanding, mutual trust and
acceptance, which are essential conditions of a credible dialogue, have been
so eloquently and existentially manifested throughout the Conference.
Diversities are integral to our religious teachings, beliefs and traditions;
we must preserve and enrich them. Yet, we must together seek and deepen our
common values that may bring us closer to each other as one broader
community transcending our specific communities.
3. We once again reminded ourselves that dialogue is no more a question of
choice; it is a necessity. It is imposed on us by growing globalisation; by
challenges, concerns and anxieties facing our communities. The landscape of
inter-religious dialogue is full of new hopes and new risks, new
uncertainties and new promises. This Conference has provided us with a
unique opportunity to assess the present predicament of our dialogue, spell
out the emerging perspectives and concerns and look forward with a clear
vision of «one world-one humanity».
4. The common desire to go «beyond dialogue» was a permanent trend in our
discussions. Action-oriented dialogue repeatedly came to the fore of our
debate. Indeed, we need a quality of acting together that is generated by
our inter-action; that is based on common values, and sustained by common
vision. Transforming dialogue to relationship, to living together and
working together must remain a common goal.
5. Education in pluralist societies and inter-religious education have been
constantly referred to as priorities. I believe that inter-religious
dialogue must help religions to realistically assess and reassess their
educational approaches, strategies and methodologies in a way that, on the
one hand, they remain faithful to their own teachings and traditions, and on
the other hand, they become relevant and responsive to the particularities
of their specific contexts.
6. The « imagining the future» was one of the clear expectations emanating
from the Conference. We made special efforts to look forward by giving
concrete articulation to our expectations. In this respect we identified a
number of areas and challenges which require inter-religious approach. In my
Introductory remarks I said that this event must become a continuous and
hopefully a growing process. I am happy that many of you echoed positively
to this idea. There are things that we can do together. There are also
things that, for many reasons, we can not do together. We must be realistic,
yet hopeful. We must continue our journey together. People are expecting
moral guidance from religions. At this crucial juncture of the history of
humanity we are called to reassume our vocation, with the profound sense of
responsibility and accountability, in a world torn apart by tensions and
hopelessness. Let us recommit ourselves to continue this common journey of
faith and hope”.
In its final report the Conference emphasised the necessity of continuing
the inter-religious dialogue, relations and collaborations.
##
View picture here:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

Pan Armenian News
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN ARMENIA TO BE CONSIDERED ON VENICE COMMISSION
SESSION
10.06.2005 04:23
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Council of Europe Commission for Democracy through Law
(“Venice Commission”), which this year marks its 15-th anniversary, will
hold its 63-rd plenary session in Venice on 10 and 11 June. On the session
agenda are the examination of a number of important legal texts from
different countries, and the adoption of several opinions. The Commission
will, for example, adopt its second interim opinion on constitutional reform
in Armenia, and discuss the amendments to the law on the procedure for
conducting rallies and demonstrations in this member country. An exchange of
views is foreseen with Tigran Torosian, Vice-President of the National
Assembly of Armenia. Joint opinions of the Venice Commission and the
OSCE/ODIHR on the revised draft amendments to the electoral codes of Armenia
and Azerbaijan will also be adopted. To remind, the Venice Commission
expressed discontent with the draft constitutional amendments adopted in the
NA first reading. It should be also noted that the decision on conducting
extra discussions of the constitutional reform process during the next PACE
plenary session scheduled for June 20-24 was taken by the PACE Bureau on
June 6.

Pan Armenian News
ITALIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN: KEEPING KARABAKH CONFLICT ON WORLD PARLIAMENTS
AGENDA ESSENTIAL
10.06.2005 04:14
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is an urgent necessity to keep the Nagorno Karabakh
issue on the agenda of parliaments all over the world and the press,
Chairman of Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and Migration Issues of
the Italian Senate Fiorella Provera stated during the meeting with the
members of the Azeri Milli Majlis Commission for Foreign Relations and
Interparliamentary Tires. Commission member, deputy Jamil Ghasanly noted
that `though Azerbaijan did not request international organization to settle
the Karabakh conflict, official Baku for the fair settlement of the issue.’
Ms. Provera noted that Italy `always supported Azerbaijan’s position on just
settlement of the conflict.’

A1plus
| 16:10:58 | 10-06-2005 | Official |
3+3. CONDUCTORS ARMENIA AND LITHUANIA
Today RA NA President Arthur Baghdasaryan had a private conversation with
the Lithuanian Parliament President Arturas Paulauskas who is in Armenia on
official visit. Besides the private conversation the Lithuanian delegation
also met the deputies of several groupings and fraction in the NA.
It is noteworthy that the Presidents of both Parliaments found the
cooperation of the Baltic and Southern Caucasian countries with the format
3+3 extremely important as it was appreciated as effective in connection
with experience exchange. The Lithuanian Parliament President mentioned that
in Baku he has discussed the issue with the Azeri Parliament President
Murtuz Alesqerov and has recorded the change of the Azeri previous refusal,
which makes the realization of the new format the demand of the time.
Taking the occasion, secretary of the `National Unity’ Alexan Karapetyan
asked Mr. Paulauskas to refer to the announcement spread by the Azeri Mass
Media that Lithuania admits the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Mr.
Paulauskas said that in answer to the question asked by the Azeri
journalists he has said that problems must be used by negotiations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress