Month: March 2007

1/4 OF RESPONDENTS DO NOT KNOW WHO IS THE LEADER OF PROSPEROUS ARMENIA

Panorama.am
17:13 30/03/2007

There are some political parties the leaders of which have higher
rating, for example, Orintas Yerkir and Heritage (Jarangutiun). In
the case of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnakcutiun)
the case is different. Most of the times, the respondents do not
know who is the leader of Dashnakcutiun, Aharon Adibekyan, renowned
sociologist in Armenia, unveils the study results.

Prosperous Armenia (PA) is engaged in large-scale promotion but ¼ of
the respondents do not know who is the leader of PA. "Dashnakcutiun
has a collective governance system. That is why people do not know
one single leader," the sociologist says also saying his forecasts
may have 1 percent error of measurement.

–Boundary_(ID_r6IKn9KSFXKIaupD81T1M w)–

NEWLY APPOINTED AMBASSADOR SAYS ARMENIANS AND ITALIANS HAVE SIMILAR MANNERS

Panorama.am
21:30 30/03/2007

Massimo Lavetso Kassineli, newly appointed ambassador of Italy in
Armenia, presented his credentials to the Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan. Kocharyan congratulated the ambassador with the appointment
pinpointing to high level of cultural and economic links between
Armenia and Italy reported during the time of his predecessor. The
president wished to witness logical continuation of active relations.

Aassador Kassineli said that he has been in Yerevan for several days
and noticed similarities between Armenians and Italians in manners. He
believes it will also help to bring the bilateral relations closer,
president press services report.

The ambassador said he will focus on Armenian-Italian cooperation
among small and mid sized companies. The president wished success to
the ambassador in all his endeavors.

VARDAN OSKANYAN SPEAKS ABOUT ST. CROSS CHURCH WITHOUT A CROSS

Panorama.am
17:02 30/03/2007

The Armenian foreign minister, Vardan Oskanyan, said if a cross
were placed on St. Cross Church on Aghtamar Island, Turkey, "our
participation would have been much more representative," and the
Armenian Apostolic Church would have attended the ceremony.

Speaking about the opinions, which say that Armenia should have
refused any participation in the inauguration, Oskanyan said, "Do
not forget that it is an Armenian monument and it belongs to us. We
must have made some presence there to show the world that it is an
Armenian church. I believe our presence there was a must in order
not to give way to Turkish propaganda."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RENOWNED SOCIOLOGIST AND JUK LAY A BET

Panorama.am
17:12 30/03/2007

"If People’s Way Party (JUK) receives 0.8 percent of votes, I will
say farewell to sociology," Aharon Adibekyan, head of Sociometer
sociological center, told a news conference today.

Earlier Manuk Gasparyan, chairman of JUK, said that the center is
publishing figures according to orders.

Gasparyan laid a bet with the sociologist saying he must leave
sociology in case JUK collects more votes.

At the doors of parliamentary elections, several figures have ordered
sociological surveys to Aharon Adibekyan. Refusing to name the
customers, Adibekyan said 30 percent of population knows who to vote,
30 percent will not participate in elections and another 30 percent
is undecided. The sociologist believes regression of Orinats Yerkir
and emergence of Prosperous Armenia in the political field explained
the unprecedented situation.

The sociologist names 8 political parties that can overcome 5 percent
limit in the elections. Prosperous Armenia is in the first place,
followed by Armenian Republican Party (HHK), Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnakcutiun) and National Unity (AM).

Adibekyan believes HHK is still in the leading position whereas
Prosperous Armenia managed to take votes from the opposition. The
sociologist says these are preliminary data since changes may take
place in the course of the election campaign.

TURKEY REOPENS ARMENIAN CHURCH

United Press International
March 30 2007

Armenian officials came to Turkey for a ceremony marking the renovation
of an 11-century-old church.

Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations. But the reopening
of the church as a museum is perceived as a fence-mending gesture by
the Turkish government, the BBC reports.

Patriarch Mesrob II, who heads the Armenian Orthodox Church in Turkey,
said the government could improve relations by allowing religious
services to be held in the church at least once a year.

"If our government approves, it will contribute to peace between
two communities who have not been able to come together for years,"
he said.

The government spent $1.5 million on the Church of Surp Khach, or
Holy Cross, on Akdamar Island in Lake Van. The building, dating from
around A.D. 920, is considered one of the finest surviving Armenian
monuments in Turkey.

Deputy Culture Minister Gagik Gyurjyan headed an Armenian delegation
of about 20 who attended the ceremony.

EITHER APOLOGY OR RESIGNATION

A1+
[05:32 pm] 30 March, 2007

"Hasmik Poghosyan, RA Minister of Culture, must apologise in front of
all Armenians for sending a delegation to the opening ceremony of the
Surb Khach (St. Cross); otherwise we shall demand her resignation,"
Narek Galstyan, member of "Sargis Tkhruny" Youth Union announced today.

"Mr. Gyurginyan, didn’t you feel ashamed on seeing the picture of
Ataturk on the wall of the church, while cuting the red ribbon. Was the
church built by the Turks?" Narek Galstyan addressed to Mr. Gyurginyan,
deputy head of the ministry.

"People must have a chance to pray and burn incense inside the
church. Mr. Mutafyan, Archbishop of Polis, and Gagik Gyurginyan, deputy
minister of Culture are top blame for this farse. They cognized that
Surb Khach is a Turkish cathedral. They must have taken a cross to the
opening ceremony and present it to the church," Sahak Manoukyan says.

In his words the renovation of the church has political motivation as
Turkey wants to obscure the historical facts and to show how civilized
the country has become towards Armenia.

The rehabilitation of the Armenian single church in the territory is
not only inadmissible but also disgraceful.

Members of "Sargis Tkhrouni" will organise a protest action opposite
the Government premises and demand Hasmik Poghosyan’s resignation in
case the latter doesn’t apologise before public.

RELIGIOUS HEADS GUIDED BY UNWRITTEN LAWS

Panorama.am
20:59 30/03/2007

Hakob Chakryan, expert in Turkish studies, had visited St. Cross
Church of Aghtamar Island before the restoration. "It had no door, the
sacristy was totally destroyed… There were sculptures from old and
new testaments on the wall with signs of gunshots. At least by becoming
a museum it will be saved from destruction," Hakob Chakryan said.

He believes we should not negatively assess the restoration of the
church. Chakryan is not surprised.

He expected that St. Cross would be opened as a museum. However,
it is unacceptable for the religious heads of the country. The
Armenian Apostolic Church believes it is immoral to take part in the
inauguration of St. Cross Church as a museum because it used to serve
as a stable, arms storage and refuge for soldiers.

"I believe no man of church would be delighted to take part in the
ceremony," Ter Vahram, a clergy, said. He said our religious fathers
declined the Turkish side based on moral laws, which are not written.

ARMINCO FINED IN THE AMOUNT OF $5.5 THOUSAND

Panorama.am
21:02 30/03/2007

Internet provider "Arminco" was fined in the amount of 2 million
Armenian drams or $5.5 thousand. Public Services Regulatory Committee
reached the decision today. Having no respective license, Arminco
provided international telephone services. ArmenTel CJSC also supported
the happening. Arminco is assigned to stop international telephone
service provision based on the decision of the committee. The fine
will be paid to the Armenian state budget in the course of 2 weeks.

RA DEFENSE MINISTER EXPRESSES GRATITUDE TO HIS AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN COUNTERPARTS

ArmRadio.am
31.03.2007 12:40

On the occasion of ratification of RA National Security Strategy,
on behalf of RA President the Secretary of the Presidential Council
on National Security, RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan sent letters
of gratitude to the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary
of the Security Council of Russia Igor Ivanov for methodological
assistance of the US National University of Defense and the Russian
Presidential Academy of State Service in the process of working out
the National Security Strategy of Armenia.

THE HISTORY OF AKHTAMAR IS A CULTURAL GENOCIDE, THE TURKISH PAPER WRITES

ArmRadio.am
31.03.2007 13:33

The Turkish Daily News published an article titled "The so-called
Akdamar museum," the author of which calls the opening ceremony of
the renovated Church of the Holy Cross a "cultural genocide." "Today
is indeed the day of the opening of the Akhtamar Church, which the
Minister of Culture turned into a mess, " Cengiz Candar wrote in
the article.

The Ministry has renamed the 1000-year-old Armenian capital "Ani" as
"Anı" (which means "memory" in Turkish), and also removed the cross
and the bells from the Ahtamar Church, which it renamed as "Akdamar"
(which means "white vein" in Turkish.) This obsession with renaming,
the cultural and religious intolerance shown towards the cross and
the church bell, might well be perceived in the world as a "cultural
genocide"; nobody should be surprised if that turns out to be the case.

Who will believe that you are secular, or that you "respect all
faiths," or that you represent "the alliance of civilizations against
the clash of civilizations?" What you do is simply "cultural genocide."

The author reminds that Hrant Dink was treacherously murdered with
a shot in the back on Jan. 19. During the time of his murder, the
last Agos newspaper he prepared, Agos’s 564th issue has just hit the
newsstands. The headline of the newspaper was on Akhtamar and so was
the editorial, which Hrant wrote and signed as "Agos." "The opening
of the restored Surp Hac Armenian Church of Ahtamar Island has turned
into a comedy. It could only be possible to put a right job on a
wrong course so successfully. The impossible-to-hide hidden motive
could not be more revealing. A real comedy… A real tragedy… The
government hasn’t still been able to formulate a correct approach to
the "Armenian question." Its real aim is not to solve the problem, but
to gain points like a wrestler in a contest. How and when it will make
the right move and defeat its opponent. That’s the only concern. This
is not earnestness. The state calls on Armenian historians to discuss
history, but does not shy from trying its own intellectuals who have
an unorthodox rhetoric on the Armenian genocide.

It restores an Armenian church in the Southeast, but only thinks, "How
can I use this for political gains in the world, how can I sell it?"

They shot Hrant on the day this article was published. And today,
they replace the cross with the icing on the cake, when they open the
Ahhtamar Sourp Hac Church as "Akdamar." Then the "alleged genocide" and
"alliance of civilizations" rhetoric will follow, Cengiz Candar writes.

–Boundary_(ID_1WHZUAkR0E/+aHR78xAD2g)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress