4 SHOTS TO PARTICIPATE IN EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007
DEAUVILLE, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The Europe shooting championship
started in the city of Deauville, France, on March 14. Norayr
Bakhtamian and Robert Voskanian represented Armenia in conpetitions of
grown-ups, and Andranik Pilosian and Romik Vardumian will participate
in the youth tournament. They will compete in 10 metres distance with
blast pistol.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
TURKEY ORGANIZES YEREVAN-VAN CHARTER FLIGHTS
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2007 14:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ For the first time ever, the Turkish government
has allowed direct charter flights from Yerevan to Van for guests
from Armenia who will attend inauguration of restored Akdamar
Church. Prior to inauguration a meeting was held at Turkish MFA with
the participation of representatives of Interior Ministry, Culture
& Tourism Ministry, General Staff, MIT and Gendarmerie General
Command. Representative of Turkish General Staff proposed routine
route Yerevan-Istanbul-Van, SABAH reported.
"BANK KING" IS LEADER WITH 4 POINTS IN CHAMPIONSHIP OF MEN’S CHESS CLUB TEAMS OF ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The 2nd stage meetings took place
at the championship of men’s chess club teams of Armenia being held
at the Chess House after Tigran Petrosian. The "Bank King" (Bankayin
Arqa) won the team of the State Agrarian University of Armenia with
a score of 5:1, and the FIMA won "Hrazdan" with a score of 4:2.
The "Bank King" team with 4 points, the FIMA and "Hrazdan" team with
2 points each are the first three of the tournament table.
U.S. EMBASSY TO ARMENIA "DISAPPOINTED BY WORDS OF ANCA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR"
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2007 15:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. Embassy to Armenia expressed its "deep
disappointment with the statement of ANCA (Armenian National Committee
of America) Exec. Director Aram Hamparian. During a press conference
in Yerevan on March 12 Mr. Hamparian said that the U.S. Senate
will not approve Richard Hoagland’s candidacy as U.S. Ambassador
to Yerevan. R. Hoagland denies the Armenian Genocide and doubts in
premeditated actions of Ottoman Empire authorities.
Particularly, the U.S. Embassy statement says, "His remarks were
a willful distortion of reality and have no place in any serious
discussion about policy differences. Mr. Hamparian’s comments
are particularly out of place in Yerevan, where the Government of
Armenia has already signaled its readiness to work with Ambassador
Hoagland. Neither Ambassador Hoagland nor the Administration has ever
denied the mass murders and forced exile of over 1.5 million Armenians
that occurred in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. During his
confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on
June 28, 2006, Ambassador Hoagland specifically said, on the record,
"No one in the Administration has ever denied the events." He has
read broadly the history of the period. However, the Administration,
and therefore Ambassador-designate Hoagland, does not use the word
"genocide" to describe these events."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ARA SARAFIAN AND YUSUF HALACOGLU STEP BACK OF THEIR INTENTION TO HOLD JOINT RESEARCH DEDICATED TO GENOCIDE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 15 2007
ISTANBUL, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Historians Ara
Sarafian’s and Yusuf Halacoglu’s program of implementing a public
work in Kharberd to research the Armenian Genocide unfortunately
failed. The Turkish Radical newspaper wrote about it on March 14,
mentioning that both were ready to avoid the program in the case
of first possibility, what they did. Ara Sarafian, the head of the
London "Komitas" organization expressed a wish that it is studied
and found out in Kharberd, village by village, family by family,
what happened with Armenians living there. Yusuf Halacoglu, the
Chairman of the History Academy of Turkey said that the information
demanded by Sarafian, did not exist in the Ottaman Archives. Thus,
there is no information about what happened with Armenians living in
Kharberd. After this statement of Halacoglu, Sarafian stated that
that work may not go forward if Halacoglu already says that the
required information does not exist. So, he refused the program of
the public work.
The Turkish newspaper writes that Sarafian did not lose the
possibility of avoiding the work as he was under pressure of the
Armenian Diaspora. The Armenian Diaspora which considers indisputable
the genocide reality, is against organizing with Turks a discussion
concerning the genocide, especially with one most obstinately
protecting the Turkish viewpoint. The newspaper writes that Halacoglu
as well had a rest when he got to know about Sarafian’s refusal as
he was anxious about the future process of the work but did not want
to himself refuse.
IT IS PLANNED TO CREATE MECHANISM OF FIGHTING EMERGENCIES WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF CIS
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. On March 15, RA President Robert
Kocharian received Nikolay Bordyuzha, Secretary General of Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
According to the report submitted to Noyan Tapan from RA President’s
Press Office, the interlocutors discussed the main problems faced by
CST Organization, the ways of their solution, issues connected with
improval of organization’s activity and raising its efficiency.
The previous day, on March 14, N. Bordyuzha had a meeting with Director
of Armenian Rescue Service, Major-General Edik Barseghian.
N. Bordyuzha stated that it is planned to create a mechanism of
fighting emergencies within the framework of CIS, which should be put
into operation during natural calamities and manmade disasters for
the purpose of undertaking the respective actions, preventing dangers
and liquidating consequences. In this issue he attached importance
to high level of rescuers’ preparedness, presence of the necessary
equipment, exchange of information, as well as issues relating to
control system. He also said that they are already working in economic
and industrial spheres in the direction of making special rescuing
equipment more accessible.
In his turn, E. Barseghian presented the history of Armenian rescuing
service, the system of rescuing service, the reforms implemented
lately, the sphere of its activity, its powers, work of separate
subdivisions, systems of training and retraining of rescuers.
As Noyan Tapan was informed from the Rescue Service of RA Ministry of
Territorial Government, the Director of Armenian Rescue Service also
touched upon agreements and cooperation with CIS, mentioned problems of
the sphere, which hamper holding of rescuing activities at high level.
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SPEAKS AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Yerkir
15.03.2007 13:38
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian made a
speech on March 13 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Below is the text of the speech.
Mr. President of the Council,
Madame High Commissioner,
In this first year of this new Council, together with the human rights
community, we have been refining the processes that will empower
this body in order for it to meet our shared high expectations. The
expectations of this Council were high at the outset. They would have
remained high, even if the world were not embroiled in destructive
explosive conflicts. It is no surprise that at the heart of most of
those conflicts, lies an absence of a respect for basic human rights.
Our collective responsibility is to those individuals and groups,
those millions represented through their governments here, as well
as to those whose voices remain muted. They are not interested in
our debates, they know little about the nuance and the detail, but
our seriousness and sincerity will be judged either by their trust
and confidence or by their cynicism and disdain.
With this realization, the strengths of the Commission on Human Rights
drove the need for an even more powerful body. The limitations of that
Commission compelled the creation of a more effective structure with
broader reach. The Universal Periodic Review process, if it lives up
to its name, holds the promise of the impartiality and inclusiveness
we seek and require, in order for the process to transform itself
from a means to an end – from a way of investigating the human rights
environment to enabling an environment where there are human rights.
Our objective is a world where the rights of individuals and groups
are respected, where each neighborhood and each community, each city
and country, each region and continent, are safe havens for all who
live or travel there.
Religion does tear people apart, as do economic disparities, language
and ideology. But the frustrating and fascinating contradiction is
that faith has also bound people together, prosperity has been a
common goal, language and ideology have been shared.
Mr.President, this universal truism is also true in our region.
Unfortunately, the human rights record in our whole region during
the past fifteen years is nothing to be envied; it is a case study in
how human rights abuses lead to conflict and how conflicts heighten
human rights abuses.
>>From pogroms to ethnic cleansing, from destruction of spiritual
markers to vilification of ethnic groups, we have lived through the
worst that man can do to man. It is no wonder that the region has been
mired in conflict since the first days of independence. As we search
for ways to build a peace atop this pain and destruction, however,
it is clear that solutions can only be found through the genuine and
universal acceptance and application of basic, fundamental individual
and collective human rights. There is the formula for peace: The
violation of human rights brought us to this quagmire; the respect
for human rights will get us out.
Indeed it is an entangled web of human rights abuses of varied scope,
nature and depth that has brought our region to this situation. First,
there is the total disrespect of the cultural values of other
people. When a government intentionally plans and executes the
destruction of centuries-old monuments of profound cultural, artistic
and religious significance, that government has violated the spirits of
the dead and the trust of the living. Five thousand Armenian monuments
have been destroyed by the Azerbaijani government in the region of
Nakhichevan in the past few years, simply to eliminate the trace of
a whole nation from that territory.
Second, there is the violation of the right of people to
self-determination.
In the waning days of the USSR, the people of Nagorno Karabakh opted
for self-determination. The Azerbaijani authorities decided to attack
their own citizens to suppress those calls. And by doing so, they
lost the political and moral right to govern people they considered
their own citizens.
Third, there are the negative consequences of the double denialism of
the Turkish government. The denial of the right of their own people
to freely discuss and debate their common past with Armenians, and
the denial to both Armenians and Turks to forge a common future, by
keeping borders closed. Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist
who fell victim to an assassin’s bullet, was the embodiment of both
Turkishness and Armenianness. Hrant Dink had two missions in his life
– to break all taboos within his own society, Turkish society, and
to forge a dialog between Turks and Armenians to reach understanding
and reconciliation.
Indeed, that’s exactly what we want today. There needs to be an open
society within Turkey so that their people can, without the fear of
persecution, freely debate the past, and there has to be an open border
between us so that our two peoples can interact and engage. Only in
this way can we transcend our differences and reconcile.
Now, Mr. President, a word about our own commitment to human rights
and democracy. In this, our 16th year of independence, our people will
be going to the polls to elect a parliament whose powers the people
chose to enhance, to invest them with broad authorities for social
and economic advances. The task of our next government is clear:
to stay the course and more aggressively promote human rights,
alleviate poverty and build effective governing institutions, to
enable our society to embrace democracy individually and collectively.
But the cruelties inherent in the process of massive economic
readjustment that we have been undergoing have led to a sense of
powerlessness on the part of ordinary citizens. As a consequence, they
are cynical about the value of expressing their voice. This means we
must work harder to strengthen democratic institutions and processes,
including elections, because they are not just ends. They are also
means to creating the necessary political and economic environment
which lead to distributed growth and dignified development.
Finally Mr. President, this Council and each of us, its members,
have a responsibility to promote the human rights we hold so dear in
the world, in our regions and in our own societies. There is nothing
new in this formula. Our challenge is to commit to it and make it work.
Thank you.
RA MINISTER OF CULTURE GETS INVITATION TO VISIT TURKEY
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Hasmik Poghosian, the RA Minister of
Culture and Youth Issues got a personal invitation from her Turkish
colleague to participate in the March 29 opening of the Surb Khach
(Saint Cross) church of the Aghtamar island in Turkey. H. Poghosian
also informed journalists on March 15 that the list of the official
delegation of Armenia is not ready yet, but she herself, in all
probability, will leave for Turkey.
CARDIOLOGICAL CLINIC TO BE BUILT IN GORIS WITH FUNDS LEFT BY WILL TO "HAYASTAN" FUND BY FRENCH ARMENIAN BENEFACTOR
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged to build a
regional cardiological clinic in Goris with the funds left by will
to the "Hayastan" (Armenia) All-Armenian Fund by French Armenian
benefactor Grigor Shahinian and with the assistance of the province of
Bouches-du-Rhone, France. It will serve not only the marz of Syunik,
but also the NKR.
The program the total cost of which is more than 1 mln U.S. dollars
will be implemented by the "Hayastan" fund. As the Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed by the Public Relations Department of
the fund, the project of the hospital building is being prepared in
France, by the order of the "France-Armenian Health Care Program"
(ASAF) organization. ASAF representatives will arrive in Armenia in
April to define details of the program implementation.
IN RESPECT OF ECOLOGY YEREVAN’S BAD EXAMPLE SPREADS IN ANOTHER TOWNS OF ARMENIA, ECOLOGISTS STATE
Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Yerevan has serious ecological
problems: the development is carried out with serious violations
of urban development and ecological norms, with destruction of
green zones, parallel to which the number of population and cars
increases year by year. Karine Danielian, Chairwoman of For Stable
Human Development Association, stated this at the March 15 discussion
dedicated to ecological problems. In her words, from point of view of
ecology Yerevan’s worst part is Kentron community where "tall buildings
are built side by side at the expense of green zones." In ecologists’
opinion, "the elite buildings built in Yerevan are not fit for living:
one can only spend a few days there for having a good time."
K. Danielian said that destruction of green zones continues. "Currently
we witness destruction of Pushkin Park, park near Sundukian theater,
one third of which is being developed," she said.
In her words, another Armenian towns already follow Yerevan’s "bad"
example.
"Harmonious development is carried out only in Gyumri, as a result
of which both old cultural structures and green zones are destroyed,"
K. Danielian said.