Month: March 2007

ARMENIA SHOULD KEEP UP SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2007 17:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenia has endured its worst times thanks to
reasonable policy and peace," UNDP Director of Bureau for Europe and
the Commonwealth, Ms. Kori Udovicki said. Nevertheless, Armenia has
much to do for a greater development, according to her.

"The UNDP assists the Armenian government in entering the next
stage of the strategic program for reducing poverty, first of all in
the regions," she said. In her words, it will allow the residents
of distant regions to assume responsibility for their own economic
welfare, forthcoming parliamentary election and democratic future of
the state, reports

TURKISH PARLIAMENT REJECTS MOTION AGAINST PM AND INTERIOR MINISTER

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2007 17:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Parliament has rejected the inquiry motion
filed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) against
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu.

In the vote held on Tuesday afternoon, Turkish MPs voted 321-to-118
to reject the motion. Submitted by the CHP vice chairmen to the
parliament presidency on Feb. 15, the motion accused Erdogan and
Aksu of "breach of duty" in a series of events including the murder
of Agos editor Hrant Dink, the attack on the Council of State and the
killing of Catholic priest Andrea Santoro. On Feb. 13, the parliament
rejected the censure motion filed against Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu by center-right Motherland Party (ANAVATAN), reports Cihan News
Agency-National.

NA SITTING FAILED

A1+
[04:54 pm] 28 February, 2007

Today the NA sitting failed because of the absence of the necessary
quorum. Out of 131 deputies only 23 were registered.

To remind, the agenda covered several draft laws awaiting second and
third hearing.

In case the necessary quorum is not provided tomorrow, the NA will
likely convene plenary session which will coincide with the election
campaign and therefore will arouse doubt among the public.

In this respect, Tigran Torosyan’s concern over organizing hasty
discussion of the draft law on insurance sphere during the four-day
session seems to be justified.

To remind, when Gurgen Arsenyan, leader of the United Labour Party,
highlighted the importance of the main law and urged not to consider
the packet in haste, Tigran Torosyan announced that unless the
packet was passed, the insurance field would remain out of control
by September-October which would greatly harm the sphere.

Thus, none of the bills of the agenda has been discussed today and
it is difficult to predict whether they will be considered lest the
necessary quorum (66 deputies) is provided in the Parliament.

SUICIDE IN YEREVAN

A1+
[05:10 pm] 28 February, 2007

On February 28, at about 1:15 p.m., an elderly man committed suicide
throwing himself from Victory bridge. The operative group identified
the dead man; it was Gurgen Tamaryan (b. in 1938), resident of Yerevan.

An action was brought in the prosecutor’s office of Malatia-Sebastia
communities.

SUMGAIT EVENTS MUST BE RECOGNISED WORLD-WIDE

A1+
[06:35 pm] 28 February, 2007

The Azeris started the Sumgait events with the assassination of the
Ghambaryans. 62-year-old Alexandre Ghambaryan became the first victim
of the Azeris. Romik Ghambaryan, Alexandre Ghambaryan’s son, says that
the other members of the family could hardly survive from the massacre.

According to the official data over 26 people died in Sumgait, whereas
Mr. Ghambaryan claims that their number surpassed 100 as he can give
the names of about 30 Armenian victims.

Hrayr Ulubabyan, head of the initiative protecting the rights of the
Sumgait Armenians, says that corpses were lying in rows which testify
that the number of murdered Armenians was greater.

The most striking is the fact that neither the international community
nor Armenia has recognised the events of Sumgait as massacre.

"Azerbaijan constantly dwells on the events of Khojalu, whereas Armenia
sits with crossed hands; though we have faced numerous suchlike
massacres, no measures have been taken in this view" complains Mr.
Ghambaryan.

Hrayr Ulubabyan says that "Azerbaijan does its best to show that
Armenia is an aggressor, whereas Armenians go on international tours".

In his words, there is no need that the Sumgait events were
well-planned and organised. "They wanted to silence the Karabakh
issue by the Sumgait murders", he says.

In order to prevent suchlike crimes we must be "wiser and sober,
we must have patriotic and powerful authorities".

To note, there were over 20 000 Armenians living in Sumgait; 4000 of
them immigrated to Armenia and 4000 – to Russia. There is no data on
the rest.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VAHAN HOVHANNISIAN CONTEMPLATES OVER THE ELECTIONS

A1+
[07:23 pm] 28 February, 2007

"There are rumors that ARF Dashnaktsutyun is preparing Arthur
Aghabekyan as a candidate for the NKR president. I dare say the
rumors don’t correspond to the reality. This is all "insinuation";
the rumors are fabricated", Vahan Hovhannisyan, Deputy NA Speaker
and member of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun board announced today.

Mr. Hovhannisyan says that he won’t run for the parliamentary elections
by majority system. As for the proportional list of the party, the NA
Deputy Speaker said, "ARF Dashnaktsutyun has already formed its list
which will be made public by the Supreme Body one of these days. I
am not a member of the Supreme Body and I shall become acknowledged
with the list together with you".

While speaking of the decision of the oppositional forces to run
for the elections on their own, Mr. Hovhannisyan noted, "Powerful
opposition is a perfect mechanism to control elections and provide
their transparency and justice. We can collaborate separately with
each oppositional force".

In Mr Hovhannisyan’s opinion, the decision of the oppositional forces
is determined by the complexity of the oppositional field.

Everybody realises that these elections are not merely parliamentary
elections as they pave a way for the presidential ones.

"All the candidates topping the proportional lists are potential
candidates for the presidency. The ambitions of the opposition
hindered them to find a common language", said Vahan Hovhannisyan
while commenting on the step of the opposition.

SAFAROV TO BE MOVED TO STRICT REGIMEN PENITENTIARY

A1+
[08:33 pm] 28 February, 2007

The murder of the Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan by the Turkish
Officer Ramil Safarov was a crime aimed at breaking the internal
tranquility of Hungary.

Besides, it brutally offends the country’s hospitality. This is
a quotation from the verdict brought by the Appellate Court of
Budapest on the hearing of February 22. Nazeli Vardanyan, the lawyer
representing the interests of Gurgen Margaryan’s side and Hayk Demoyan,
Director of the "Genocide" Institute-Museum also touched upon the
issue in their letters to the Court.

As stated by Nazeli Vardanyan, after examining the case thoroughly the
judge Piroshka Karpati announced that after many-lateral consideration
the verdict of April 13 2006, i.e., a life-long imprisonment, would
enter into force without further changes. Moreover, the judge added,
that "nowadays people cannot be killed for their ethnic identity".

As soon as the verdict became public Azeris proclaimed that it
was not only Ramil Safarov’s case but that of the entire Azeri
nation. According to Hayk Demoyan though, it is notable that for the
first time the Azeri embassy was not represented at the court.

Apparently they knew, that things could go that way.

Within eight days Azeris declared that they would challenge the
court decision at a higher judicial body. Nazeli Vardanyan says
their efforts are surely to fail. Of course they can forward the
case to the Strasburg Human Rights Tribunal, however in this case the
Armenian side will only gain from it. "The Azeris will prove smarter
in case they don’t bring this disgraceful crime to the forefront of
the European public’s attention and disclose the inhuman faces of
their army officers", says Hayk Demoyan.

Ramil Safarov will be transferred from the investigative isolation
cabin to the strict regimen penitentiary to serve his punishment term
as was initially ruled. According to Nazeli Vardanyan his extradition
is out of question since there has been no precedent of extraditing
life-long convicts in Hungary. "That was the reason for the Ramil
Safarov’s lawyer Madyar Dorj wanting to soften the initial court
ruling, so that it would be easier to bring him back, but there was
no way for that anyway", assures Vardanyan. As for the compensation,
she says it is a subject of another trial and they will make sure
that this matter is brought to the court too.

10% ECONOMIC GROWTH OPTIMAL FOR STATES IN TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2007 14:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "An objective criterion should be derived taking into
account the volume of economic growth. However that may be in future,
presently the facts are as follows: the growth rate in Azerbaijan is
the highest in the region," Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga said
in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"The same refers to Russia. Nevertheless, other principles should
also be considered. It’s a complex phenomenon. Economic growth of
some 10 per cent is optimal and safe for the states experiencing
transformation," she said.

TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP TO HAVE POSITIVE IMPACT ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2007 15:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Poland supports Turkey’s bid for the European
Union. It will be beneficial for the entire region and will have a
positive impact on the Armenian-Turkish relations," Polish Foreign
Minister Anna Fotyga said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"However, Turkey faces a long process. This state has to confirm
adherence to European values first of all.

Poland enjoys good relations with Turkey and used to be its strategic
partner once. After a serious political discussion we concluded
that we should support this state. I would also like to note that
Poland was ready to mediate for normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations. We enjoy close historical ties with both countries, but
it’s a special case. I am convinced that Yerevan and Ankara will
reconcile sooner or later. We can help if Armenia and Turk

AGOS EDITOR AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2007 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Etyen Mahchupyan, a Turkish scholar of Armenian
descent, who became the new editor-in-chief of Agos after the murder of
Hrant Dink, said at a meeting held at the Washington-based think-tank
Woodrow Wilson Center that he was against the Armenian Genocide bill,
which has been submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives for
approval, reports CNN-TURK.