Month: March 2007

RUMORS ABOUT NOMINATION OF ARTUR AGABEKYAN FOR NKR PRESIDENCY ARE NOT TRUE

Arminfo
2007-02-28 19:01:00

The rumors that ex Deputy DM of Armenia, ARFD member Artur Agabekyan
will be nominated for Nagorno-Karabakh presidency are not true,
says the vice speaker of the Armenian parliament, ARFD member Vahan
Hovhannissyan.

ARFD has never had such goals. Agabekyan will certainly be on the
party’s electoral ticket after Hovhannissyan and the chairman of the
parliamentary commission on foreign affairs Armen Rustamyan.

To note, a few days ago ARFD members met with Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan and Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassyan. The
official sources say that the sides discussed the Karabakh problems
but rumors say that the key topic was Agabekyan’s nomination for the
post of Armenian Defence Minister.

AZERI OFFICIALS HAVE REPEATEDLY ADMITTED THAT THEY HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA: VICE SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT

Arminfo
2007-02-28 18:39:00

The international public opinion, international organizations and
mass media as well the Azeri and Armenian societies are the key
target of the Azeri and Turkish propaganda, the vice speaker of the
Armenian Parliament Vahan Hovhannissyan said during today’s discussion
"Armenian Response to Azeri and Turkish Propaganda."

Hovhannissyan noted that their news are often contradictory and this is
a good chance for Armenia. Azerbaijan is trying to scare the Armenian
public with tales about huge oil budget and big population.

Their goal is to raise panic in the Armenian society but they will
not succeed as the Armenian society is winner rather than loser.

Hovhanissyan said that it is not right to endure or ignore this
propaganda.

"We must remember that Azerbaijan has always been stronger than Armenia
– in 1994 its budget was much bigger than that of Armenia, but Armenia
has always been able to cope with the Azeris and has defeated them,"
says Hovhannissyan.

The Azeri public is also a victim of Azeri propaganda: the Azeri
authorities keep convincing their people that Azerbaijan is much
stronger than Armenia and will force it to its knees.

They keep talking about war but why aren’t they starting it? In
fact, they are not going to attack Armenia: they have just started a
multi-million Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railroad project. Hovhannissyan
noted that this project is much more dangerous for Armenia than
Azerbaijan’s threats. So, Armenia must ask international organizations
to veto arms transportation via that road.

ARMEN RUSTAMIAN: SUMGAYIT WAS CONTINUATION OF 1915

Noyan Tapan
Feb 28 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. A commemoration procession towards
the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex of Armenian Genocide victims
took place on February 28 on the initiative of ARFD Nikol Aghbalian
student union. The procession was dedicated to the 19th anniversary
of massacres of Armenians in Azerbaijani city of Sumgayit.

Over 200 young people, political, public figures, deputies,
intellectuals took part in the procession. They laid wreaths to the
memorial to the Armenian martyrs who perished in Sumgayit.

ARFD Armenian Supreme Body representative Armen Rustamian said in
his speech that the civilized world should recognize the Sumgayit
massacres. "The barbarities committed 19 years ago were the result
of Azerbaijan’s hostile policy towards Armenians. This was the
continuation of the Genocide committed in 1915," he emphasized.

Writer, publicist Zori Balayan, in his turn, declared that the Armenian
people should not only remember its victims, but also should continue
to demand restoration of justice. "Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy
fits into the logic of chauvinism and extremism," he said.

INVOLVEMENT OF NKR IN NEGOTIATIONS WILL GIVE A NEW MEANING AND CONTENT TO THIS PROCESS, RA NA VICE-SPEAKER VAHAN HOVHANNISIAN DECLARES

Noyan Tapan
Feb 28 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. NKR should take part in the
negotiations over Nagorno Karabakh settlement, otherwise these
negotiations are senseless.

Vahan Hovhannisian, ARFD Bureau member, RA National Assembly
Vice-Speaker, declared at the February 28 discussion on the subject
"Armenian Reflection of Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s Propaganda" organized
by ARFD Armenian Supreme Body. "We should make our position stricter
demanding to involve NKR in the negotiations process," he stated. In
V. Hovhannisian’s words, this will give a new meaning and content to
the negotiations process.

As he estimated, Azerbaijani-Turkish propaganda has three targets –
the international instances, Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples. At that,
in V. Hovhannisian’s words, at international instances Azerbaijan
is presented as a "poor and starving country," while among Armenian
and Azerbaijani peoples it is presented as strong and mighty. "We
should be able to show this contradiction in a compared way to the
international community," the ARFD Bureau member said.

Touching upon the issue of construction of Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi-Baku
railway, V. Hovhannisian said that Armenia should raise the question
of making it controllable at international instances to exclude arms
transportation by this railway.

AZERBAIJANI OFFICER RAMIL SAFAROV SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT TO SERVE HIS PUNISHMENT AT REFORMATORY OF STRICT REGIME

Noyan Tapan
Feb 28 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The April 13, 2006 sentence of
Budapest first instance court on case of RA Armed Forces Officer Gurgen
Margarian’s murder has come into force from February 22. According to
the sentence, the murderer sentenced to life imprisonment, Azerbaijani
Officer Ramil Safarov who was at Budapest investigation isolator should
be moved to a reformatory of strict regime. Lawyer Nazeli Vardanian
representing the interests of the aggrieved party reported this at
the February 28 press conference.

She informed the press conference that the complaint of R. Safarov’s
Hungarian defender Madyar Dorji was heard at Budapest Appeal Court
on February 22.

According to the complaint, though the first instance court examined
the case very thoroughly, nevertheless, many violations were
committed: four expertises were made, but when passing the sentence
the court took as a basis only the defender’s first testimony when the
Azerbaijani Officer confessed that this was an aforethought murder,
that unless he killed the Armenian officer at that moment, the murder
would be committed at another place. R. Safarov had also said that he
had become a serviceman in order to exterminate all Armenians of the
world. M. Dorji declared at the court that his defendant gave the first
evidence in Russian without lawyer’s presence and did not understand
what he was saying. At the same time, he said that Hungarians cannot
understand why R. Safarov killed the Armenian Officer and why this is
qualified in a different way in Azerbaijan and "to kill an Armenian
is not considered as a crime there."

Prosecutor Edit Bagi in his charge qualified the murder as a cruel,
inhuman murder with many aggravating circumstances. "For us, it is very
important to estimate the murder as a fact and not to assess to what
culture R. Safarov belongs," the Prosecutor said. In the Prosecutor’s
words, R. Safarov was away from Azerbaijan in the years of war, he
did not witness the war and none of his relatives perished in that
war. Therefore, as the Hungarian Prosecutor said, the defendant could
not suffer and get into stress when seeing an Armenian.

In her speech made at the sitting Hungarian lawyer Gabriela Gaspar
representing the interests of the aggrieved party said that R. Safarov
had committed this murder for being heroized. In her words, the
same is noticed in Turkey when they tried to heroize the criminal
having committed the murder of Armenian journalist in Istanbul. "The
strictest punishment should be kept to put an end to manifestations of
genocide, for people not to be killed for their national belonging,"
G. Gaspar said.

In N. Vardanian’s words, "the Azerbaijanis have an opportunity to
apply to Strasbourg court, which will be only favorable for us." "So,
Azerbaijanis will show their cultural peculiarities in the center of
Europe, that is, a murder committed on ethnic ground is not a crime,"
she said.