Month: March 2007

ARMENPRESS

ARMENIAN REPUBLICAN PARTY CONTINUES RECEIVING
CONDOLENCES

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS: The office of the
Armenian Republican Party continues receiving
condolences on the death of the Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Margarian.
Eduard Sharmazanov, the head of the public
relations department of the party, told Armenpress
that they have received condolences from the ARF,
Armenian National Movement party and other political
forces. Members of the government, Armenian parliament
and just common citizens visit the office and express
their condolences. Till late night people continued
going to the office.
According to Sharmazanov, the death of the prime
minister was unexpected for all. Only yesterday he was
giving interviews to the public TV and "Armenia" TV
channel.
Sharmazanov said that at present the day and place
of funerals have not been decided yet. With the task
of the president a commission has been set up which
will conduct its first session tomorrow early in the
morning.

Armenian National Committee of Canada
130 Albert St., Suite 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel. (613) 235-2622 Fax (613) 238-2622

PRESS RELEASE

March 25, 2007

Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian
Tel. (613) 235-2622

The Canadian-Armenian community Grieves the passing of the Prime Minister of
Armenia

Ottawa-The Canadian-Armenian community is in shock at the passing of the
prime minister of Armenia, Andranik Margarian. Margarian, 56, a dissident
during the Soviet era, was appointed prime minister in May 2000, by
President Robert Kocharian.

Mr. Margarian passed away this morning (March 25) of a heart attack in his
apartment in Yerevan, Armenia.

Canadian-Armenian churches across the country organized requiems to mourn
the passing of the prime minister.

Doctor Vagarch Ehramdjian, chairman of the Armenian National Community of
Canada, sent a telegraph to the president of Armenia, expressing the
condolences the Canadian-Armenian Community.

In his letter, Dr. Ehramdjian said the Canadian-Armenian Community is
`deeply saddened by the untimely passing of Prime Minister Margarian.’ He
also asked the president to convey `our condolences to the prime minister’s
family and to the Armenian government.’

President Kocharian has appointed a commission to organize a state funeral
for late prime minister. The death of Margarian was unexpected. Just
yesterday he gave two interviews on Armenian TV.

The speaker of the Armenian National Assembly and the deputy head of the
Armenian Republican Party Tigran Torosian said: `The death of prime minister
and the chairman of the Armenian Republican Party Andranik Margarian is a
great loss for the country. Margarian was not only a great state and
political figure but he was also a person ready to listen to his opponents
and to every citizen.

`It is a great loss for all of us but I think that the party and his friends
must find the strength in themselves and do everything to complete the work
we have started together. It will be our best tribute to the memory of
Andranik Margarian.’

President of Russia Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Mr.
Kocharian, to Margarian’s family and to friends of the prime minister.

-30-

Prime Minister Margarian’s Biography

Armenia’s Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, who was also the chairman of
the Armenian Republican Party, was born on June 12 in 1951 in Yerevan. In
1972 he graduated from the Yerevan Polytechnic University majoring in the
Faculty of Technical Cybernetics.

>From 1972 to 1974 he worked at the Yerevan branch of Scientific-Research
Institute of Gas Industry as a senior engineer. From 1977 to 1978 he worked
at the Scientific-Research Institute of Energy as chief engineer. From 1978
to 1979 he worked in the Energy-Technical Factory as head of department.
>From 1979 to 1990 he worked at the Information Counting Centre of the Trade
Ministry as the head of department of electronics.

>From 1990 to 1994 he was the head of the information department at the State
Department of Special Programs. From 1994 to 1995 he worked in Armenia’s
State Architectural University as junior scientist. In 1999 he was elected
member of parliament and headed the `Unity’ faction.

In 2000 Andranik Margarian was appointed prime minister of Armenia. He
remained in this office after the 2003 parliamentary elections hr led the
established political coalition.

Margarian promoted Armenia’s economic development and was speaking in favour
of establishment peace in the region.

He was awarded the `Garegin Nzhdeh’ medal by the Armenian Defense Ministry,
the `Aram Manukian,’ `Fridjof Nansen’ and `Vazgen Sargsian’ medals.
In June, 1992 he joined the Armenian Republican Party. In October of that
year, he was elected member of the council of the Republican Party. In
December 1993, he was elected the chair of the party’s council. Since then
he has held the same position.

Andranik Margarian was married and had two daughters, one son and five
grandchildren.

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of
the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.

Regional Chapters
Montréal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge – St. Catharines
– Windsor – Vancouver

Panorama.am

17:25 24/03/2007

EXHIBITION OPENS DEDICATED TO ANNUNCIATION DAY

Today Araratian diocese opened the personal exhibition of Lilit
Khalatyan, a 14-year old girl. The exhibition opened with the
blessings of Navasard Archbishop Kchoyan. It is dedicated to St. Mary
Annunciation Day.

The Annunciation Day is announced Mothers’ Day under the authority of
Catholicos Garegin B on April 7. This year it coincides with the end
of the Lent.

Source: Panorama.am

Elif Safak: Dink wanted to shatter the silence in Turkey

ArmRadio.am
23.03.2007 14:30

`The editor-in-chief of the Agos week;y Hrant Dink wanted to shatter
the silence in Turkey on the 1915 deportation and massacres of
Armenians, believing that remembrance was a responsibility,’ writer
Elif Shafak wrote in the Turkish Daily News.

`According to him, only if and when Turks and Armenians mourned this
tragedy together would we be able to start a new and better future,’
Safak stated.

`In a country stamped with collective amnesia, Hrant struggled for
memory,’ the Turkish writer noted.

Territories are life and security for Karabakh people

23-03-2007 11:53:24 – KarabakhOpen

Recently the mediators and political scientists have been using often
the term `provisional status’. What is it? What will Karabakh have to
face to once it accepts it?

The talks in Geneva, which generated `optimal’ proposals on solving
two issues, pullout of Armenian force from the territories around
Nagorno Karabakh and a provisional status for the unrecognized state
until a referendum is held, aroused anger among part of the public.
It should be noted that the people we talked to had no idea of this
decision, and these people had different occupations.

Narine Stepanayan from Stepanakert was indignant. `Are they trying to
fool us? How can people ever agree to return these territories? Whom
did the idea of pullout of force occur to? Who can guarantee our
security? Who gave Merzlyakov the right to decide our fate? We did not
fight to be caught in a trap today. The OSCE Minsk Group and the other
similar organizations should take into account what these territories
mean to each people. If for the people of Karabakh they are life and
security, for Azerbaijanis they are caprice and additional
territory. People may agree to live without luxury but they will fight
for their security and life. And no talks in Geneva can persuade of
the contrary.’

`Status? What status? We gained our status a long time ago. And it
sounds like this: we have established a state, we will be independent,
only our force will guard our security,’ Ashot Sargsyan comments. `The
winners are not judged. And we do not have to accept the terms of our
neighbor unless they are acceptable for us.’

`For me such decisions are not unexpected. I will not be surprised if
our government signs such an agreement,’ says Sergey Danielyan. `The
old saying runs: `If you want peace, prepare for war’. Today there is
an interesting situation in Karabakh. There is uncertainty in the
republic, whereas our `in charge’ are competing whose car is bigger
and more expensive and whose house is nicer. Their behavior shows that
they also want peace, but it is not clear who will be preparing for
war.’

Mortgage loan eligibility benchmarks not set yet

23-03-2007 11:53:09 – KarabakhOpen

The government has confirmed the order of mortgage lending. The
government has also confirmed the staff of the commission, which sets
the benchmarks of eligibility for mortgage lending.

The commission continues to work on the benchmarks, said Armen
Avagyan, the d irector of the Artsakh Development Agency, in an
interview with KarabakhOpen.

The mortgage lending policy is implemented by the ADA. This year the
government assigned 700 million drams for mortgage loans.

According to Armen Avagyan, after ratification by the prime minister
the benchmarks will be released. Afterwards the applications will be
accepted. Armen Avagyan said they will probably announce the date of
submission of application in late March or in early April.

All the territories are under NKR jurisdiction

23-03-2007 11:53:03 – KarabakhOpen

I should note first that our territories are not related to Armenia.
The liberated territories are the reality that emerged in the result
of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict, said Arthur Mosiyan, the
representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Central Committee to Artsakh,
in an interview with KarabakhOpen. ` During the war our soldiers drew
the present border of NKR with blood. It is set down in the
Constitution adopted in December of last year that all these
territories are under the NKR jurisdiction. Different countries may
define the reality in different ways.’

Over 150 families resettle in Karabakh in 2006 – agency

Arminfo
23 Mar 07

Stepanakert, 23 March: In 2006, 155 families (487 people, including 66
children) were resettled in Nagornyy Karabakh from Armenia and other
countries.

They received a resettler’s status and enjoy privileges given by the
government. In total, 105 houses have been built for resettlers, and
another 38 have been renovated. The number of refugees registered by
the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh republic] Department for Migration,
Refugees and Resettlers, stands at 3,840. According to Serzh
Amirkhanayn, head of the department, the process of registering
refugees is coming to an end. The main efforts in 2008-10 will be
directed towards resolving the housing problems of refugees. In 2006,
26 houses were built and renovated for the refugees, and 11 of them
are in Stepanakert. In addition, 24 houses were acquired for
refugees. Last year [2006], about 1bn drams [about 2.8m dollars] were
spent on the programme. Forms now are being filled in to identify the
size of moral and material damages each family has incurred so that to
provide them with compensation in the future. Another 12 houses will
be built for refugee families in 2007. According to Amirkhanyan, the
efforts of Armenia, Artsakh [Karabakh] and the [Armenian] diaspora
need to be consolidated to solve the problems of refugees.

Armenian pressure group urges tougher stance on Karabakh

Arminfo
22 Mar 07

Yerevan, 22 March: The Defence of Liberated Territories of NKR
[Nagornyy Karabakh republic] organization believes that the statement
by the US Department of State that Nagornyy Karabakh and seven regions
have been occupied by Armenia is the product of Yerevan’s defeatist
policy on the Nagornyy Karabakh issue, a statement by the organization
said today.

According to the organization, the US State Department’s declaration
was the result of the constant talk by the Armenian authorities about
readiness to cede territories. The statement said it is notable that
the US State Department did not mention the names of Vardan
Malkhasyan, a member of the Defence of Liberated Territories
organization, and Zhirayr Sefilyan, the head of the organization, in
the list of political prisoners. The prisoners are categorically
against the return of territories under the Armenian control. "This
is not only a case of double standards by the United States, but also
an attempt to support the ruling anti-people regime," the statement
said.

The authors of the statement also criticized the leader of the Orinats
Yerkir (Law-governed country) Party, former parliament speaker Artur
Baghdasaryan, who they said "dreamt of Turkish investments and
Azerbaijani energy". They criticized him for an interview with The
Wall Street Journal, in which he talks of the "necessity of the issue
of disputable territories of Nagornyy Karabakh". "Using such
statements Baghdasaryan, who pretends to be in opposition, seeks
favours from the West," the statement said.

Armenian opposition movement to stage rally in capital despite ban

Arminfo
22 Mar 07

Yerevan, 22 March: "Yerevan mayor’s office has not made the decision
to prohibit staging of a rally within the allowed deadline," Nikol
Pashinyan, one of the leaders of the opposition Alternative movement
and Impeachment bloc and editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak
newspaper, has said.

He said that the Alternative movement is not going to give up staging
the planned rally on 23 March from 1700 [1300 gmt] to 1900 [1500 gmt]
exactly at the Freedom Square.

The first instance court of Yerevan’s Centre and Norq-Marash
communities has denied the suit by the leaders of the Aleternative
movement, Nikol Pashinyan and Petros Makeyan, against Yerevan mayor
Yervand Zakharyan. The leaders demanded that the mayor recognize his
13 March ban to stage a rally at the Freedom Square on 23 March
invalid. The court acknowledged that the mayor’s office did make a
mistake in terms of the timing of informing the organizers about its
decision. However, the court deemed this insufficient for declaring
the mayor’s decision void.