Month: April 2007

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DISCUSSES TIES, MIDDLE EAST WITH EGYPTIAN COUNTERPART

Arminfo
17 Apr 07

Yerevan, 17 April: Armenia defends position of Arab countries in all
international bodies, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has said
during his meeting with ambassadors of the Arab League in Cairo.

Speaking of the Iraq issue, Kocharyan said that it should be settled
first of all through gradual reduction of foreign military presence
in Iraq; secondly, through a dialogue between ethnic groups of
the county, as well as engagement of interested countries in the
process of peaceful settlement in that country. "The developments in
Iraq showed that the initial calculations were not right, and that
no simple solutions could be applied in a country with complicated
structure. The Armenian community [in Iraq] too suffers from the war
in Iraq. Armenia did not participate in the initial phase of the war,
and its presence mission is only humanitarian," Kocharyan said.

At their meeting, Egyptian President Husni Mubarak and Kocharyan
discussed political and economic cooperation as well as the situation
in the Middle East. "The Egyptian president and I spoke in different
languages but understood each other quite well," Kocharyan told
journalists following the meeting.

GENOCIDE IN MARAGHA WAITS CONDEMNATION

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
18 April 07

On April 9 the presentation of "Maragha", a CD by the TV reporter
Narine Aghabalian, took place at Arsakh State University. "Maragha"
includes footages, documents, photos about the massacre of Armenians
in the village of Maragha, Martakert region. The first part includes
an interview with Caroline Cox, member of the British House of Lords
(2006), the footages of the next day of the Genocide. The second part
includes the stories of the people who survived the massacre, IDs,
newspaper and internet stories, maps, satellite photos.

Most documents were provided by Against Legal Arbitrariness Foundation
(Armenia) which prepared on protocol 1503 a package document in
1996-1997 to report to the UN Council for Human Rights, but failed
to for whatever reason. The section of photos contains photos of
exhumation, the victims, Nor Maragha. "We must remember and remind
everyone about Maragha. We owe to the people of Maragha who were killed
or now live in different parts of the world," said Narine Aghabalyan
during the presentation. "It is the most tragic part of the history
of Artsakh, which made me start a quest for materials to assemble
the mosaic of information about the massacre in Maragha. There are
different lists in archives, different figures are offered. Those
lists were compared, a new list was drawn, and according to it 81
were killed, 67 were taken hostages. Study continues because the
witnesses of Maragha are now living in different parts of the world,
and it is difficult to restore the real picture of the tragedy of
Maragha." NKR Speaker Ashot Ghulyan highly appreciated the CD and
described it as a breaking through the wall of propaganda and a
process which must continue to tell the world about the genocide of
Armenians in the village of Maragha, Martakert. He said the CD contains
evidence to the genocide committed in Maragha, which we can present
to the international community, international organizations. "Sumgait
continued in Maragha, massacres, a genocide planned and perpetrated
by the Azerbaijani government," Speaker Ashot Ghulian said.

"Maragha" was produced by the Tsir Katin Studio (Stepanakert) in
500 copies in Armenian, Russian and English in association with
Vardges Anivian. Tsir Katin is also likely to set up a webpage with
the materials included in the CD. Thereby the authors of the project
want to get in touch with the people displaced from Maragha, who are
now living in different parts of the world, and find out details of
those events to get the complete picture of the genocide.

The process will also enable the people of Maragha to defend their
rights and to get compensation later.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MURDER OF ARMENIAN DISCLOSED IN MOSCOW

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 13:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Moscow law enforcers have disclosed the slaying
of 46-year-old Karen Abrahamyan, committed Monday in the southwest of
Moscow. The police said the assassination was committed in Kedrov
street at about 10 p.m. "Three unknown skinheads in high boots
assaulted Abrahamyan and stabbed him with a knife several times. As
the victim told when being conveyed to hospital, he was assaulted
because of his nationality, since the young men were crying out
nationalistic slogans.

Abrahamyan died in the operating-room.

The Moscow law enforces identified and detained the assassins, who
have already pleaded guilty, Interfax reports.

RA ARMED FORCES PREVENT ANY PROVOCATION OF AZERI SIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 13:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian armed forces are in constant readiness
and will not allow any provocation from the Azeri side during the
parliamentary election campaign in Armenia, chief of the RA armed
forces’ headquarters, Acting Defense Minister, Colonel General
Mikael Harutyunyan told reporters yesterday adding that any kind
of provocation can be expected from Azerbaijan. According to him,
violations of ceasefire have become more frequent recently; however,
presently the situation is quiet. When commenting on the alleged
violation of the contact line by Azeri planes he said the planes were
no closer than 30 km from the border.

"If they cross the border they will be eliminated,"
Harutyunyan said. When asked whether the planes might be spying
Col. Gen. Harutyunyan said it’s possible but they are flying over
Azerbaijan and they possess the right.

When commenting on reports of Azeri media that "children collect shell
fragments in schoolyards", he assured the information is false. "Shots
are fired from riffles. A couple of times Azeris fired from grenade
cup discharge but fortunately they fell short.

Missiles have not been released since 1990-ies," he said, IA Regnum
reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION HUGE TEST FOR ARMENIA’S DEMOCRACY, OSKANIAN SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian who
is currently on a working visit in Austria, has addressed the OSCE
Permanent Council. The Minister’s speech was dedicated to the OSCE
reforms, activities of the Yerevan office, forthcoming parliamentary
election, the Armenia-Turkey relations and the peaceful process of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

When touching upon Armenia’s 12 May parliamentary election Minister
Oskanian said the country is committed to ensure they would be free
and fair.

"This is a huge test for Armenia’s democracy and I firmly believe
that we together – the government, the opposition, the public and the
OSCE – we together can indeed hold a normal election that will greatly
contribute to Armenia’s further democratization processes," he said.

During a meeting with Caspar Einem, the head of Austrian parliamentary
committee on external affaires Vartan Oskanian touched upon bilateral
relations and importance of cooperation between the Armenian and
Austrian parliaments after the election. Minister Oskanian also briefed
on priority directions of Armenia’s foreign policy, relations with
neighbors and prospects of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement,
the RA MFA press office reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PALLONE AND KNOLLENBERG URGED PRESIDENT BUSH TO REAFFIRM U.S. RECORD ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 14:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI),
for sending a letter today, urging President George W. Bush to
reaffirm the United States’ record on the Armenian Genocide in his
upcoming April 24th commemorative statement, the Armenian Assembly
of America reports.

Last year in his annual commemorative speech, the President noted that
it was a "tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world must
never forget," but he has repeatedly failed to use the word genocide
when referencing the tragic killings of 1.5 million Armenians from
1915-1923 by the Ottoman Turks.

In their letter, the Co-Chairs encouraged the President to recognize
the atrocities committed against the Armenian people as genocide
stating in part: "The United States must never allow crimes against
humanity to pass without remembrance and condemnation." In addition
the letter emphasizes the importance of the U.S. commitment to prevent
future occurrences of genocide, reiterating that "it is imperative
that we pay tribute to the memory of others who have suffered and to
never forget the past."

This year, Armenians across the world will commemorate the 92nd
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. On Capitol Hill, Pallone
and Knollenberg, in conjunction with the Armenian Embassy and
Armenian-American organizations, will be spearheading an April
24th event.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KARABAKH CONFLICT SIDES HAVE NEVER BEEN SO CLOSE TO RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 14:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ He said Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian referred to
the subject during the session of the OSCE Permanent Council. "Minister
Oskanian said the document being negotiated at present is a very
realistic one and Armenia is hopeful that Azerbaijan will not retreat
and an agreement will be achieved.

The parties to Karabakh conflict have never been so close to
resolution," he said quoting Mr Oskanian.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

JOINT EFFORT-2007 TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 14:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Joint effort- 2007, the exercise of the U.S. European
Command will be held in Armenia April 27 – May 10 on the ground of the
Aviation Institute after Khanferyants, RA Defense Minister’s Spokesman,
colonel lieutenant Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net.

ROSE ROTH SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS DISCUSS CAUCASUS-NATO-EU RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 15:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The NATO PA 63rd Roth-Roth seminar starting in
Tbilisi April 18 will focus on conflicts in the South Caucasus
and Georgia’s integration into the European family. Besides, the
attendees will discuss NATO and EU relations with the South Caucasian
states, the role of Russia in the region and other issues. Georgian
parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze, NATO PA President Jose Lello and
other officials are expected to address the seminar.

THREE KILLED IN TURK PUBLISHING HOUSE ATTACK – TV

Reuters
18 Apr 2007 11:17:30 GMT

ISTANBUL, April 18 (Reuters) – Three people were killed in an attack
on a publishing house in the southeastern Turkish province of Malatya
on Wednesday, private broadcaster NTV reported.

Television pictures showed the casualties being carried out of the
building.

The attack follows the murder earlier this year of Armenian-Turkish
editor Hrant Dink by an ultranationalist, which prompted extra security
for writers and journalists.

Thousands attend a funeral for the victims of a bus accident in Izmir
April 15, 2007. The bus carrying primary school students collided
with a truck in central Turkey on Saturday, killing 32 people, a local
governor said. Most of the dead were students on a trip to Cappadocia,
renowned for unusual rock formations and rock-caved churches which
are a popular tourist attraction.