Month: April 2007

MAMMADYAROV-OSKANIAN MEETING IN GENEVA CREATED HOPE FOR CONTINUATION OF EFFORTS FOR PEACEFUL SOLUTION

Today, Azerbaijan
April 17 2007

Member of Azerbaijani delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly (PACE) Ganira Pashayeva addressed question to Fiorenzo Stolfi,
chair of the Committee of Ministers regarding the current situation
on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Stolfi said that Azerbaijan and Armenia undertook commitments on
peaceful solution to the conflict.

"Taking this into account we noted the possibility of solving the
conflict only in a peaceful way and dialogue," he said.

Fiorenzo Stolfi said that the meeting of the Foreign Ministers
[Azerbaijan and Armenia] in Geneva on March this year created hope
for the continuation of efforts for peaceful solution of the conflict.

He said that ‘referendum,’ ‘presidential elections’ in Nagorno Karabakh
hampers the settlement of the conflict.

"Council of Europe will never recognize such unilateral political
steps," he said. APA

URL:

EU DIPLOMATS: BAN ON HOLOCAUST DENIAL WON’T CURB CIVIL LIBERTIES
By DPA

Ha’aretz, Israel
April 17 2007

BRUSSELS – Planned new rules to criminalize racism and xenophobia,
including Holocaust denial, in the European Union will not force
member states to change standards on freedom of expression, European
Union diplomats said Tuesday.

Under the new proposals, hate declarations referring to religion such
as "Kill the Jews" or "Kill the Christians" would remain unpunished
in EU countries where such statements are not criminalized, the
diplomats said.

They indicated that Britain and the Nordic countries had blocked
attempts by current EU president Germany to push through tougher
rules on inciting violence against a specific group or person.

EU justice and interior ministers are expected to discuss the
controversial plans at a meeting in Luxembourg later this week.

Germany, which currently runs the agenda-setting EU presidency, wants
to use its term at the bloc’s helm to harmonize EU-wide differences
on combating racism and xenophobia in the 27-member bloc.

However, EU diplomats said that the planned rules only aimed to
achieve a "minimum level of harmonization" as the differences in
national legal systems had to be respected.

Germany views a common EU law as a moral obligation, but countries
like Britain, Ireland and the Scandinavian states resist unified
legislation as a violation of civil liberties.

Under the text being debated, EU countries would set jail terms of
at least one to three years for "publicly inciting to violence or
hatred… directed against a group of persons or a member of such
a group defined by reference to race, color, religion, descent or
national or ethnic origin."

EU diplomats also said that a German proposal to push through new
rules which would make denying the Holocaust – the mass killing of
Jews by Nazis and Nazi supporters – a crime in the EU, would not
cover denying the massacre of Armenians in World War I.

Turkey denies that the killing of up to one million Armenians
constituted genocide, putting their deaths down to ethnic strife,
disease and famine, and has prosecuted historians and journalists
for calling it genocide.

In addition, the proposed EU rules would not make denying crimes
against humanity under the Stalin regime punishable, diplomats said.

The Baltic states want the EU to make it a crime to deny the abuses
of the Stalinist regime in the former Soviet Union.

The proposed rules would also apply to people "publicly condoning,
denying, or grossly trivializing crimes of genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes" as defined by international crime courts.

Citing its "particular historic responsibility" due to its Nazi past,
Germany has said it wants EU member states to adopt the proposed
legislation before it ends its term at the EU helm at the end of June.

Two years ago, Luxembourg tried to use its EU presidency to push
through legislation to unify legal standards for Holocaust denial,
but was blocked by Italy on the grounds that the proposed rules
breached freedom of speech.

Laws against denying the Holocaust already exist in Austria, Belgium,
France, Germany and Spain.

ARMENIAN CHURCH WANTS CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS RESTORED IN TURKEY

Ecumenical News International, Switzerland
April 17 2007

Warsaw (ENI). Leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Turkey have
asked to be allowed to install a cross and conduct services at a newly
restored church, which was abandoned during the 1915 mass killing of
ethnic Armenians.

TO WIN VOTES, ARMENIAN PARTIES PROMISE ROAD REPAIRS, CABLE TV AND MORE
Gayane Abrahamyan

EurasiaNet, NY
April 17 2007

With Armenia’s parliamentary election less than a month away, campaign
promises have begun to flow, and nowhere do they run more freely than
in the depressed industrial and border regions of the country’s north.

With thousands in this area struggling with homelessness and
unemployment — the combined effects of the 1988 Spitak earthquake,
war with Azerbaijan and post-Soviet economic decline — promises of
housing, employment and improved living conditions carry particularly
heavy weight.

The results can range from the amusing to the scandalous.

In Vanadzor, a town of 120,000 and Armenia’s third largest city, one
incumbent parliamentarian has offered residents bathhouse tickets in
hopes of ensuring a truly "clean" election.

In Gyumri, capital of the Shirak region, the opposition Orinats Yerkir
(Country of Law) Party has promised to install Russian cable television
channels in residents’ homes. A Republican Party of Armenia candidate
has gone still further — he plans to install a television tower.

Even the United States-run $235 million Millennium Challenge program
has been put into play to secure voters’ sympathies, one local
journalist says.

Levon Barseghian, chairman of the Asparez journalists’ club in
Gyumri, claims that members of various political parties have
promised residents of remote mountain villages that Armenia’s
Millennium Challenge program will pay for local road repair and bridge
construction if they vote for their respective parties. Roads to the
villages are impassable for two months in winter.

"The poor villagers are unaware that the program has already been
underway for a year and a half and that the issue will be resolved
regardless of the votes given to parties," Barseghian said. "It’s
hooliganism, speculating with a US project."

Some Gyumri residents, however, argue that promises about road repairs
can work both ways. After voters in the town’s Antarayin district
stated on local television that they planned to boycott the elections
if a local road was not paved, members of both the Country of Law
Party and Republican Party of Armenia started competing to make the
repairs, said one resident.

"If they remember us only before the elections, we will make use of
it to the greatest extent possible," commented Ruzanna Minasian,
who organized the boycott drive. "We will take bribes because our
votes will be falsified all the same."

Although political parties by law can spend no more than $160,000 on
the campaign, multiple gray areas for party spending exist.

Defining the line between campaign events and government functions is
one such area. On April 14, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, head of the
Republican Party, presided over a housewarming for 12 new apartments
in Ijevan, a regional seat in northeastern Armenia. The housewarming
has been featured in national and local television reports about the
Republican Party’s election campaign.

Housing is a popular topic this campaign season. One Gyumri candidate
for Prosperous Armenia, a pro-government party widely associated with
an aggressive pre-campaign charity initiative, told EurasiaNet that
while he will not offer voters houses, the party could assist with
"low-rate mortgages" for new housing, payable within 10 to 20 years.

Republican Party officials, however, maintain that state budget funds
paid for the apartments in Ijevan, and deny that the properties are
connected with election campaigning.

The local representative of one opposition party disagrees. "The
apartments are luxurious presents and are an abuse of power," charged
Murad Grigorian, head of the Armenian National Movement’s office in
Gyumri. "They have bought apartments with state funds and now say
that the presents were given to you by the Republican Party, vote
for it and it will give you more presents," he said in reference to
a recent Republican Party meeting with voters in Gyumri.

That was how Tamara Galstian, a resident of Gyumri’s Ani neighborhood,
interpreted what she describes as an offer by Mayor Vardan Ghukasian
to intercede with the local gas company, Tak Dzmer (Warm Winter),
on behalf of residents with unpaid bills.

"The mayor used to threaten us before by promising to take
our houses as compensation if we don’t pay the debts," claimed
Galstian. "Now… he insists that Tak Dzmer has no right to demand
money from us.

He has told me personally to inform him in case anyone dares to bother
me about this." Galstian says that she joined the Republican Party
out of gratitude.

Mayor Ghukasian’s chief of administration, Artyom Mazmanian, declined
to comment on the topic in the mayor’s absence. In late March 2007,
Mayor Ghukasian was seriously injured in a highway shooting that left
four people dead. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Employment promises in this region of widespread joblessness also
play a role. On April 3, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian stated that
a production line at a regional chemical plant shut down since the
1988 earthquake would soon be reopened with jobs for 370 workers,
public television reported.

Most locals took that statement as a campaign pledge, whether intended
or not. During the 2003 presidential campaign, they say, President
Robert Kocharian also promised the plant would reopen.

"Everybody says they will open workplaces, but none of them says how
he is going to do that," commented Artur Sakunts, coordinator of the
Helsinki Civil Assembly office in Vanadzor. "When there are no plants
or any other large enterprises, those are just groundless promises
and people understand it quite well."

The end result for many residents is growing cynicism – a feature of
Armenia’s pre-election atmosphere recently noted by observers from the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Commented Vanadzor
resident Sona Aghajanian: "There is no member of parliament to whom
I could point and say that he cares for the people."

Editor’s Note: Gayane Abrahmyan is a reporter for the ArmeniaNow
online weekly in Yerevan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RADICAL OPPOSITION PARTY ‘FUNDED BY OFFICIALS, OLIGARCHS’
By Astghik Bedevian and Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 17 2007

Armenia’s most radical opposition party plotting a post-election
"democratic revolution" claimed on Tuesday to be secretly financed
by unnamed government officials and government-connected businessmen.

"They have asked not to be identified for now," Smbat Ayvazian,
a leader of the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) party, told RFE/RL. "Maybe
we will able to disclose their names in 20 days."

"Realizing that the country is on the wrong track, they are giving us,
albeit with a lot of fear, some financial assistance so that we can
run our campaign offices, train our proxies and solve some propaganda
issues," he said. "Perhaps the fears of those businessmen and officials
will disappear with the change of the current political atmosphere."

Hanrapetutyun kicked off its election campaign last Thursday with a
rally in Yerevan, during which it urged supporters to gear up for a
campaign of anti-government demonstrations that could follow the May
12 parliamentary elections. Its chairman Aram Sarkisian and other
leaders claimed that the vote will almost certainly be rigged.

Ayvazian repeated their assertions that Hanrapetutyun will not
content itself with a handful of parliament seats as its key aim is
regime change. "The opposition has had 25-30 deputies in the current
[131-member] parliament but failed to solve a single issue," he argued.

Ayvazian added that the alleged funding by government-linked wealthy
individuals is essential for the realization of Hanrapetutyun’s
plans. "In case our financial issues are solved, it is evident that
these authorities will have no chance to keep plundering the country,"
he said.

Hanrapetutyun’s radical agenda is clearly not shared by other, larger
opposition parties that believe it is possible to prevent large-scale
fraud. The Orinats Yerkir Party of former parliament speaker Artur
Baghdasarian is one of them.

"I can’t claim that there will certainly be mass falsifications,"
Baghdasarian said on Tuesday. "I will be talk about that in early
May. The election campaign has only just begun, and we are still in
the process of analyzing and examining things."

But Baghdasarian did accuse the authorities of creating "numerous
obstacles" to Orinats Yerkir’s election campaign. He complained in
particular that the party is unable to place campaign billboards in
Yerevan and other parts of the country.

"They say there is no space," he told a news conference. "But you can
see that the campaign billboards in Yerevan belong to the Republican
Party, the Prosperous Armenia Party, and Dashnaktsutyun. The governing
parties do not face any obstacles."

The ex-speaker also claimed that authorities in small towns across the
country are obstructing campaign meetings organized by Orinats Yerkir.

ARMENIA, IRAN, RUSSIA TO OPEN TALKS ON OIL REFINERY
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 17 2007

Government officials from Armenia, Iran and Russia will meet soon
to discuss an ambitious idea to build a big oil refinery on the
Armenian-Iranian border that would cater for the Iranian market.

President Robert Kocharian reportedly discussed the multimillion-dollar
project with senior Russian officials during a visit to Moscow in
January. A subsidiary of Russia’s state-run Gazprom gas monopoly
said afterwards that it is considering investing an estimated $1.7
billion needed for the construction of the would-be refinery near
the Armenian border town of Meghri.

Reports in the Russian press have said the facility would have an
annual capacity to refine up to 7 million tons of Iranian oil that
would be pumped into Armenia through a special pipeline to be built in
northwestern Iran. Petrol produced by it would then be shipped back
to Iran by rail. Construction of the 200-kilometer pipeline and the
railway would require hundreds of millions of dollars in additional
funding. Armenia and Iran have no rail links at present.

The Russian Regnum news agency quoted Armenia’s Deputy Energy Minister
Areg Galstian as saying that officials from the three governments
will try to "ascertain the scale of each party’s participation in
the project." Galstian did not give further details of the talks.

Despite its vast oil reserves, Iran lacks refining capacities and
has to import gasoline to meet domestic demand. Nonetheless, some
Russian experts have questioned the economic wisdom of the project,
arguing that oil refineries are usually located near sea ports or
major oil pipelines. They see political motives behind the idea of
building such a facility in landlocked Armenia.

BUSH HOPES FOR FREE ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA
By Emil Danielyan and Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 17 2007

U.S. President George W. Bush has congratulated Serzh Sarkisian on
his appointment as Armenia’s new prime minister and urged him to help
ensure the proper conduct of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

"We look forward to the parliamentary elections on May 12 and hope
that you will help ensure that these elections are free and fair,
meet international standards, and bolster the relations between our
two countries," Bush said in a congratulatory message made public by
Sarkisian’s office on Tuesday.

The Bush administration strongly criticized Yerevan for serious
fraud reported by international observers during the last Armenian
parliamentary and presidential elections. Sarkisian, who was the
country’s defense minister before replacing the deceased Prime Minister
Andranik Markarian on April 4, played a key role in the conduct of
those polls.

U.S. officials have said that the upcoming vote is a good opportunity
for the Armenian authorities to redeem themselves. They have warned
that a repeat of serious fraud would jeopardize the release of $235
million in additional U.S. economic assistance to Armenia. Still,
the U.S. administration is unlikely to ostracize Yerevan in the
event of another deeply flawed ballot now that it is hoping to
broker a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict before the end
of this year.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried implied last week
that Washington does not expect the Armenian elections to be fully
democratic. "We don’t expect perfection," he told journalists. "We
don’t expect to go from deeply flawed to perfect, but we do expect
to see substantial forward progress."

Fried noted at the same time that Armenia should have been "way ahead
of Georgia" in terms of democratic reforms given the strength of its
worldwide Diaspora and its links with Europe and the United States.

"Armenia should be doing better," he said. "It should be a leader. It
should be a prospering country. It has all the ingredients."

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian repeated his government’s
election-related assurances on Tuesday as he spoke at a meeting
in Vienna of the main decision-making body of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe "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.

Sarkisian, in the meantime, toured the Aragatsotn and Armavir regions
in southwestern Armenia, meeting local residents and listening to their
grievance. Even though he claimed that the trip has no connection
with the elections, it was clearly aimed at shoring up popular
support for his Republican Party (HHK), which intends to again win
the largest number of parliament seats. Sarkisian was accompanied by
Khachik Manukian, the HHK’s candidate in a single-mandate constituency
covering the mostly rural area.

Voters in the regional town of Talin were clearly reluctant to heed
Sarkisian’s implicit calls for Manukian’s reelection to the National
Assembly. "He hasn’t met with people here since the last election,"
said one man. "How can we vote for him?"

"Are you sure another candidate would do a much better job?" countered
Sarkisian.

The meetings in Talin and other local communities began with moments
of silence observed in memory of the late Prime Minister Markarian.

Local residents complained to Sarkisian about widespread unemployment,
serious problems with supplies of drinking water and irrigation,
and the poor condition of community schools and hospitals.

The Armenian premier assured them that those problems will be solved
over time but cautioned against expectations of rapid betterment. "If
somebody promises you to solve all problems in one or two years,
then rest assured that that person is a liar," he said, adding that
at least four more years are needed for a "qualitative change" in
the socioeconomic situation in regions outside Yerevan.

Sarkisian also defended the Armenian government’s economic track
record, arguing that the country’s Gross Domestic Product and state
budget have doubled in the last seven years.

COE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS CHAIR: WE CLOSELY FOLLOW MONITORING ON AZERBAIJAN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 17 2007

Fiorenzo Stolfi, chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers
made speech in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, APA Europe bureau.

He said that the Committee of Ministers pays special attention to
the South Caucasus.

"This region is one of the main issues in our activity. For example,
we will attentively observe parliamentary elections in Armenia on
May 12," he said.

Stolfi said that they always discuss the documents by Azerbaijan to
PACE and Committee of Ministers.

"Besides, we are closely following monitoring on Azerbaijan," he
said.

PACE NAGORNO KARABAKH SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING NOT HELD

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 17 2007

The scheduled meeting of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) Subcommittee on Nagorno Karabakh was not held, as Armenian
delegation missed, APA Europe bureau reports.

Lord Russell-Johnston, chief of the subcommittee on Nagorno Karabakh
met with head of Azerbaijani delegation Samad Seyidov. Samad Seyidov
told the APA that they decided to discuss this problem in the session
in July.

"The composition of the delegation or a group to Azerbaijan or region
was always discussed in our press. But these issues were never
discussed in Nagorno Karabakh subcommittee. Both, Azerbaijani and
delegations welcomed Lord Russell-Johnston’s visit to the region. But
visit of any delegation was never discussed," he said.

Samad Seyidov said that Azerbaijani delegation attended today’s
debates. He said he does not know the reason why Armenian delegation
missed the meeting.

APA Europe bureau reports that Armenian delegation today has not
attended PACE meeting at all. Armenians did not attend the meeting
of the subcommittee on Nagorno Karabakh, as their proposals were not
taken into consideration during discussions of honoring of obligations
by Azerbaijan.

Lord Russell-Johnston told the APA’s correspondent that he does not
know why Armenian delegation did not attend the meeting.

"I only had 10-minute meeting with Azerbaijani delegation.

Azerbaijani delegation supported my initiative to visit the region.

Armenian delegation also agreed to it. My mission will visit Baku,
Yerevan and Khankendi," he said.

BEYOND A JOKE

The Messenger, Georgia
April 17 2007

The comments of MP Beso Jugheli, who said that a proposed tax for
people living in historical areas is "not directed against Georgians"
because many people of non-Georgian ethnicity live in historical
neighbourhoods, not only shame the parliament of Georgia, but are an
affront to the thousands of years of Georgia’s multi ethnic history,
are a setback for conflict resolution, a gift to those that want to
characterise Georgia as an ethno-nationalist pariah, and undermine
President Saakashvili’s concerted effort to build a sense of nationhood
built on civil rather than ethnic principles.

Even if said in jest, the comments, said in an interview with Georgian
daily 24 Saati on April 12, were in extremely poor taste and must
immediately be retracted, and the MP must make a full and frank
apology even if no harm was intended. As this paper went to press,
the MP had not apologised.

The comments are just plain wrong on so many levels. Firstly, the
ethnic Armenian, Azeri, Kurdish inhabitants of old Tbilisi have been
a part of the fabric of the city since time immemorial, and have
contributed enormously to Tbilisi’s development, success, and charm.

President Saakashvili, speaking recently of the old town, pointed
out that in few other locations in the world can you find a church,
synagogue and mosque on the same block. Indeed, when King David
the Builder retook Tbilisi from the Arabs in 1122 he protected
the city’s multi faith, multi ethnic population, and protected
religious freedom. As if that wasn’t proof enough of his cosmopolitan
credentials, he invited some 40 000 North Caucasian Kipchak tribesmen
to settle in Georgia, and his first wife was Armenian. This is
something that Georgians of all ethnicities should be proud of, and
in his speeches the president consistently refers to all Georgians,
enumerating Ossetian, Abkhaz, Armenian Georgians and so on. At a
speech in Bakuriani he even mentioned Dutch and American Georgians.

But, not only do Jugheli’s comments define Georgians purely in terms
of ethnicity, they also indirectly advocate ethnic discrimination. In
justifying a law by saying it targets non-ethnic Georgians the comments
inadvertently support discrimination on ethnic grounds.

Russia regularly accuses the Saakashvili administration of being
virulently ethno-nationalist, hell bent on establishing ‘Georgia
for the [ethnic] Georgians’, and statements like these totally play
into their hands. They will very likely make considerable hay out of
these comments. Similarly, the separatist regimes in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia-regimes which genuinely discriminate on ethnic grounds-will
be provided with extra ammunition. We doubt the comments will go down
well in Georgia’s predominantly Armenian region of Javakheti also.

MP Jugheli represents the constituency of Chugureti, a multi-ethnic
district at the heart of the city, and one that was actually built by
nineteenth century immigrants to the city, so it would be very much
in his interests to apologise to his constituents. We trust that
his comments were a joke that misfired, a gaffe, embarrassing but
forgivable, but nonetheless, he must take immediate steps to redress
the situation and apologise for the enormous offence he has caused.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress