Month: April 2007

DADASH RZAYEV: ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME ACTIVE ON THE FRONT

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 10 2007

Like every year, Armenian Armed Forces are expected to become more
active in all directions along the front in mid April, ex- Defense
Minister, representative of Military Scientific Centre, General Mayor
Dadash Rzayev told APA.

According to Dadash Rzayev the reinforcement of Armenian Troops in
the front is related with so called "Armenian genocide".

"This military intensification is being observed along the whole front
now. Armenians kept on firing on Azerbaijan Army and settlements. They
pursue provocative goals," he stressed.

Dadash Rzayev said Armenian forces has violated cease-fire frequently
recently. The General said the reason for braking cease-fire many times
is that Armenian claim for Tap- Garagoyunlu and Gulustan villages. He
also said it is also related with Armenian occupants’ plan to seize
certain strategic heights in those places.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI MP:ARMENIA DELAYS VISIT OF PACE MISSION TO REGION

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 10 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend I.Alizade / The Head of the Azerbaijani
delegation of PACE and Chairman of the Azerbaijan Parliament’s
Permanent Commission for Inter-Parliamentary and International
Relations, Samad Seyidov, said that Armenia delayed the visit of the
Rapporteur of the PACE Cultural, Education and Scientific Committee for
the study of the cultural heritage in South Caucasus, Edward O’Hara.

He stressed that the direction of the visit had already been
specified. Firstly O’Hara will leave for Armenia to study the condition
of Azerbaijani and Georgian cultural monuments. Thereafter, he should
depart to Georgia to study the condition of Azerbaijani and Armenian
monuments. He will come to Azerbaijan from Georgia and leave for the
Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan, as well
as visit Nakchivan Autonomous Republic.

"However, Armenian delayed O’Hara’s visit under the pretence of
parliamentary elections in Armenia on 12 April because O’Hara’s
study is not useful to Armenia due to the destruction of Azerbaijani
monuments in Armenia and in occupied Azerbaijani lands," Seyidov
said. He stressed that a special mission has been established by the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, to study
the cultural heritage of South Caucasus. However, the visits of these
missions were annulled due to obstacles imposed by Armenia. Consent
of each of the three South Caucasus countries was required to realize
the visit. The Head of the Azerbaijani delegation said that Azerbaijan
is interested in the visit of O’Hara and mission to the region.

Azerbaijan is open to all rapporteurs. "We are interested in the
visit of the mission established by Terry Davis because the mission
includes strong experts," he said.

TURKEY, ARMENIA URGED TO RECONCILE

United Press International
April 10 2007

NEW YORK, April 10 (UPI) — Armenia and Turkey have been urged in a
letter from 53 Nobel laureates to make concessions and re-establish
diplomatic relations.

"We thought it would be important for Nobel laureates to join their
voices in support of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation," Elie Wiesel
Foundation for Humanity official David Phillips told Radio Free Europe
in an interview in New York.

In the open letter, the laureates urged the Turkish government in
Ankara to acknowledge the 1915-18 mass deportations and killing of
more than 1 million Armenians constituted genocide and also urged
the Armenian government in Yerevan to make changes.

"Armenia also should reverse its own authoritarian course, allow free
and fair elections and respect human rights," the laureates wrote.

Phillips said the letter was prompted by anti-Armenian backlash in
Turkey that followed the Jan. 19 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.

"The trends in Turkey right now are negative, and I hope that after
they get through this political cycle cooler heads will prevail and
that Turkey’s leaders will take a deep breath and reflect carefully
on what’s in their nationalist interests," Phillips said.

TRABZON ANTI-TERROR CHIEF TRANSFERRED

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
April 10 2007

The Trabzon police staff were questioned in relation to tip-offs
about the murder of Dink.

Guncelleme: 17:05 TSÝ 10 Nisan 2007 Salý

TRABZON – The former head of the anti-terror department of the Trabzon
police station, Yahya Ozturk, has been appointed to the department
of human resources.

Haberin devamý

Ozturk’s transfer has been seen as a demotion.

His name was referred to by lawyers of the alleged gunner and
mastermind of the murder of prominent Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant
Dink after Ozturk was show in a video taped of the alleged murderer
saying that it was suited that he and the alleged mastermind of the
attack should pick up the fallen Turkish flag from the ground.

–Boundary_(ID_SDTPy/QIJvG0iCFvWfCNGw)–

NKR NA DEPUTY: MARAGA HAS BECOME A MONSTROUS MANIFESTATION OF ANTI ARMENIAN POLICY PURSUED BY AZERI LEADERSHIP

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 10 2007

A presentation of a CD containing video and photo materials, archive
documents, publications and evidences of eye-witnesses of peaceful
population’s mass carnage committed by the Azeri armed formations
in the village of Maraga of the NKR Martakert region was held at the
Artsakh State University.

The disc was shot on the initiative of the Karabagh journalists Narineh
Aghbalian. It was arranged for the 15th anniversary of tragic events
in Maraga. The archive materials in Armenian, Russian and English
were given by the NKR MFA and other organizations.

The representatives of the Republic leadership, public and journalists
came to the presentation. Opening the measure the Chair of the NKR
Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee Vahram Atanesian noted Maraga
had not been weapon emplacement and presented no danger for the Azeri
party, and mass crimes had been committed against peaceful citizens.

"Maraga has become a monstrous manifestation of the Azeri leadership’s
anti Armenian policy", the deputy underscored.

Comparing various lists it was ascertained that 81 peaceful inhabitants
was killed in Maraga and 67 people became hostages. The fate of many
of them has not been determined yet.

In the course of the presentation NKR National Assembly Chair Ashot
Gulian stressed slaughter in Maraga corresponded to genocide by all
the parameters.

In his words, Azerbaijan’s policy towards Armenians has not been
changed.

By the deepness of human tragedy, extent of cruelty, number of
persons subject to violence and taken hostages tragic events in the
Karabagh village of Maraga occupy peculiar place in the annals of the
Karabagh national and liberation movement, so the world public should
be informed of it. The idea ran all through the CD’s presentation,
NKR MFA Press Office reports.

YURI MERZLYAKOV: FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING CANNOT BE ARRANGED DUE TO THEIR WORKING SCHEDULES

Azeri Press Agency
April 10 2007

The co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group, which is mediating in the settlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, are analyzing the working schedules
of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, OSCE Minsk co-chair
Yuri Merzlyakov told the APA exclusively.

He said that current working schedules of the ministers do not allow
arranging their meeting.

The co-chair said he is not sure the ministers will meet in April.

Yuri Merzlyakov also commented on UN Secretary General’s Representative
for Human Rights of IDPs Walter Kalin’s statement "It does not look
like there will be peaceful solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
in the very near future". He said that he met with Walter Kallin and
underlined that he does not know what his statement is based on.

AMOUNT OF INVESTMENTS IN ELECTRIC NETWORKS OF ARMENIA MADE BY ONLY 22.5%

Noyan Tapan
Apr 10 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The interdepartmental commission
examining the qualitative indices of electricity supplied to consumers
will soon submit its final conclusion and proposals regarding the
activities of Electric Networks of Armenia company to the Armenian
government for approval. The RA Deputy Minister of Energy Areg Galstian
said on April 10 that in particular, the commission proposes installing
current registering devices in 110 kilowatt-tension networks, which
will enable to get more exact information about electricity losses.

According to the draft conclusion, the amount of investments envisaged
by the company in 2005 was made by only 22.5%, with investments aimed
at improving the quality of services (the program’s priority) being
made by 6.6%.

UN SUSPENDS EXHIBIT ON RWANDA GENOCIDE, OVER ARMENIAN KILLINGS

EarthTimes.org
April 10 2007

New York – A photography exhibition on the massacre of 800,000
Rwandans in 1994 was suspended Tuesday after Turkey protested that it
carried a mention of the massacre of Armenians after World War I. The
photographs were shown in a lobby at UN headquarters. But a Turkish
diplomat discovered a caption explaining the meaning of genocide,
citing the case of Armenians murdered in Turkey.

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 some historians for calling
it genocide.

The UN said Tuesday it decided to call off the show while the dispute
was being settled.

The massacre of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda, which was incited by the
Hutu-led government in Kigali following the death of their leader
in a plane crash in April, 1994, has been branded a genocide and
condemned by the international community.

The victims were slaughtered within three months while a UN
peacekeeping mission stood by under orders not to get involved – the
result of a restrictive mandate provided by the UN Security Council
in New York.

The Rwanda genocide exhibition had been planned to move to Ghana,
Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania after New York. It was
uncertain whether that plan still stood.

HOVANNISIAN SAYS CONFIDENT OF ELECTION WIN
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 10 2007

Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian claimed on Tuesday that his
Zharangutyun (Heritage) party is popular enough to win a majority of
seats in Armenia’s next parliament.

Some local commentators question the relatively young party’s ability
to win at least 5 percent of the vote needed for winning parliament
seats under the system of proportional representation.

Hovannisian insisted, however, that Zharangutyun will fare much better
in the elections slated for May 12 as he presented its campaign
manifesto to some 300 party activists and supporters who gathered
in a conference hall in Yerevan. "I believe that our party will win
an absolute majority in case of a level playing field and a relative
majority in the existing unequal conditions," he told reporters.

The presentation began with the rendition of Armenia’s national anthem
and ended with a concert by a popular folk jazz band. The unveiled
party platform stresses the importance of establishing the rule of
law, fighting against government corruption and reducing poverty in
Armenia. The party also promises to create as many as 150,000 new
jobs if it comes to power.

"We set out to become the masters of our Fatherland and our rights,
our heritage and our liberty," Hovannisian told the audience. "We
are on our way to victory."

Zharangutyun was among several pro-Western opposition parties that
tried unsuccessfully to form an electoral bloc earlier this year.

Their failure to join forces was widely construed as a serious blow
to opposition hopes of defeating President Robert Kocharian and his
political allies.

HUNDREDS CHEER TSARUKIAN IN FIRST CAMPAIGN RALLY
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 10 2007

Businessman Gagik Tsarukian was mobbed by supporters on Tuesday as
his Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), one of the favorites to win the
upcoming parliamentary elections, officially kicked off its campaign
with a rally in Yerevan.

Tsarukian, surrounded by bodyguards, needed about ten minutes to
move through a crowd of several hundred people and step onto the
podium in a square in the city’s southern Shengavit districts. Many
of them tried to approach him to shake his hands or hand him letters
presumably containing personal requests or grievances. The beefy
tycoon’s departure from the scene was similarly slow.

Tsarukian, who is widely regarded as the country’s wealthiest
government-connected "oligarch," assured residents of the working-class
area that the BHK will improve their lives if it wins the May 12
elections. But as always, his speech was short on specifics.

"I’m doing all this for the people," he said. "I did not create the
party to get a government post or make money. I’ve got everything
and want everyone to live well."

The BHK, which is believed to be sponsored by President Robert
Kocharian, claims to have recruited as many as 370,000 over the past
15 months amid accusations of vote buying voiced by its rivals. Its
leaders say the party will at least finish second in the polls.

As he tramped back to his motorcade, shaking supporters’ hands,
Tsarukian was asked by RFE/RL to comment on his election chances. "It
depends on the voters," he replied. "Ask the people."

The BHK’s election platform was presented to the crowd by Ishkhan
Zakarian, a friend of Tsarukian’s who heads a government department
on sport affairs. Zakarian claimed that once in power, the party will
enact 150 laws and help to create thousands of new jobs by reopening
factories closed following the Soviet collapse.

Asked by RFE/RL which concrete factories would resume their operations,
Zakarian said, "Whichever you want."

Tsarukian and his associates held a similar campaign gathering in
Masis, a small town 15 kilometers south of Yerevan, later in the day.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress