Month: April 2007

SAMAD SEYIDOV: THE PROBLEM OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IS ARTIFICIALLY EXAGGERATED TO DAMAGE AZERBAIJAN’S IMAGE

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 24 2007

video 1.2M

Members of Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe held a press conference on the results of the
spring session, APA reports.

Samad Seyidov, head of the delegation said the report on honoring
of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan was debated at the
PACE session.

He said the report normally analyzed the processes ongoing in
Azerbaijan. He, however, noted there were some critical momentums in
the report, which he sees no need to worry about.

Mr.Seyidov also said the delegation members expressed position on
some momentums in the report which he said are not true in fact.

The delegation head stressed that the report affirmed Nagorno-Karabakh
as Azerbaijani territory. But, Armenian delegation made considerable
efforts to change this point.

"But Azerbaijani delegation prevented this. It means that 46 out of
47 member states support Azerbaijan’s position," he said.

Seyidov noted that Azerbaijan has honored the majority of the
obligations.

Commenting on co-rapporteur Andres Herkel’s statement on political
prisoners in Azerbaijan, Seyidov said the co-raaporteur’s opinion
should not be regarded as the position of the Council of Europe.

"The problem of political prisoners is deliberately exaggerated to
damage Azerbaijan’s image. It can not concern Azerbaijan," he said.

Member of the delegation Ali Huseynov considers that the names of
persons about whom investigation is being carried out, should not be
included into the report.

"I consider that this biased tendency should be removed in the
following processes," he said.

Gultekin Hajiyeva said that only three political prisoners were
mentioned in the documents of the Council of Europe – Elchin
Amiraslanov, Arif Kazimov and Safa Poladov.

CONTRIBUTOR TO "ZAMAN" NEWSPAPER WITNESSES VANDALISM CONSEQUENCES IN NK

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 24 2007

First column of today edition of Zaman newspaper placed an article
titled "Nagorno-Karabakh supported by the Diaspora". According
to "Zaman-Azerbaijan" newspaper’s chief editor Enes Cansever
contributor to Zaman newspaper made a report by the impressions from
Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani lands.

"Zaman" newspaper contributor witnessed that civilian houses, mosques
and other historical monuments are all in abject condition. The
photos presented to APA by Enes Cansever shows the minarets of all
three mosques of Shusha were destroyed, the villages of Khankendi
and Lachin have been settled by Armenians. Esen Cansever said this
article will be placed in the first column of tomorrow’s edition of
"Zaman" which is published world-wide.

AZERBAIJAN COMMUNITY OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH URGES US STATE DEPARTMENT

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 24 2007

"Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh" Public Union’s chief
Nizami Bahmanov sent a protest letter to Anne Derse, US Ambassador
to Azerbaijan on the changes to the initial 2006 State Department
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Public Union told APA that
the fact of changes to the paper is nothing but indifference to the
violation of rights of 700 thousand IDPs and especially of 62 thousand
population of occupied Nagorno Karabakh. The letter states "It is not
understandable how the country aspiring to keep peace world-wide and
defend human rights is influenced by Armenian organizations which have
links with terrorists. This amendment on the report overshadows the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and we appreciate it as support
for Nagorno Karabakh separatist regime," the letter reads.

Azerbaijan community of Karabakh demanded US as one of the co-chairs
of OSCE Minsk Group to hold fair position and republish the report
in the initial edition.

ARMENIANS’ PICKET NOT ALLOWED IN TEHRAN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 24 2007

Armenians living in Iran were not allowed holding picket on the
anniversary of the so-called Armenian genocide, APA reports.

Armenian organizations in Iran appealed to the city administration
for holding rally from St. Maria church till UN representation. But
the city administration refused the appeal.

Iranian government is supposed to take this step taking into account
the possibility of confrontation between Azerbaijani and Armenians,
as well as cool relations with Turkey.

Ilgar Merendi, deputy chief of the Defense Committee of Azerbaijani
Political Prisoners told the APA that Armenians organized exhibition
on the so-called genocide outside St. Maria church. Slogans against
Turkey were chanted at the religious event in the church.

AZERBAIJAN SENDS PROTEST NOTE TO RUSSIA

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 24 2007

Russian ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan
Vasili Istratov was today called to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry,
the ministry told the APA.

Araz Azimov, deputy foreign minister received the ambassador and
officially protested to the Russian RTR channel’s report on ‘Nagorno
Karabakh Republic’. Araz Azimov said that the report casts shadow
on Nakhchivan’s belonging to Azerbaijan and this position does not
coincide with Russia’s official position. Deputy Foreign Minister
expressed hope that the RTR will not broadcast reports propagating
separatist tendencies any more.

Following this, Araz Azimov gave the protest note to the Russian
ambassador.

Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan told the APA that Vasili Istratov
said he will inform Russia of the position of Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry.

KOCHARIAN TO ATTEND RUSSIAN EX-PRESIDENT’S FUNERAL
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 24 2007

President Robert Kocharian will fly to Moscow to attend the state
funeral of Russia’s former President Boris Yeltsin scheduled for
Wednesday, his office said on Tuesday.

Yeltsin, who died of heart failure on Monday aged 76, had presided
over the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union and governed Russia until
handing over power to his handpicked successor, Vladimir Putin, in late
1999. He had also played a key role in close political and militaries
relations forged by Armenia and Russia following the Soviet collapse.

Kocharian sent a message of condolences to Putin late Monday, paying
tribute to Yeltsin’s contribution to democratic change in Russia
and Russian-Armenian ties. "Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin is an era,
a reference point in the history of relations between our fraternal
peoples," he said.

Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who had closely dealt with
the Yeltsin administration throughout his eight-year presidency,
sent a separate message of condolences to the Russian ex-president’s
wife Naina. "I have lost a sincere and faithful friend who combined
unwavering moral principles, kindness, humanity with the wisdom of
a distinguished statesman," wrote Ter-Petrosian.

"I would particularly like to emphasize the Boris Nikolayevich’s
contribution to the establishment and deepening of allied relations
between Russia and Armenia in the interests of peace and stability
in our region," he said.

A spokesman for Ter-Petrosian told RFE/RL that the Armenian
ex-president will not attend Yeltsin’s funeral. Yeltsin met both
Ter-Petrosian and Kocharian during his last, private visit to Armenia
in October 2002.

Yeltsin’s political legacy was also praised on Tuesday by two Armenian
opposition leaders who held senior government positions in the early
1990s. Former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukian and former Foreign
Minister Raffi Hovannisian said the Russian-Armenian relationship
was based on an equal footing at the time.

"Yeltsin’s Russia had no imperial designs on Armenia, and Armenia’s
[former] leadership behaved more independently," Manukian told
RFE/RL. "Relations with Russia were based on political, economic
and military interests, rather than [the current Armenian leaders’]
desire to retain power."

"The Boris Yeltsin era was a time of real partnership, mutual respect,
and friendship of equals," agreed Hovannisian.

TOP GENERAL SET TO BECOME NEW DEFENSE MINISTER
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 24 2007

President Robert Kocharian was poised to appoint Colonel-General Mikael
Harutiunian, the longtime chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff,
as Armenia’s new defense on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, who held the key post until being
named to head the ruling cabinet, told RFE/RL in the morning that
a corresponding presidential decree will be signed and made public
later in the day.

Kocharian’s office made no such announcements as of 7 pm Yerevan
time. Major presidential decisions are often publicized just minutes
before the main news program of state television, which airs at 9 pm
local time.

Harutiunian effectively confirmed his impending appointment as he
spoke with RFE/RL during a morning visit to the genocide memorial in
Yerevan. Asked whether he plans any changes in the military, he said,
"The army is a structure that always needs change. But if everyone
is doing a good job, why should you change anything?"

Harutiunian has already performed defense minister’s duties since
Sarkisian replaced the late Prime Minister Andranik Markarian on
April 4. The 61-year-old general served in the Soviet armed forces
before moving to Armenia and joining its newly formed army in 1992,
at the height of the war with Azerbaijan. He was appointed as chief
of army staff and first deputy defense minister by then President
Levon Ter-Petrosian two years later.

Kocharian was widely expected to appoint Harutiunian on the last day
of a 20-day constitutional deadline for the formation of Sarkisian’s
de facto caretaker cabinet, which has to step down right after the
May 12 parliamentary elections. He re-appointed earlier this month
all other government ministers, who resigned following Markarian’s
sudden death on March 25.

Few observers believe that Harutiunian will be re-appointed as minister
in the event of the Sarkisian-led Republican Party’s victory in the
elections. Armenian press reports have said Seyran Ohanian, commander
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s army, and former Deputy Defense Minister Artur
Aghabekian are more likely to get the job.

Aghabekian resigned from his post and was discharged from the
Armed Forces in February to contest the elections as a candidate
of another governing party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun). The move fueled speculation that Sarkisian will
pick Aghabekian as the next defense minister in exchange for a
Dashnaktsutyun endorsement of his anticipated presidential bid.

"We congratulate and wish [Harutiunian] success, but continue to
believe that Artur Aghabekian would make the best defense minister,"
Hrant Markarian, a top Dashnaktsutyun leader, told RFE/RL. "I think
they don’t find it appropriate to give [the post] to Dashnaktsutyun
in the pre-election period."

Markarian said Aghabekian will "likely" become minister after the
elections, but insisted that his party has not cut any power-sharing
deals with Kocharian and Sarkisian yet.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA MARKS GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY
By Ruzanna Khachatrian and Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 24 2007

Tens of thousands of people silently marched in Yerevan on Tuesday
in an annual remembrance of some 1.5 million victims of the Armenian
genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

The day marked the 92nd anniversary of the start of the 1915-1918
mass killings and deportations that affected virtually the entire
Armenian population of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Nearly two dozen
countries, among them France, Canada and Russia, have recognized the
massacres as the first genocide of the 20th century.

As always, the official commemoration of the anniversary began with a
prayer service at the genocide memorial on Yerevan’s Tsitsernakabert
Hill that was led by the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Garegin II, and attended by President Robert Kocharian and other top
government officials.

Ordinary Armenians laid flowers around the memorial’s eternal fire
throughout the day. The stream of people walking to the memorial
was thinner than usual due to heavy snow which is highly unusual
for this time of the year in Armenia. Mourners were again joined by
representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Yerevan.

In a written address to the nation, Kocharian evoked the increasingly
successful Armenian campaign for international recognition of the
genocide. "The international community has realized that genocide is
a crime directed against not only a particular people but the entire
humanity," he said. "Denial and cover-up of that crime is no less
dangerous than its preparation and perpetration."

"A strong, democratic and prosperous Armenia must be the Armenian
people’s response to the masterminds, perpetrators and deniers of
the Armenian Genocide," added Kocharian.

In a separate statement, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian said genocide
recognition will remain on the Armenian government’s foreign policy
agenda. "We remember our past, but Armenia is moving forward, seeking
to establish normal relations with all of its neighbors," he said,
effectively reaffirming Yerevan’s support for an unconditional
normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties.

The Turkish government, which vehemently denies that the 1915 mass
killings constituted a genocide, says the establishment of bilateral
diplomatic relations and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border
is contingent on a halt to the genocide recognition drive.

In his statement, Sarkisian voiced solidarity with dissident Turkish
intellectuals recognizing the genocide. He also urged Armenians
to use the occasion for again paying tribute to the assassinated
Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink who also challenged the official
Turkish version of the bloody events.

Leaders of Armenia’s main political parties also visited the
genocide memorial. "A state can not live by denying its past," said
Hrant Markarian of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun). "Turkey must recognize the Armenian genocide as
soon as possible for the sake of Turkey’s future."

"For us, genocide recognition is, first of all, a matter of dignity
and historical truth and also a matter of Armenia’s national security,"
Markarian told RFE/RL.

Dashnaktsutyun branches in the worldwide Armenian Diaspora have for
decades been lobbying the parliaments and governments of Western
states to officially recognize the Armenian massacres as genocide.

The nationalist party controls one of the two main Armenian lobbying
groups in the United States that look set to push a genocide resolution
through the U.S. House of Representatives this year.

While praising Armenian efforts at genocide recognition, Raffi
Hovannisian, a U.S.-born opposition leader, sounded a note of
caution. "I believe that we must not excessively concentrate on or be
very buoyed this spate of recognitions because the Armenian genocide
and the loss of our people’s homeland is a fact affirmed by many
historians," he said.

GOVT OWES KENYANS MORE ON ARTURS
By Otieno Onyando

Kenya Times, Kenya
April 24 2007

A WEEK after one Winnie Wangui confessed her deep love for the
infamous Artur Margaryan, one of the alleged Armenian brothers who
caused security breaches at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
before being deported in controversial circumstances, a local daily
published what it described as his (Margaryan) confessions to plots
to kidnap and liquidate some Kenyan Opposition leaders.

Expectedly, the Government reacted to the story by ordering the
arrest of the newspaper’s managers and top editors over what Internal
Security minister John Michuki termed ‘serious issues of national
security.’ Once again journalists were being detained in Kenya for
simply asking the right questions in tandem with their professional
calling.

For this particular newspaper, relations with the Artur brothers have
also presented something of an anticlimax, a welcome irony that serves
the purpose of journalism.

Barely a year after the Arturs were implicated in a raid on its
premises on March 2, 2006, the duo have metamorphosed into the
newspaper’s source of some of the most captivating exclusive headline
news.

Hot on the heels of Winnie’s confessions to a radio station, the
newspaper published pictures of the lovers enjoying good time at a
Sri Lankan hotel. More than anything else, Winnie’s confessions and
the photos reinforce the widely-held view that the Arturs enjoyed
high-level Government protection.

But this analysis will not delve into settled issues like who is
Winnie Wangui Mwai; why the report of the Kiruki Commission has been
embargoed, or whether the Artur brothers were genuine businessmen
since the speed at which developments on the Arturs has occurred
beckons more serious discourse on the state of security in Kenya today.

Just as Michuki was issuing his tough statement on Monday, killings
escalated in the Mt Elgon area of Western province where what began
as ‘tribal clashes’ has evidently matured into a genocide. More than
150 people have been butchered in Mt Elgon in the past six months.

Meanwhile, a militia group has emerged with all the characteristics
of a rebel force known to exist only in banana republics – issuing
ultimatums to the State and indubitably striking when their demands
are not met.

At casual observation, the killings and devastation in Mt Elgon
has little in common with the Artur brothers, the arrests of the
newspaper’s editors and Michuki’s new warnings to journalists. Yet the
extent of Government culpability in both is so glaring any honest mind
would not miss its symptoms and the physical and economic suffering
it visits on innocent souls.

Since the Mt Elgon crisis began, Michuki has not issued any responsible
statement other than reminders that he’s not resigning.

Similarly he has not come clean on the Artur brothers. Michuki’s
every word on the Armenians has aimed at defending himself and the
government and deflect debate on the substantive issues to the conduct
of journalists and newspapers, ‘national security’ and alleged plots to
‘bring down the Kibaki government.’

On the Armenians, Michuki must be asked some questions because despite
several shortcomings and deliberate drawbacks, Kenya is a democracy
in which the press will never abdicate its duty to inform and educate
the public at whatever cost.

Michuki is on record admitting his role in the Standard raid, the
best known crime of which the Arturs have been publicly implicated.

Michuki’s office also misrepresented the Arturs’ saga to Parliament,
with his former deputy, the late Mirugi Kariuki, defending the alleged
brothers as ‘businessmen.’

Later Immigration minister Gideon Konchella and Government Spokesman
Alfred Mutua defended the Arturs’ presence in the country. But given
these positions on the one hand, and the Arturs’ subsequent deportation
on the other, on what basis, if any, does Michuki continue directing
‘investigations’ into the issue?

If Government officials were sacked over their roles (some just very
procedural) in helping the Arturs get visas or access to airports,
why not Michuki and his cabinet colleagues who gave verbal statements
in defence of the ‘businessmen’? Who, if not Michuki in-charge of
national security, appointed the Arturs as deputy commissioners of
police? Why has that person not been named, sacked or prosecuted?

For the last one week since Winnie Wangui’s confessions, Michuki never
intervened to investigate why she meets deported criminals out of
the country. Is it either because the Government had lost interest
in the issue or Winnie is untouchable? In most circles, debate on
Winnie was reduced to the social, her boldness and/or recklessness.

But would a powerful daughter downplay her friendship with fugitives,
even temporarily, even when it threatens her parents’ credibility?

However, Winnie’s confidence can only be understood in the context
of Michuki’s and the President’s contemptuous handling of the tragedy
they both know to be "a serious matter."

Kibaki appointed the Kiruki Commission at a time when the public and
international community was seething with rage over the Arturs. The
Kiruki Commission served its purpose which was, to deflect the heat
and focus.

In the meantime, the killings in Mt Elgon, Tana River and Trans Mara
gives a glimpse of what the Government means by ‘national security.’
Perhaps to the extent that people are safe at State House and can
enumerate the ‘development’ they have gained since 2002, it doesn’t
matter how many Kenyans are killed in far-flung areas like Mt Elgon
or threatened by characters like Arturs.

Accordingly, it seems some deaths are a necessary condition for
the state to run effectively, by trimming political competition and
deflecting debate from pressing national issues. This understanding
of national security does not belong in a democracy.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEEDED: A FOCUSED, REALISTIC A.S. RESOLUTION
By Matthew L’Heureux

University of California, San Diego
The UCSD Guardian Online, CA
April 23 2007

April 23, 2007 – My eight quarters at UCSD have given me many things:
triumphs and successes, sleepless nights and headaches and perhaps
most importantly of all, the ability to witness numerous occasions of
unadulterated impracticality. As you may or may not find surprising,
many of those moments were spent behind my laptop in Price Center
Ballroom A, also known as the site of my year-and-a-quarter stint as
the A.S. Council beat writer.

A large part of my oft-thrilling job entailed sitting at council
meetings every Wednesday night to observe the highlights (and
lowlights) of our student government’s performance. While I don’t
deny that the council as an entity has done its fair share of
productive things over the years, there was always one particular
agenda item that habitually left me scratching my head and looking at
my watch: the generally well-meaning, but often misguided,
resolution.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of a resolution, it is a
nonbinding statement designed to communicate the council’s opinion on
an issue. In the last two years, the council has passed a whopping 30
of them, ranging in topics from the campus’s automated course
waitlist program, the proposed off-campus Hillel Center, national
immigration policy and – my favorite – a resolution to ban A.S.
President Harry Khanna from the Web site Facebook.com. (Seriously.)

However well-intentioned, most of these resolutions effectively fall
flat almost immediately after their passage – either the subjects
are too lofty to have an easy solution, or the sheer nightmare of
bureaucracy leads to nothing but bickering and wasted time.

Most recently, the council voted on April 18 to pass a resolution
offering condolences to families of the victims from the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University shootings. After debate
about semantics led to a failed proposal to postpone the resolution
for a week, the meeting broke for a 30-minute recess.

This wouldn’t be the first time.

A little more than a year ago, the outgoing council debated
a resolution in support of establishing April 24 as a day of
remembrance for victims of genocide in Armenia. The stage was set
for what seemed to be an easy vote, with a passionate, knowledgeable
speaker explaining how his organization desired the council’s help
to honor all his countrymen who had died.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that, at the time, I knew next to
nothing about this incident and what I did know was vague and sketchy
(thanks, Making of the Modern World). So, I was not particularly
surprised when several councilmembers commented that they did not
feel prepared enough to vote on such a heated topic. However, this
argument quickly merged with the idea that it was not the council’s
place to make sweeping social generalizations, and that any such
undertaking would ultimately be pointless and ineffective.

Many councilmembers then began to ponder the body’s true purpose.

Some senators said that the council’s purpose is to be a body of action
on behalf of students, which should focus on student issues that it
can feasibly solve. Had I not been forced to hide behind my shield
of impartiality, I’d have been right there with the senators snapping
their fingers in agreement – the issue was not about what a government
would like to do, but understanding the limitations of what it can do.

No one in the room debated the horror of genocide or the
reprehensibility of its perpetuators. Similarly, I’m confident that
no one believed expressing condolences to grieving families was an
unworthy undertaking. But with UCSD’s student government structured
the way it is, resolutions have proven to have a mixed success rate –
often making the council appear weaker than it really is because some
of its rallying cries can realistically accomplish little.

In looking back at the resolutions of the past two years, only a
moderate percentage of them appear to have had any direct effect on
campus (or governmental) policy. Though the council advocated for
them, students lack complete control of their Student-Run Television
station, a problem-free course waitlist system, freedom from excessive
fee hikes, the Hillel Center and certainly a "just and comprehensive"
national immigration policy. As for Khanna and his Facebook addiction,
don’t be fooled – he’s online right now as I sit here writing this
column. None of this can be blamed on the A.S. Council, however,
because these were never problems that the council could actually do
anything about.

In fact, when resolutions pertain to UCSD directly, they seem to have
a much higher success rate – council support for the Office of Academic
Support and Instructional Services last year undoubtedly played a role
in garnering financial backing for the program when it faced severe
budget cuts. Similarly, a resolution encouraging the university to
provide fair trade products on campus might very well have impacted
Housing and Dining Services’ decision to offer fair-trade coffee
options. The problem with resolutions, therefore, is a simple one –
in order for them to be effective, the council must have a realistic
idea of what it can accomplish, and put its time and resources into
those particular projects.

The council recently received a wake-up call through unexpected
student support for Revelle College senior and former independent
presidential candidate Junaid Fatehi, perhaps the only candidate to
openly admit he didn’t want the position for which he was running.

Fatehi, who scorned councilmembers as mere figureheads who make empty
promises, only reinforced the idea that superfluous resolutions fail
to do the council any good. When 388 students vote for a presidential
candidate who urinates on Round Table Pizza’s wall at the announcement
of election returns, it makes a statement (however limited) about
student confidence in their own government. By attempting to solve
more problems than it has the power to change, the council shifts the
focus away from all that it is accomplishing, and dwells on what it
simply has no control over.

My advice to our esteemed leaders, from the perspective of a moderately
informed observer: If you must make a resolution, stick to the realm
of possibility and keep in mind the fine line between being politically
responsible and shooting for the moon.