Month: April 2007

"LITTLE FREEDOM" FROM FREEDOM SQUARE

A1+
[10:08 pm] 27 April, 2007

Today, the Impeachment Alliance held its recurrent rally at Freedom
Square. Over 8-10 thousand people participated in the rally.

As usual, the members of the alliance made addressing speeches and
urged the presentees to join them and announce impeachment to the
acting authorities.

The meeting was attended by Aram Karapetyan, the leader of the New
Times Party, and Aram Sargsyan, the leader of the Hanrapetutyun Party.

Gegham Harutyunyan, a member of the Hanrapetutyun Party, presented
the program provisions of the party; victory, power takeover, etc.

Alliance member Nikol Pashinyan urged the presentees to take home
"a little freedom" from the square.

The initiators called on the people not to vote for the Republican
Party of Armenia, as Serge Sargsyan, who intends to become RoA
President, will enjoy their votes.

After the meeting the rally participants headed to Republican
Square. On the way they shouted and demanded resignation of the acting
officialdom. It is noteworthy that passers-by joint the demonstrators
on the way. Many took photos.

Nikol Pashinayn stood on a stone at Republican Square and had a short
talk to the participants.

Panorama.am

20:18 27/04/2007

ARMENIAN POSTAL SERVICE JOINS EUROGIRO

Today HayPost signed the membership agreement for Eurogiro Network, through
which HayPost offices will be electronically connected to more than 60,000
post offices across Europe; the 50 million Postbank accountholders in Europe
will be able to send money in a reliable, fast manner and at low cost to any
of the 900 communities in Armenia. The Eurogiro membership also provides
high quality gateways to the U.S. banking system, and e.g. postal banks in
Brazil, Japan and China.

" The Eurogiro membership is a fundamental step towards the Postbank in
Armenia – it will fuel the competition in money transfers. Armenia’s rural
and remote communities will be able to receive their money literally around
the corner- without the need to travel a day to a bank branch in the city "
said Hans Boon, trust manager of HayPost. " Armenia is the first country of
the Commonwealth of Independent States that joins Eurogiro – we are very
happy with this expansion of Eurogiro’s network and welcome HayPost !"
commented Soren Rose, the Deputy Managing Director of Eurogiro Network. The
agreement was signed today in Switzerland, Berne at the headquarters of the
Swiss PostFinance, one of the leading members of Eurogiro.

Source: Panorama.am

HISTORIAN SAYS GEORGE BUSH DOES NOT USE WORD GENOCIDE UNDER TURKISH PRESSURES

Panorama.am
20:20 27/04/2007

"He, of coarse, understands his mistake and should use the right
word," Richard Hovannisyan, a historian, said speaking about April 24
address of U.S. President George Bush. The historian said Bush does
not use the word "genocide" under the Turkish pressures. "But if you
read the statement, you will see that everything is said," he said,
also saying "there is progress against several years ago."

In the words of Richard Hovannisyan, 40 states of USA have recognized
the Armenian Genocide and hundreds of cities and towns recognize
it year by year. Asked what is the likelihood that Congress will
adopt the resolution on the Armenian Genocide, Hovannisyan said,
"That country has recognized genocide still under the administration
of Wilson but later subjected it to amnesty."

Source: Panorama.am

OMX TO BUY ARMENIAN STOCK EXCHANGE AND CENTRAL DEPOSITARY

Panorama.am
20:21 27/04/2007

OMX, leading expert in exchange industry, Armenian Central bank
and the government of Armenia signed an memorandum of intention
on purchase of the Armenian stock exchange and central depositary,
CB press services report.

According to the source, Magnus Bioker, chief general director of
OMX, said the purchase will enable OMX to apply its experience in
developing markets in other markets as well. "OMX will help Armenian
stock market to achieve effectiveness," he said.

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan welcomed the cooperation with
OMX saying "we will do everything to help OMX implement mutually
set objectives."

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN ELECTIONS WILL BE A POSITIVE PRECEDENT FOR NIS COUNTRIES, NIS INSTITUTE VICE CHAIRMAN SAYS

Panorama.am
20:22 27/04/2007

"May 12 parliamentary elections of Armenia will be a positive
precedent for NIS," Vladimir Jarikhin, vice chairman of NIS Institute,
said. He also said the political fight is tense but the situation is
unprecedented because the meetings are held in election communities
and not in squares. In his words, Armenia is a model for NIS countries
to hold elections "free and in time."

Justice Minster Davit Harutunyan underscored the importance of
elections, too. He believes the authority powers of the parliament,
prime minister and the president will considerably change.

Source: Panorama.am

Turkish parliament may declare pre-term election

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2007 13:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s powerful military said on Friday it was
watching the parliamentary election of a new president with concern,
hours after an inconclusive first round split Turkish secularists
and the Islamist-rooted government.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the ruling AK Party’s candidate,
failed to win sufficient votes in the first round of voting after
opposition parties boycotted the session.

"The Turkish armed forces are watching this (election) situation with
concern," the General Staff said in an unusually blunt statement
late on Friday that also reminded the politicians the military is
the ultimate defender of secularism.

Turkey’s secular elite, which includes army generals, top judges and
the opposition parties, fear that Gul, a former Islamist, will try
to erode Turkey’s separation of politics and religion if elected.

The army ousted a government it viewed as too Islamist as recently as
1997. Gul served in that government. He says his views have changed
and he is now a conservative democrat.

The AK Party’s main rival, the CHP, has asked the Constitutional
Court to annul the vote on a technicality, raising the risk of
protracted legal wrangling in the strategically important European
Union candidate country.

If the court backs the CHP, a general election must be called within
90 days.

Nobody predicts an army coup in today’s Turkey, where the economy
is growing strongly and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government
is popular, but the generals’ warning is a timely reminder of the
growing political tensions.

As an example of what it called increased "reactionary," or Islamist,
activity, the army statement cited the recent murder of three
Christians at a Bible publishing house in eastern Turkey. Turkish
media have suggested the arrested suspects may be militant Islamists.

Gul, a gently-spoken diplomat, is respected abroad as the architect
of Turkey’s EU bid but the secularists point to his Islamist past
and the fact his wife wears the Muslim headscarf.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Ankara in
defense of secularism and against Erdogan himself running for the
presidency. Another rally is planned in Istanbul, Turkey’s business
and cultural center, on Sunday.

Earlier on Friday, opposition parties accused the government of
riding rough-shod over parliament, where it has a big majority. The
Constitutional Court said it would consider the CHP appeal on Monday.

Parliament is due to hold a second round of voting next Wednesday,
though Gul is not expected to win the presidency until a third round
set for May 9, when he only has to secure a simple majority in the
550-seat assembly.

On Friday, Gul won 357 votes. He had needed 367 to win.

The CHP asked the Constitutional Court to rule Friday’s vote invalid
because there were fewer than two thirds, or 367 deputies, in the
chamber at the time of the vote. The AK Party says only 184 deputies
need be present for a vote to be valid.

If elections are called, incumbent Ahmet Necdet Sezer would stay as
president until a new parliament could elect his successor.

The AK Party is expected to win the next general election, which must
anyway be held by November, and is ahead of its rivals in opinion
polls. It rejects the Islamist label.

The CHP appears to be hoping for a strong surge of support from
moderate pro-secular voters worried by the AK Party’s impending
capture of the presidency, which would complete its domination of
all the key state institutions.

Turkey’s financial markets traded lower on Friday, fearful legal
battles over the election could scare investors.

In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can
veto laws, block appointments of officials and appoint judges. The
president is also the army’s commander-in-chief.

As successor to modern Turkey’s revered founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
the president also carries great moral weight. If elected, Gul would
be the first ex-Islamist to hold the post, Reuters reports.

FU Berlin confers an honorary doctorate on Orhan Pamuk

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2007 13:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ FU Berlin confers an honorary doctorate on Orhan
Pamuk, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2006. Pamuk, one of
Turkey~Rs most prominent novelists, will be awarded the honorary degree
at a public ceremony in the Henry-Ford-Building of the Free University
Berlin on May 4th, 2007. FU Berlin honors the Turkish writer for his
valuable contribution to world literature and society in general. Pamuk
will sign copies of his books after the event, Deutsche Welle reports.

The awarding ceremony was due in February but Orhan Pamuk had
cancelled the tour amid fears for his safety following the murder of
Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia going to deepen political dialogue with EU

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2007 13:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian who is
currently in Brussels met with Javier Solana, High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary-General of the
Council of the European Union, the RA MFA press office reports. Giving
a positive estimation to the Armenia-EU relations Vartan Oskanian said
Armenia wishes to deepen political dialogue with the European Union.

The parties discussed the peaceful process of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement, specifically the outcomes of the Belgrade talks of
the Armenian and Azeri FMs. If Azerbaijan demonstrates political will
progress in the Karabakh peaceful process can be possible, Minister
Oskanian said. He reaffirmed the position of the Armenian side on
the introduction of the GUAM’s resolution on ‘frozen conflicts’ into
the agenda of the UN General Assembly and pointed out to the negative
influence of the resolution on the negotiation process.

Oskanian and Solana also exchanged views on the Armenian-Turkish
relations and the latest talks on Iran’s nuclear file.

U.S. to present draft resolution on Kosovo to UNSC

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2007 14:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Following an April 23-24 visit by the UN Security
Council to Brussels, Belgium; Belgrade, Serbia; and Kosovo’s capital,
Pristina, the United States plans to co-sponsor a UN resolution that
would allow Kosovo’s provisional government to declare independence,
U.S. Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns says.

"We must now act quickly in the next weeks and months to finish the
job by helping to lead Kosovo to independence," Burns said April 17
in testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Burns is under
secretary of state for political affairs, the third-ranking official
at the State Department.

Following 18 months of negotiations, UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari
on April 3 formally proposed to the Security Council that Kosovo be
granted independence while temporarily remaining under international
supervision.

Kosovo, a province of Serbia, is administered by the United Nations
under U.N. Resolution 1244, passed in June 1999 when a NATO campaign
drove Yugoslav Serbs out of Kosovo, halting years of violence and
human rights abuses.

Under the Ahtisaari plan, "Kosovo will become independent but will
continue a period of international tutelage for a number of years,"
Burns told lawmakers. "NATO, for example, will continue to police
Kosovo’s borders and maintain internal peace until Kosovo is ready
to form its own armed forces. The European Union will lead the major
international civilian effort to ensure that the settlement of the
Ahtisaari plan is fully implemented."

Several lawmakers expressed concerns that granting independence
to Kosovo would set a dangerous precedent for other breakaway
regions. Independence is strongly opposed by Serbia and by Kosovo
Serbs. Russia, which holds veto power on the Security Council, has
expressed concerns.

"A solution that’s imposed from the outside, unless the parties both
agree, is going to lead to a real military problem, in my opinion,
down the road," Representative Howard Berman, a California Democrat,
warned Burns.

Burns stressed that the United States and its European allies consider
Kosovo’s history of oppression under now-deceased Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic to be a unique situation that does not set a
precedent for other separatist movements. (See related article.)

Burns also said Ahtisaari spent 18 months trying to achieve a
compromise, but the government in Belgrade "made a political decision
not to participate" meaningfully in the negotiation. Belgrade also
pressured Kosovo Serbs to stay away from negotiations, he said.

The UN Security Council has five permanent members and 10 elected
members. A Security Council decision requires approval by nine
of the 15 members. However, the five permanent members — China,
France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — can veto
a decision. U.S. and European diplomatic efforts in the weeks ahead
are focused on persuading Russia not to veto a Kosovo resolution,
USINFO reports.

EU: fair election necessary for Armenia’s European integration

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2007 14:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met in
Brussels with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Commissioner for External
Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, the RA MFA press office
reports. Ms.

Ferrero-Waldner voiced content with the implementation of the ENP
Action Plan and said the EU expects Armenia to present priorities in
the process.

The Armenian Minister briefed on the work of the departments engaged
in the process and noted Yerevan’s intention to implement the program
successfully.

Pointing out to the necessity of creating a favorable atmosphere for
regional cooperation, Vartan Oskanian attached great importance to firm
EU’s stance against construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railroad.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner touched upon the forthcoming election in
Armenia. She noted the necessity of holding a fair and free election
for Armenia’s further integration into the European structures.

In conclusion the EU Commissioner informed of the EU initiative on a
meeting of FMs of the states engaged in the ENP due on September 3,
2007 in Brussels and requested Vartan Oskanian to attend the event.