Month: July 2007

IN TURKEY, ALLEGED KILLERS OF ETHNIC ARMENIAN JOURNALIST TO GO ON TRIAL

C. ONUR ANT, AP Worldstream
Published: Jul 02, 2007

Hundreds of protesters appealed for justice to be done as the trial
of the alleged killers of an ethnic Armenian journalist opened
Monday. Human rights advocates say it is a test of whether Turkey’s
judiciary is willing to search for any signs of official negligence
or even collusion in the slaying.

The Jan. 19 killing of Hrant Dink led to international condemnation
and debate within Turkey about free speech, ethnic tensions and the
excesses of nationalism. Dink was detested by hardline nationalists
because he described the mass killings of Armenians early in the last
century as genocide.

A total of 18 people, including the teenage alleged gunman, Ogun
Samast, went on trial for the killing in an Istanbul court Monday. The
trial will take behind closed doors because Samast is a minor.

Critics accused authorities of failing to act on reports of a plot to
kill Dink, and it is unclear whether allegations that could potentially
be embarrassing for top officials will be explored in the trial.

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated near the court house, appealing
for justice and carrying a banner that read: "We are all witnesses,
we want justice."

The demonstrators also shouted: "We are all Hrant Dinks, We are
all Armenians."

"Hrant Dink’s murder trial is a critical test of the Turkish
judiciary’s independence," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia
director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement from New York
on Friday. "We will be closely watching how the court handles any
evidence that may implicate the security forces."

Turkey had vowed a thorough investigation, and the governor and police
chief of the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the hometown of Samast, were
removed from office because of negligence. Some security officials
who posed for photographs with the gunman as he held a Turkish flag
were also dismissed.

However, there has been no evidence that directly implicates any
police or government officials in the slaying of Dink outside his
office. Citing the indictment, Human Rights Watch noted that one of
the three main defendants, Yasin Hayal, had been a police informer.

Lawyer Fuat Turgut, representing Hayal, said his client had written
around 20 letters to police authorities, asking for help in the trial.

"The police manipulated us, now they should protect us," Turgut quoted
Hayal as saying in his letters.

Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state" _ a network of
state agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime
_ periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the
name of nationalism.

"This trial will be a test of whether this quagmire will be dried
up or not," lawyer Kezban Hatemi, representing Dink’s family, told
reporters before the hearing Monday. "The indictment lacks evidence
and there is a need to find out real culprits."

Ali Bayramoglu, a columnist at Dink’s ethnic Armenian newspaper Agos,
said Monday that people who defend ideas were "facing violence in
this country."

"There are dark, semi-official forces in action," Bayramoglu claimed.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said shortly after Dink’s killing
that his government would not hold back in its efforts to solve
the crime.

Dink sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. But
he was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which
bans insults to Turkish identity, for his comments on the mass
killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century. Remarks on
that tumultuous period of Turkish history led to legal problems for
several other prominent intellectuals, including Nobel Prize-winning
novelist Orhan Pamuk.

Dink’s death prompted calls for the revision or removal of Article
301, which is viewed by the European Union as an obstacle to Turkey’s
efforts to join its club. No changes have been made.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, OSCE ENVOY DISCUSS KARABAKH, RELATIONS

Arminfo
2 Jul 07

Yerevan, 2 July: Armenian Defence Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan received
OSCE chairman-in-office special representative Andrzej Kasprzyk on
30 June 2007.

The Defence Ministry’s press service reported that Kasprzyk first
congratulated Harutyunyan over his appointment as Armenian defence
minister.

Speaking about the Karabakh conflict settlement, the parties pointed
to the priority of maintaining peace talks, ruling out a possibility
of resuming the war.

The parties also exchanged views on the actions plan of the European
New Neighbourhood Policy as well as Armenia’s relations with the
neighbouring countries. Other issues of interest were also discussed.

ARMENIAN REFUGEES SEEK KARABAKH LEADER’S AID

Arminfo
Yerevan
2 Jul 07

Stepanakert, 2 July: The civil society network of Refugees and
International Law sent on 29 June 2007 the first package of petitions
by refugees from Azerbaijan addressed to the Nagornyy Karabakh republic
[NKR] authorities.

The authors of the document have told Armnifo that the petitioners are
sure that the NKR authorities will take under their effective control
the process of implementing demands by more than 500,000 people, who
have survived genocide and deportation, and will restore their rights,
ensure a payment of adequate reparation by the Republic of Azerbaijan,
and help them acquire a homeland of their citizenship.

The refugees, meanwhile, express their trust in the NKR authorities,
and by doing so, they authorize them to act on their behalf.

Currently, the civil society network of Refugees and International
Law possesses over 20,000 petitions addressed to the NKR president;
the number of petitions is growing. The petitioners are asking the
Karabakh president to act on their petitions.

NEW US MILITARY ATTACHE PRESENTED TO ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER

Mediamax news agency
2 Jul 07

Yerevan, 2 July: US charge d’affaires in Armenia Anthony Godfrey
presented the new US military attache, Lt Col Robert Webster, to
[Armenian] Defence Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan today [2 July].

The Defence Ministry press service reported that Harutyunyan thanked
the former military attache, Russell Grimley, for fruitful cooperation
and bestowed him with the Garegin Nzhdeh medal of the Armenian
armed forces.

RECURRENT MILITANT STATEMENTS OF THE AZERI PRESIDENT

armradio.am
02.07.2007 17:32

Speaking at the meeting with the graduates of the Police Academy of
the Azeri Ministry of Interior Affairs, President Ilham Aliyev declared
that "Armenia must voluntarily liberate the occupied Azeri lands, which
will help to escape from a new war for Nagorno Karabakh." "Azerbaijan
is the most powerful state from the military perspective, and our
neighbors must understand it. Armenia must voluntarily withdraw its
forces from Azerbaijani territories. Only in that case shall we be
able to definitely declare that there will not be a new war," Ilham
Aliyev said.

In his words, "Azerbaijan is ready to liberate its territories in every
possible way, including the military one. "None of us wants to suffer
losses. Azerbaijan is gaining strength and is ready to undertake any
action at any moment," the Azerbaijani President declared.

AZERBAIJAN READY TO RECOVER NAGORNO-KARABAKH BY FORCE – ALIYEV

RIA Novosti
15:48 | 02/ 07/ 2007

BAKU, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia must voluntarily cede Azerbaijani
territory if it wants to avoid a new war over Nagorno-Karabakh,
the Azerbaijani president said Monday.

"Azerbaijan is militarily the strongest power in the region, and our
neighbors should face up to this. Armenia should voluntarily withdraw
its troops from Azerbaijani lands. Only on this condition will it
be possible to say with certainty that there will not be a new war,"
Ilkham Aliyev said.

He said Azerbaijan will never put up with the occupation of its lands
and is ready to free them by any means, including military.

"None of us want losses, but Azerbaijan is gaining strength and is
ready to conduct any operation at any moment. We will never accept
the situation now prevailing," he said.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a
largely Armenian population, first erupted in 1988 when it declared
its independence from Azerbaijan, and moved to join Armenia.

Over 30,000 people were killed on both sides between 1988 and 1994,
and over 100 died following a 1994 ceasefire. Nagorno-Karabakh
remained in Armenian hands, but tensions between Azerbaijan and
Armenia have persisted.

Azerbaijan is determined to restore its control over the separatist
region.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT MUST NOT SILENCE RFE/RL

armradio.am
2007-07-02 16:42:00

The Armenian parliament should not adopt two draft laws that would
effectively ban future broadcasts of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL), a key source of independent information in that country,
Human Rights Watch said today.

The first, an amendment to the law "On Television and Radio" prohibits
retransmission of foreign broadcasts on Armenian Public Television
and Radio frequencies. The second, an amendment to the aw "On State
Taxes" establishes heavy fees for private companies that air foreign
broadcasts.

Both draft laws passed a first reading on Friday in the National
Assembly of Armenia, but must undergo a second reading, expected on
Monday or Tuesday, before they become law. "These new laws clearly
restrict access to a crucial independent news source for many Armenians
and deal a serious blow to RFE/RL and to freedom of the media in
general," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at
Human Rights Watch. "The parliament should under no circumstances
pass this bill in the second reading."

The parliament’s actions appear to specifically target RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service, the only foreign broadcaster that relies on Armenian
National Radio, the country’s public radio station, to reach the
majority of its audience. RFE/RL is one of the only independent
broadcast media outlets remaining in Armenia. Although there is a
vibrant print media, the government maintains close control over the
much more accessible broadcast media, and recently closed the last
independent television station, A1+, in 2002.

RFE/RL is also occasionally broadcast via some private radio stations
in the country’s capital, Yerevan, and surrounding regions, but under
the under the proposed laws, private Armenian broadcasters would
pay more than US$200 in taxes each time they retransmit a program
produced by a foreign media organization. This fee is 70 times more
than broadcasters must pay for a locally made program.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE)
representative on freedom of the media, Miklos Haraszti, criticized the
bills, saying that they infringed Armenia’s commitments to safeguard
media pluralism and access to information, and called on the Armenian
authorities to drop them. Opposition politicians in Armenia lamented
the parliament’s decision to pass the bills and charged the government
with trying to control the media.

The two bills are incompatible with Armenia’s obligations under
the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Article 10 of the
ECHR guarantees the right "to receive and impart information and
ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of
frontiers." This right can only be restricted for limited and specific
reasons such as national security or public safety. The restrictions
placed on the rights of expression and imparting of information
by the bills do not meet these requirements. The importance of the
rights protected by Article 10 has been repeatedly emphasized by the
European Court of Human Rights. The court maintains that freedom of
expression is one of the essential foundations of a democratic society
and that the media plays a pre- eminent role in a state governed by
the rule of law. The court insists that any efforts by a government
to restrict freedom of expression be strictly scrutinized and the
reason convincingly established.

"By passing these laws, Armenia risks violating its international
commitments to freedom of expression and the media," said Cartner. "As
Armenia prepares for presidential elections in 2008, the world will
certainly be watching to see if the government respects freedom of
the media and other freedoms necessary for a free and fair vote."

The move is not the first effort by the Armenian government to limit
independent media. The independent television station A1+ lost its
broadcasting license in 2002, after regularly airing criticism of the
government, and lost 12 subsequent tenders for television and radio
frequencies. In June 2006, A1+, which produced a weekly newspaper and
maintains a website, was forced to vacate its offices, after losing
a court case in 2005 challenging a notice of eviction.

Human rights groups have reported violence against journalists in
retaliation for their work, and in September a court sentenced Arman
Babajanian, editor of the opposition newspaper Zhamanak Yerevan, to
four years in prison for failing to serve the compulsory two years of
military service. Although Babajanian admitted to forging documents
in 2002 in order to evade military service, the harsh sentence is
suspected to be retribution for the journalist’s persistent criticism
of government policies (draft evaders are usually sentenced to between
two and three years in prison).

REPRESENTATIVES OF ROSATOM VISIT YEREVAN

arminfo
2007-06-29 20:17:00

Today Armenian Ecology Minister Aram Haroutyunyan met with Deputy
Director of All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics of
the Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy of Russia Haroutyun Pogossyan
and Deputy Director of Techsnabexport company Vladimir Servetnik.

The Ecology Ministry of Armenia reports that the guests presented
their plan of action for 2007 under the agreement on uranium deposit
development in Armenia. Techsnabexport exports products and services
produced by Rosatom companies and imports modern technologies and
medical and other equipment.

That company provides full range of products and services of the
nuclear fuel cycle.

The Ministry does not give the details of the talks. They just say
that the cooperation is developing according to the schedule.

To remind, during the recent visit of head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko
to Armenia the Armenian authorities expressed wish to take part in the
international uranium enrichment center project in Angarsk. Kiriyenko
said that Armenia may have 1.5-2 times more uranium than reported
during the Soviet times. The country’s confirmed reserves total
60,000 tons. Meanwhile, the Russian side is ready to invest in uranium
prospecting as much as necessary. Uranium mining in Armenia will be
started in 2008. The Russian side is also ready to take part in the
constitution of a new NPP in Armenia.

"MARTIAL STATEMENTS OF AZERBAIJAN ARE OF DECLARATORY CHARACTER," FLORENCE MARTIROSIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The martial statements of Azerbaijan
are more of declaratory than of concrete character. They are, really,
dangerous. This information was provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent
by Florence Martirosian, a member of the international consultation
council of the "Geopolitical Affairs" journal and a researcher of
the Paris-Sorbonne University.

According to her, the main goal of the martial statements of Azerbaijan
is to promote the idea that Karabakh is not finally lost. In her
opinion, the loss of a territory is a serious problem for any country,
and the politicians of Azerbaijan are trying to mitigate this problem
with aggressive statements. "I am sure that making such statements
is not a solution of the problem," Florence Martirosian mentioned.

She believes that the Karabakh conflict will be settled through the
establishment of democratic orders in the whole territory. Florence
Martirosian believes that the existence of a powerful opposition and
of different opinions, as well as the equality of everybody in front
of the law in the country should be attached importance in order to
reach democracy.

Florence Martirosian considers it necessary for Nagorno Karabakh to
take part in the negotiation process. "The essential essence of the
principle of self-determination is that the representatives of the
self-determining nation should take part in the negotiation process,"
she said.

AGO GROUP ARRIVES IN YEREVAN

Noya Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The delegation of the Ago’s monitoring
commission of the Committee of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the
European Council is arriving in Yerevan on a two-day visit on July 2.

Officials of the Secretariat of the CE Ministers’ Committee, as well as
Abmassadors of Australia, France, Germany, Russia, Romania, Latvia,
and Sweden (the Chairman of the delegation and Ago’s commission)
to the European Council are included in the delagation.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press
and Information Department of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
meetings with Robert Kocharian, the RA President, Tigran Torosian, the
NA Speaker, Serge Sargsian, the RA Prime MInister, Gagik Haroutiunian,
the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Vardan Oskanian, the RA
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gevorg Danielian, the RA Minister of
Justice, and Armen Haroutiunian, the Human Rights Defendor, are
envisaged during the visit of the delegation.