Month: May 2008

BRIEF: MUSIC EVENTS HELP CELEBRATE SAROYAN

The Fresno Bee
May 2, 2008 Friday
California

May 2–Not one but two musical events on Saturday help celebrate
the yearlong centennial of writer William Saroyan’s birth in Fresno
in 1908.

In the afternoon, Richard Hagopian and his grandsons will perform a 2
p.m. concert at the Fresno Art Museum, 2233 N. First St. Hagopian is
known for his performances of Armenian music, including his expertise
on the oud, a traditional Armenian stringed instrument.

Tickets are $4, $2 for students and seniors, and free to museum
members.

In the evening, the Fresno Community Chorus will perform at 7:30
p.m. in the Concert Hall at California State University, Fresno, Shaw
and Maple avenues. The program will include choral music by Hovhaness,
Stravinsky and Brahms.

Tickets are $15, $8 for students. For more information on this concert,
call (559) 278-2654.

EUROPEAN COURT CHIEF: AZERBAIJAN NEEDS LEGAL REFORM

Interfax News Agency
May 2 2008
Russia

The president of the European Court of Human Rights, Jean-Paul Costa,
urged the Azeri parliament on Friday to help bring Azeri law into
line with European legislation.

Speaking at a briefing in Baku, Costa blamed Azerbaijan’s judiciary
and legislation for obstacles that the enforcement of European Court
rulings on Azeri issues comes up against.

He also argued that much is being done in Azerbaijan to ensure courts’
independence but that more needs to be done.

On the refugees issue, Costa said the European Court receives complains
from both Azerbaijan and Armenia and suggested that the two countries
tackle the problem through bilateral contacts.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE OFFICIAL CALLS TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS FROM VIOLENCE

UzReport.com
May 2, 2008 Friday

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media,
called on the OSCE participating States on 2 May to protect press
freedom by curbing violence against journalists and abolishing undue
restrictions on free speech and reporting.

"In the past year, we saw a deterioration in two crucial dimensions of
press freedom – the physical security of journalists, and the legal
protections of critical speech," Haraszti said ahead of World Press
Freedom Day on 3 May.

Haraszti said he was alarmed that violence targeting journalists
in several OSCE countries was rising, and that such actions were
conducted with impunity which he said had resulted in "censorship
by violence". He called on governments to get tougher on those who
intimidate journalists.

"In revenge for critical coverage, or because of attempts to prevent
it, journalists have suffered physical violence ranging from beatings
to murders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia,
Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia," he said.

"Violence against journalists is not ‘crime as usual’ because it is
meant to undermine a basic institution of democracy – the free press.

"Those who issue fatwas calling for murder of journalists and artists,
and those who contract murders of reporters should belong to the same
category of offenders. Both pursue the same goal: silencing the press
by violence."

He also called on governments to protect the safety of journalists
by effectively assisting them as they cover demonstrations, including
unsanctioned ones.

Arbitrary, politically motivated restrictions on dissenting or
offensive speech also endanger media freedom, Haraszti said.

"They range from labelling as ‘extremist’ the reporting, debates,
or criticism on controversial issues – which we have seen in
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Tajikistan –
to criminalization of historical or religious disputes, which we have
witnessed in Azerbaijan, Switzerland and Turkey."

"This is in addition to the criminalization of ‘defamation’ and
‘breach of secrecy’, which still continues to harm professional
journalism in many countries," he said.

Haraszti urged governments to abstain from arbitrary restrictions on
discourse in society.

"All tailor-made criminalization of speech content must be
abolished. This includes the special bans on historical debates,
as well as blasphemy. Anti-terrorism and extremism laws must not be
used to punish offensive or critical speech," said Haraszti.

"Actual incitement to criminal actions should be punished, but
broad protection must be granted to political speech, to the right
to discuss, dissent, and even deride, all of which are crucial in
democratic societies."

MINSK GROUP HARDLY ENJOYS ANY CONFIDENCE IN AZERBAIJAN – POLL

Interfax News Agency
May 2 2008
Russia

The Minsk Group, an Organization for Security and Cooperation body
mediating in the Azeri-Armenian conflict over the disputed Azeri
Armenians-speaking enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, hardly enjoys any
public confidence in Azerbaijan, pollsters said on Friday.

"According to the results of the poll, the population of Azerbaijan
is extremely dissatisfied with the Minsk Group – 66% of respondents
categorically deny it confidence and another 15% question its
objectivity, while 19% were undecided," Rizvan Abbasov, head of the
Rey Monitoring Center told a news conference in reference to a survey
by Rey.

"In speaking about what kind of relationship Azerbaijan should have
with the Minsk Group of the OSCE in the future, only 7% of those
questioned were in favor of leaving everything the way it is because
‘the interchange of summands does not affect the sum,’" Abbasov said.

"Twenty-nine percent were undecided."

Twenty-seven percent of those questioned were in favor of changing
the format of Nagorno-Karabakh talks by ditching the Minsk Group, 24%
would welcome the replacement of the countries co-heading the Group,
and 12% thought "something needs to be done in any case because the
Minsk Group is useless," Abbasov said.

"In a word, the poll by the Rey Monitoring Center provides evidence
that 81% of Azerbaijan’s adult population negatively assesses the
performance of the Minsk Group of the OSCE, while 63% believe that
it fails to cope with its mission and that one should look for a
replacement for it. Sixty-seven percent of respondents believe the
situation has remained unchanged, and in the opinion of 19% it has
got worse – 13% were undecided, – in other words, the population is
dissatisfied with the way this serious and painful problem is being
dealt with," Abbasov said.

Asked which conflict settlement formula they would welcome, 46%
advocated going back to Nagorno-Karabakh’s Soviet-era status as a semi-
autonomous region of Azerbaijan, 30% were against any special status
for the enclave, and 16% were in favor of vast autonomy for it.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents would prefer the use of armed
force and 65% talks as the means of resolving the conflict.

Rey questioned 1,300 people in the poll, carried out on April 2-5.

NESTLE APOLOGISES TO AZERBAIJAN

Newsroom America
May 3 2008
New Zealand

Food giant Nestle faces a boycott in Azerbaijan after information about
countries around the world on a CD-ROM given away with a breakfast
cereal caused outrage there.

The CD-ROM said that Azerbaijan had started a war against neighbouring
Armenia and that the hotly disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
belonged to Armenia.

The BBC reports that the Swiss-based multinational food company
has issued a formal apology to Azerbaijan, withdrawn the cereal and
promised to seize the offending CDs.

Conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the early 1990s over
Nagorno-Karabakh killed an estimated 30,000 people. Hundreds of
thousands of refugees were created on both sides.

And despite a peace deal in 1994, the situation remains tense and
volatile.

The Azeri government vowed to take action, and there has been
widespread talk of a public boycott, despite Nestle’s apology.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS A DECREE ON APPOINTING ARTUR BAGHDASARYAN SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

arminfo
2008-05-04 21:10:00

ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on
appointing Artur Baghdasaryan the Secretary of the National Security
Council, the Armenian presidential press-service told ArmInfo.

Note: Artur Baghdasaryan was born on November 8, 1968. In 1985-1992 he
studied at the law faculty of the Yerevan State University. In 1989-
1993 he worked for the "Avangard" newspaper as a journalist, then as
a head of a department and finally as a deputy editor. In 1994-1997
Baghdasaryan studied at the Russian Academy of State Service. In July
1995 he was elected a deputy of the Armenian parliament, in March
1998 he was elected chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing
commission for state and legal affairs. In June 1998 Baghdasaryan was
elected chairman of the Law-Governed Country Party (Orinats Yerkir). In
May 1999 Baghdasaryan was elected an Armenian MP. In 2001-2003 he was
a member of the Armenian parliamentary standing commission for foreign
affairs. In 2003-2007 he was an Armenian MP, from June 12, 2003 till
May 29, 2006 he held the post of the Speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly. On May 12, 2007, he was elected an MP from the Law-Governed
Country Party. Baghdasaryan is married and has three children.

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER OBAMA CALLS TO ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ARKA
May 4, 2008

YEREVAN, May 4. /ARKA/. U.S. Presidential contender senator Barack
Obama made a statement in marking the 93rd anniversary of the genocide
of Armenian in Ottoman Empire.

"It is imperative that we recognize the horrific acts carried out
against the Armenian people as genocide and I will continue to stand
with the Armenian American community in calling for the Government
of Turkey to acknowledge it as such," Obama said as quoted by the
Armenian National Committee of America.

The Armenian genocide is a well-documented fact proved by many historic
evidences, he said.

Obama expressed his deep regret over the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans dismissed in September 2006 after having used the word
"genocide". The post of U.S. Ambassador has been vacant since then.

Obama urged Condoleezza Rice to seriously look into the unstable
stand of the U.S. Government on the matter.

Obama pledged to continue efforts for recognition of the Armenian
genocide and conveyed his condolences to the Armenian people.

Armenian genocide was the first genocide committed in XX
century. Turkey rejects the accusation of massacres and the killing
of one and a half million Armenians during World War I.

The fact of the Armenian genocide is recognized by many countries,
particularly by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, most of the
U.S. states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece, Cyprus,
Argentina, Belgium, Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Common
House of Canada, the Seym of Poland and lower house of Italian
parliament.

ARMENIA’S AGRICULTURAL LANDS FACE DROUGHT

ARKA
May 4, 2008

YEREVAN, May 4. /ARKA/. Drought may threaten Armenia’s agricultural
lands as a result of the unprecedented heat, RA Deputy Minister of
Agriculture Samvel Galstyan told reporters.

The rise in the air temperature is a serious signal arousing concern,
he said.

According to Galstyan, the air temperature is down now, but this year’s
hot spring, which has no precedents, shows that the air temperature
may be 2-3 degrees higher than in previous years.

He expressed hope for timely precipitation and favorable weather.

Galstyan pointed out that the recent high air temperature has not
caused any damage to crops, but has aroused alarm. He pointed out
the necessity for measure to ensure proper irrigation of agricultural
lands.

"If we have enough rains, we will be able to increase our water
reserves," he said.

On April 27, the air temperature reached 35 degrees in the Ararat
valley, which figure had never been recorded in April before. However,
weathermen forecast a 10-15 fall in air temperature this May.

8.8% ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NKR IN 2007

ARKA
May 4, 2008

STEPANAKERT, May 4. /ARKA/. 8.8% economic growth was recorded in
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in 2007. The country’s GDP reached
70.8bln AMD.

Presenting a 2007 report to the NKR Parliament, NKR Deputy Minister
of Finance Never Baghdasaryan said that industrial output reached
22.4bln AMD in 2007 – a 6.4% increase as compared with 2006. 20.8bln
AMD capital construction was carried out in the NKR last year –
an 18.2% increase.

Baghdasaryan reported that over 1,500 jobs were created in the
NKR last year, mostly in the country’s education, industrial and
management sectors.

The average monthly salary was 68,610 AMD. The NKR population’s
incomes in creased by 19.3% and expenses by 18.4% in 2007 as compared
with 2006.

The NKR Parliament is discussing the execution of the NKR state budget
for 2007. The Parliament’s standing commissions and deputy factions
are to continue discussing the document until May 7.

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT ARMENIA’S FOREIGN-POLICY PRIORITIES

ARKA
May 4, 2008

YEREVAN, May 4. /ARKA/. The development of partnership with friendly
states and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are
Armenia’s foreign policy priorities, RA Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan stated at his meeting with the heads of foreign diplomatic
missions.

Armenia will continue making effective steps to intensify its relations
with friendly nations. Specifically, the country will develop its
partnership with Russia and the USA, Nalbandyan said.

The Press and Information Department, RA Foreign Office, reports that
during the meeting Minister Nalbandyan stated that the cooperation
with Europe has become one of the priorities for Armenia as well.

The Minister pointed out that Armenia attaches importance to its
relations with its immediate neighbors and is ready to make every
effort to improve its relations with the neighbors with which it
still has problems.

Nalbandyan singled out Armenia’s relations with the countries that
have diplomatic missions in Armenia.

The Minister stated that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict remains a major priority of Armenia’s foreign policy. He
re-affirmed the country’s willingness to continue negotiations within
the OSCE Minsk Group.

Speaking of relations with Turkey, the Minister re-affirmed
Armenia’s willingness to develop its relations with Turkey without
any preconditions.

As regards Armenia’s cooperation with international organizations,
Nalbandyan pointed out that Armenia will develop its cooperation with
the UN, OSCE and CE and other international organizations.

In conclusion, Minister Nalbandyan pointed out the Armenian Diaspora’s
important role in developing friendly relations with Armenia and
other countries.