Month: May 2008

ADMINISTRATIVE COURT RETURNS POLICE CLAIM ON DEPORTATION OF ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 28, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. In accordance with the order envisaged
by the Code of Administrative Procedure, the RA Administrative Court
made a decision to return the police claim on deportation of Zhirayr
Sefilian from Armenia, NT correspondent was informed by spokeswoman
for the RA Cassation Court Alina Yengoyan. The Administrative Court
explained its decision by the fact that the claim has some flaws.

To recap, the RA police made a decision to start the process of
deporting Lebanese citizen Zhirayr Sefilian from Armenia and filed on
May 23 a claim to the Administrative Court with the request to take
a decision on deportation. The coordinator of the civil initiative
"In Defence of Liberated Territories", azatamartik Zhirayr Sefilian
was sentenced to imprisonment for keeping illegal arms. His prison
term expires on June 7.

YOUTH CENTER OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH OPENS IN SHOUSHI

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 28, 2008

SHOUSHI, MAY 28, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. A youth center of
the Armenian Apostolic Church opened recently in Shoushi with the
sponsorship of American Armenian benefactor Jack Mazmanian. Billiards
and tennis tables have been placed in repaired rooms. Youth of Shoushi
may visit the center to play billiards, table tennis, chess, draughts
and other games and use computers.

J. Mazmanian and his wife attended the opening ceremony held on May 26.

After saying words of blessing, the head of the Artsakh diocese
Archbishop Pargev Martirosian thanked the benefactor and the
coordinator of Karabakh programs of the Armenian General Benevolent
Union Sasun Baghdasarian, with whose assistance the program was
implemented.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED OVER XENOPHOBIA BOOST IN RUSSIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 14:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Amnesty International is concerned over xenophobia
increase in Russia, says the Organization’s annual report.

"The Russian authorities were increasingly intolerant of dissent
or criticism, branding it ‘unpatriotic’. A crackdown on civil and
political rights was evident throughout the year and in particular
during the run-up to the State Duma (parliament) elections in
December. Given the strict state control of TV and other media,
demonstrations were the flashpoint during the year for political
protests, with police detaining demonstrators, journalists, and human
rights activists, some of whom were beaten. Activists and political
opponents of the government were also subjected to administrative
detention," the report says.

"The number of racist attacks that came to the attention of the media
rose; at least 61 people were killed across the country. Although
authorities recognized the problem and there was an increase in the
number of prosecutions for racially motivated crimes, these measures
failed to stem the tide of violence."

Serious concerns were expressed as regards the situation in the
North Caucasus.

"There were fewer reported cases of disappearances in the Chechen
Republic than in previous years; however, serious human rights
violations were frequent and individuals were reluctant to report
abuses, fearing reprisals. Ingushetia saw an increase in serious
violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial
executions," it says.

"Violent racist attacks occurred with alarming regularity, mostly
concentrated in big cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Nizhnii
Novgorod, where the majority of foreigners and ethnic minorities lived.

While exact figures for numbers of attacks and racist incidents
were hard to verify, the non-governmental SOVA Information and
Analytical Centre reported that at least 61 people were killed and
at least 369 were injured in racially motivated attacks, an increase
on 2006. Anti-Semitic attacks and desecration of Jewish cemeteries
were also reported. The real level of such violence remained hidden
due to chronic under-reporting," says the report available on Amnesty
International’s website.

RA DEFENSE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTERS TO VISIT NATO

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 15:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Edward Nalbandian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Armenia and Seyran Ohanyan, the Minister of Defense of Armenia,
will visit NATO on Wednesday, 28 May 2008.

They will meet with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Ambassador
Claudio Bisogniero, and will address the North Atlantic Council,
NATO press office reported.

GEORGIA PURSUES AGGRESSIVE CHURCH POLICY TOWARD ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 15:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The church expansion of the Georgian states has a
long record, chairman of Mitq analytical center said.

"The attempts to appropriate the Armenian Church of Saint Norashen
and ‘georgify’ the Armenian Churches in Samtskhe Javakheti are not
accidental," Eduard Abrahamyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Georgia’s territorial expansion was exercised not only through
conquests but also through church expansion over the Albanians,
Vaynakh, Megrel, Ossetian, Armenian and Abkhazian population
under Georgia’s influence. There are numerous examples of complete
assimilation: Udins and Gells in Kakhetia, Armenians in Tayk, Kakhetia,
Kartli and Meskhetia," he said.

"Consequently, the Georgian Orthodox Church has always been an extra
force for dissimilating the Georgian state system over neighbors
via granting finances to the communities which accepted the Georgian
orthodoxy," he added.

Today, we witness developed and modernized Georgian church expansion
over the neighbors, according to the Armenian expert.

"Georgia pursues aggressive church policy toward Armenia as
well. Despite continuous oppression of Georgian Armenians, the GOC
has recently announced establishment of Lori-Tashir Church in Lori,
which is "a legal Georgian territory," he said.

"Georgia lays claims to 7 Churches and monasteries in Sanahin,
Kobayra, Akhtala, Haghpat, Khorakert and Khuchapavank as well as to
Russian Orthodox Church in Vanadzor and other historical and religious
monuments in Lori."

Georgian clergymen often put up tents in surroundings of these churches
to prevent attendance of the holy places. Under the circumstances,
the Armenian leadership jointly with the passive AAC should develop a
plan to protect Armenian cultural and religious heritage," Abrahamyan
concluded.

"RAPHAEL LEMKIN’S DOSSIER ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE" PUBLISHED

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 16:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide,"
a stunningly graphic book published by CAR., the Center for Armenian
Remembrance, constitutes an important contribution for scholars,
human rights activists and others seeking to know what the originator
of the term genocide and the "father" of the Genocide Convention had
to say about the Armenian Genocide, the CAR told PanARMENIAN.Net.

This timely book, which was published through the efforts of Attorney
Vartkes Yeghiayan, is the perfect antidote to the denialist campaign
that has lately intensified by the banning of a book in Toronto and
its replacement by books by denialist historians Bernard Lewis and
Guenther Levy.

It is impossible not to be touched by the eyewitness reports that
Lemkin has meticulously compiled in this dossier. The reader will
quickly be convinced that the brutal campaign against the Armenians
is the very definition of Genocide. This book has the power to inflame
the reader with indignation, sorrow and righteous anger.

"Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide" also contains
a lucid foreword by eminent professor Michael J. Bazyler, and a
meticulous, complete bibliography on Lemkin by Eddie Yeghiayan.

"Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide" is the fifth book
in the "The Armenian Genocide and the Armenian Case" series put out
by CAR Publishing.

Raphael Lemkin was one of the greatest and most influential lawyers
and human rights activists in the last century. Not only did he coin
the word "genocide," but was also the prime mover for the enactment
of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of
Genocide (the "Genocide Convention"), the international law document
that in 1948 made genocide an international "crime of crimes."

Distressed by the cyclical slaughter of Armenians by Turks in 1894,
1909, and 1915, Lemkin compiled a dossier and searched for legal
remedies to punish perpetrators of mass murder and to deter and
prevent future genocides.

ALIYEV: KARABAKH CONFLICT OUR COUNTRY’S ONLY SERIOUS PROBLEM

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 17:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The only problem our state faces is the unsettlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Azerbaijani President said.

"My position is well known. The issue should be resolved in the
framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The talks are
protracted because Azerbaijan doesn’t digress from its principal
position," Ilham Aliyev told an event dedicated to the 90th birthday
of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic.

"Although there are forces trying to compel Azerbaijan to greater
concessions, alleging problems with democracy development, our
people know what it all means. However, any pressure on our country
makes no sense. Our policy is open and supported by the population,"
Aliyev said.

"We will present our exact position on the Karabakh problem within
coming months and in 2009, since protraction is inadmissible. Extra
concessions on our part are impossible. Participating in talks, we
manifest good will. Despite some progress, there is no result yet. But
thanks to strengthening of our positions, Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and liberation of the occupied regions is the key provision
in the talks. Nagorno Karabakh’s secession from Azerbaijan is not
discussed. We can achieve soonest resolution of the conflict of Armenia
demonstrates constructivism," the Azeri President said, Day.az reports.

NATO TO CONTINUE ASSISTING REFORM PROCESS IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 18:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On May 28, Armenia~Rs Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan attended a session of
the North Atlantic Council in 26+1 format to discuss the process of
Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), the RA MFA
press office reported.

Addressing the Council, Minister Nalbandian said Armenia attaches
importance to IPAP as a format promoting cooperation with NATO. He
briefed on Armenia~Rs cooperation with European structures and also
referred to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, confirming
Armenia~Rs willingness to resolve the problem peacefully.

Touching on the Armenian-Turkish relations, the Minister said that
Armenia is ready to establish relations without preconditions, in
concord with the IPAP provisions.

For his part, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan represented the
legislative improvements and reforms carried out in the defense sector
and military security.

NATO Ambassadors noted that Armenia has fulfilled its commitments by
the time fixed. Further steps will be taken on the basis of assessment
of the IPAP implementation process.

ONE NATION-ONE CULTURE FESTIVAL SLATED FOR AUGUST

ARMENPRESS
May 28, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS: One Nation-One Culture pan-Armenian
festival will be held this year in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh on
August 17-23. The festival will be held under the high sponsorship
of Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian.

The press information department of the Ministry of Culture told
Armenpress that tens of musical groups and individual performers will
participate in the pan-national festival for joint presentation of
cultural values and joint discussion of cultural problems.

During the festival prominent dancers and singers will conduct
master classes.

This festival is held once in two years since 1999.

It attracts musical groups from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian
Diaspora.

CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II CONGRATULATES ARMENIANS ON THE DAY OF REPUBLIC

ARMENPRESS
May 28, 2008

ETCHMIADZIN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS: Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin
II congratulated Armenians on the Day of Republic. Press service
of the Holy See told Armenpress that in his message the Catholicos
particularly said, "On the Day of the Armenian Republic, when we are
marking the 90th anniversary of declaration of Armenian Republic,
we extend our greetings to our beloved people of Armenia, Artsakh
and Diaspora.

The restoration of the Armenian statehood on the days of May battles
in 1918 was a great event for our people, saved Homeland to which
the Armenian people dedicated all their strength giving birth to
its national-state life. The memories of that days and achievements
encourage and inspire devotion to serve to our homeland with love."