Month: October 2008

NO SUPERVISING BODY TO KEEP SITUATION UNDER CONTROL

Panorama.am
20:09 14/10/2008

On October 1 a law has been adopted which defines that the bread
selling in the shops should have important information on it, in
particular the price and the weight. A reason to ignore the law and
not implement it could become the fact that there is no responsible
body to supervise the situation.

"We are drafting a procedure on administrative violations to present
to the Government, and by that we’ll take the responsibility of us,"
said Mekhak Ghazaryan, of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Today the responsible body to keep the situation under control is
local self-governing body, but it is not implemented properly.

Panorama.am met no difficulties to find out that the current law is
not implemented as shop directors are not aware of it.

"NO PIECE OF LAND TO THE ENEMY"

A1+
[07:09 pm] 14 October, 2008

Back in 1992-1993 when Serzh Sargsyan was the RA Defense Minister,
he had made a statement according to which the liberators of Artsakh
knew that there would come a day when they would have to give up the
liberated territories for the Nagorno-Karabakh status. However, head
of the NA Committee on Defense and Armed Forces Arthur Aghabekian,
who was one of the liberators of the Nagorno-Karabakh territories,
refused to comment today on the statement made by Serzh Sargsyan.

Aghabekian told "A1+" that there was neither a commander nor soldier
that thought about that back then. According to Aghabekian, when the
liberation process began in 1993, every commander set forth the issue
to protect the people from bombings and create a buffer zone.

"I believe that there is not one official who can sit in his office
and think about how much land and to whom it must be handed over. The
Armenian people must decide what to give up."

As long as the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are not speaking out,
Aghabekian advises perceiving the news about the handing over of
lands as simply rumors.

In the end, Aghabekian simply said: "No piece of land to the enemy." If
Serzh Sargsyan dares to make a decision on Nagorno-Karabakh, Aghabekian
promised on behalf of his party that the Dashnaktsutiun will take
action before the decision is made.

DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC-CULTURAL RELATIONS WITH GERMANY DISCUSSED

ARMENPRESS
Oct 14, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS: Armenian National Assembly Speaker
Hovik Abrahamian received today German ambassador to Armenia Andrea
Wiktorini.

Public relations department of the Armenian National Assembly told
Armenpress that during the meeting Hovik Abrahamian underscored
boosting Armenian-German inter-parliamentary ties and noted that in
November the delegation headed by the deputy speaker of the NA is
going to leave for Germany. The parliament speaker said that the
visit will promote the development of relations between the two
parliaments. The speaker underscored the development of political,
economic, scientific-cultural ties between the two countries.

On her part German ambassador congratulated the NA speaker, pointing
out that she had many meetings with him in his previous positions
as well and is sure that in this work as well success will guide
him. She also underscored the visit of the NA delegation to Germany
where members of the Armenian parliament will have an opportunity to
get acquainted not only with the work of Bundestag but will also get
acquainted with the federal governance system of the country with
the model of Brandenburg.

Registering the increasing interest of Germany and EU over
the countries of the region and taking into consideration that
Euro-integration is one of the main priorities of Armenia’s foreign
policy, Hovik Abrahamian said that Armenia expects support of Germany
in the process of its integration to the European establishments.

The NA speaker also referred to the activity which must be carried
out by the NA, noting that the parliament must play a big role in
the political life of the country, becoming a healthy, constructive
platform of criticism for all the political forces.

Ambassador of Germany Andrea Wiktorini wished success to the NA speaker
in the implementation of his important mission and said that Germany
displays great interest towards Armenia and wants to see it stably
developing, democratic and is ready to support in it.

PM TIGRAN SARGSYAN’S VISIT TO THE US CONTINUES

armradio.am
14.10.2008 13:03

Within the framework of his visit to the United States Prime Minister
of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan had meetings with the Executive Director
of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss Kahn and the
Prime Minister of Georgia Lado Gurgenidze.

During the meeting with the Executive Director of the International
Monetary Fund the interlocutors discussed issues of the economic crisis
in the world, the trends of fall of oil prices and the possible impact
of those processes on the Armenian economy. The parties discussed the
perspectives of establishing an IMF Office in Yerevan, agreeing to
refer to the question in November, when the IMF delegation is going
to Armenia.

During the meeting with the Georgian Prime Minister, the parties
discussed the process of preparation of the sitting of the
Armenian-Georgian Intergovernmental Commission to be held in Tbilisi
October 27-28 and referred to questions of the latest developments
in the region.

PM Tigran Sargsyan participated also in the annual sitting of the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Today the Prime Minister
of Armenia is expected to meet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

TSARUKIAN FIRED SAMVEL ALEXANIAN

A1+
[07:31 pm] 14 October, 2008

Armenian Olympic Committee president Gagik Tsarukian announced today
that NA deputy Samvel Alexanian is no longer the president of the
Armenian Wrestling Federation and former chief police officer-turned
RA president bodyguard chief Hayk Harutyunian will no longer occupy
the post of president of the Armenian Boxing Federation.

The year is not over yet; however, the Armenian Olympic Committee and
the Sports Ministry held a meeting today with heads of the federations
and trainers of Armenia in the hall of the Physical Education State
Institute to report on the work completed.

Gagik Tsarukian was only satisfied with the weightlifting federation,
but he feels that there is a need for radical changes in other
sports. Tsarukian gave the federation leaders ten days to present
proposals for the changes, yet he also announced today that Samvel
Alexanian will no longer head the wrestling federation, Hrant Yenokian
is no longer the freestyle trainer, Hayk Harutinian will not be the
chief trainer of the boxing federation, while chief trainer of the
boxing team Rafael Mehrabian retired.

Gagik Tsarukian also complained about a number of sport
schools. Tsarukian believes that if the sport school doesn’t win
at least one bronze medal in four years, then it’s time to change
the director.

Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Armen Grigoryan also made a
speech and mentioned that the six medals won during the Olympics were
a sign of progress compared to the previous Olympics, but there were
some shortcomings and if no work is done, it will be very difficult
to achieve success in the next games.

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR: ORHAN PAMUK DENOUNCES TURKISH OPPRESSION
Alison Flood

guardian.co.uk
October 15 2008 09.49
UK

BST Article historyNobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk, tried in 2005 under
Turkish law for criticising the state, used his opening address at
the Frankfurt Book Fair to decry the "oppression" of Turkey’s writers.

Speaking alongside Turkish president Abdullah Gul, Pamuk deplored how
"a century of banning and burning books, of throwing writers into
prison or killing them or branding them as traitors and sending them
into exile, and continuously denigrating them in the press" has made
Turkish literature poorer.

Turkey is the country of honour at this week’s Frankfurt Book Fair,
and hundreds of Turkish writers and publishers have descended on the
city to celebrate "Turkey in all its colours".

In August 2005, Pamuk was charged with "public denigration of Turkish
identity" under Article 301 of the penal code after he said in an
interview with a Swiss newspaper that "30,000 Kurds and a million
Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk
about it".

The case against him was subsequently dropped, and Article 301 was
amended earlier this year, but Pamuk said yesterday afternoon in
Frankfurt that "the state’s habit of penalising writers and their
books is still very much alive; Article 301 of the Turkish penal code
continues to be used to silence and suppress many other writers,
in the same way it was used against me; there are at this moment
hundreds of writers and journalists being prosecuted and found guilty
under this article."

Turkish authors who have been tried under Article 301 include
novelist Elif Shafak over a remark by a fictional character in her
novel The Bastard of Istanbul referring to the Armenian massacre
as genocide, and writer and journalist Perihan Magden, who said in
her weekly magazine column that Turkey needed an alternative to
compulsory military conscription. Both were acquitted. Publisher
Ragip Zarakolu was convicted in June this year of having "insulted
the Turkish republic" after publishing The Truth Will Set Us Free,
which acknowledges the Armenian genocide.

Pamuk called on the Turkish writers and publishers present at the
fair, including Magden and Shafak as well as Aslı Erdogan and Sebnem
Isiguzel, to "speak openly about [their] experiences over the past
century".

"Since they have come to Frankfurt to let the whole world hear their
voices, it follows that we can shake off just a bit of our gloom about
no one understanding us," he said, referring to his depression when
starting out as a novelist over the lack of interest or understanding
in Turkish writing in the west. "Are we going to convince ourselves
that our own culture and identity is unique, and then shut ourselves
away, or are we going to value the richness of our cultural traditions
and our own uniqueness while giving equal value to free expression?" he
asked.

Pamuk said that while he was working on his novel Museum of Innocence,
published earlier this year in Turkish, he needed to research old
Turkish films and songs. He did this easily enough on YouTube, but
after the site was banned in Turkey in 2007, he would no longer be
able to do so.

"YouTube, like many other domestic and international websites,
has been blocked for residents of Turkey for political reasons,"
Pamuk said. "Those in whom the power of the state resides may take
satisfaction from all these repressive measures, but we writers,
publishers, artists feel differently, as do all other creators of
Turkish culture and indeed everyone who takes an interest in it:
oppression of this order does not reflect our ideas on the proper
promotion of Turkish culture."

But Pamuk said that despite the obstacles Turkish writers and
publishers face, they have not let their spirits flag. "Over the past
15 years, Turkish publishing has expanded at an astonishing rate;
there are more books being published in Turkey than ever before,
and in my view, Istanbul’s vibrant book trade at last represents its
rich and layered history," he said.

"When young writers coming from Turkey to Frankfurt see how large
the world publishing industry is, I can well imagine that they will
feel as empty and useless as I did. But when Turkey’s young writers
turn in on themselves to find the inner voices that will turn them
into interesting writers, they will no longer need to succumb to
dark thoughts like, ‘No one would be interested in a Turkish writer
anyway.’ May the Frankfurt Book Fair bring hope and happiness to
us all."

–Boundary_(ID_SgRCtKXVxKYSCm2wCgN+CQ) —

WE BULKED UP ON GARLIC AND OLIVES, FACED TOUGHER CALL AT BALLOT BOX
Joe Fiorito, [email protected]

Toronto Star
Oct 15, 2008 04:30 AM
Canada

And so to Woodbridge on the weekend, to the small fall fair there,
because we love half-tonne pumpkins, blue-ribbon pies, beets the size
of loaves of bread, homemade quilts, and the sounds of the pipe organ
coming from the carousel.

We also saw some pigs and llamas and a lemur, and at the petting zoo
we were very happy to see goats, the way they caper, and the way kids
love petting kids.

We may have mentioned this before; she raised goats in the old days
and is still drawn to them in a way that we find charming.

We bought a sack of organic garlic, two heads each of half a dozen
varieties, including Italian, Armenian, Russian and Carpathian;
the latter are suitable, we presume, for repelling vampires and Tom
Cruise, whom we cannot abide.

We therefore gave a wide berth to the Scientology tent that had been
set up on the fairgrounds. The fact that there was a Scientology tent
at the Woodbridge fall fair is either a sign of our plainly generous
Canadian inclusiveness, or a sign of something else altogether. We’re
keeping our garlic close to our chest until we’re sure.

On the way home from the fair, we stopped at the supermarket at the
corner of Martin Grove and Highway 7. The smell of grapes was in the
air. A fellow had set up a tent in the parking lot and he was crushing
grapes for anyone who had plans to make wine at home but did not have
a crusher.

We bought some sausage and some pasta in the market. As we sauntered
past a pallet stacked with boxes of green olives, we fell into
conversation with two older women. They were discussing the best
way to cure olives. The older of the ladies said she uses brine;
the younger of the ladies uses lye.

That’s not unlike our choice at the ballot box.

We did what we were impelled to do, and bought a box of olives. That’s
18 pounds. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

As we made our way to the checkout, the husband of one of the women –
he did not speak much English – waved and said, "Okay, see you guys."

Bellissimo.

We rose early this morning and walked down the street to the school to
cast our vote. The state of our RRSPs remains unclear; ditto the state
of newspapers everywhere. It occurred to us that we could be working
for the rest of our lives, or we could find that there is no work for
us at all, and we will have to turn our hand yet again to the novel.

We made our thoughtful way to the polling station and were thankful
for a whole lot of reasons; mostly that our system is not the American
system; also that there were a couple of superlative candidates in
our riding.

One of these is smart and thoughtful and she made an impact in
Parliament as the member of a smallish party; she lives in the riding.

Another of these is also smart and thoughtful and the leader of
one of the major parties owes him a big favour. He does not live in
the riding.

You see the results this morning.

We don’t care much for sour grapes. That’s not strictly true. We were
looking forward to eating the grapes on our backyard vine; many fat
clusters, some green and some red; alas, animals got them first.

That is the way of nature, and of politics. We are left with 18 pounds
of bitter green olives; our choice now is brine or lye.

ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN MET WITH CSTO SECRETARY GENERAL

armradio.am
14.10.2008 14:51

Secretary of the National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan received
the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzha.

Issues related to Armenia’s presidency of the CSTO and the activity of
the statutory bodies were discussed. Reference was made to the sitting
of the Committee of Secertaries of National Security Councils of CSTO
member states expected in Yerevan in December and the international
conference on regional security issues to be held in Yerevan upon the
initiative of the National Security Council of the Republic of Armenia.

The parties discussed a number of documents of cooperation connected
with Armenia’s chairmanship of the CSTO.

APPEAL DENIED

A1+
[09:18 pm] 14 October, 2008

Judge Arshak Petrosian of the Kentron and Nork-Marash districts
general jurisdiction court denied the appeal of attorneys of former
Deputy Prosecutor General Gagik Jhangirian that were filed against
the verdicts of investigator Vahagn Harutyunian and prosecutor
Koriun Piloian.

Let us remind that Gagik Jhangirian’s defendants Lusine Sahakian and
Yervand Varosyan are filing an appeal against the charge that was
pressed based on the first section of article 300 and later abolished
due to insufficient evidence. In other words, the defendants are
claiming that the charges pressed against Gagik Jhangirian based on
the first section of article 300 had to be abolished not because there
were no proofs of his participation, but that they had to at least
be based on the fact that there were no corpus delicti in what he did.

Judge Arshak Petrosian substantiated the verdict that he had reached by
the fact that the proofs stated during the preliminary investigation
of the case were enough to press a charge based on the first section
of article 300 of the RA Criminal Code, but they were not enough
for continuing the criminal persecution against Gagik Jhangirian and
sending the case to court. Thus, there are not enough grounds to make
Vahagn Harutyunian get rid of the verdict and reach a new one.

"It is clear that the judge has made an unlawful decision and in
essence has reprinted the objections made by Vahagn Harutyunian and
Koriun Piloian," told "A1+" Lusine Sahakyan regarding the verdict and
added that in reality the verdict was unlawful right from the start
because, according to her, the judge had convened another session
and violated the confidentiality while the case was in the process
of consultation. Besides that, his verdict is not well-reasoned.

Let us add that the attorneys are going to appeal to the Appeals Court.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO VISIT GERMANY IN NOVEMBER

armradio.am
14.10.2008 16:30

On October 14 Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan received the Ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany Andrea Victorine.

Emphasizing the importance of deepening the Armenian-German
interparliamentary relations, NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan noted
that in November the delegation headed by the Vice-Speaker of the
National Assembly will visit Germany. According to the assessment of
the Armenian Parliament Speaker, the visit will contribute to the
deepening of relations between the two parliaments. Mr. Abrahamyan
attached importance to the development of political, economic,
scientific-cultural ties between the two countries.

Ambassador Andreas Victorine also attached importance to the visit
of the Armenian parliamentary delegation to Germany, where Armenian
MPs will not only have an opportunity to meet members of Bundestag,
but will also get familiarized with the federal governance system of
the country.

Emphasizing the importance of technical assistance of local
self-governance bodies under the JTZ program, Hovik Abrahamyan noted
that the German experience has always been interesting and useful for
Armenia. Stressing the growing interest of the European Union in the
countries of the region and taking into consideration that European
integration is one of the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy,
NA S peaker noted that Armenia anticipates the assistance of Germany
in the process of integration with European structures.

Turning to the activity of the National Assembly, Mr. Abrahamyan
noted that the parliament should play a great role in the political
life of the country, becoming a platform of healthy and constructive
criticism for all political forces.

Mrs. Victorine noted that Germany is largely interested in Armenia
and wants to see Armenia as a stably developing, democratic country
and is ready to help overcome the problems towards that end.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress