Month: October 2008

FENCE IS BEING BUILT AROUND ST. NORASHEN CHURCH OF TBILISI

Lragir
13:32:35 – 23/10/2008

The press office of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia issued a release
today, voicing indignation on behalf of 400 thousand Armenians in
Georgia about the encroachment of the Georgian Orthodox Church against
the Armenian St. Norashen Church (15 c.) in Tbilisi.

The release holds that in the May of this year Reverend Tariel
Sikinchelashvili, a priest of the Georgian Orthodox Church,
initiated the construction of a metal fence around the church,
involving religious elements typical of the Georgian Orthodox
church. The Armenian Diocese of Georgia has voiced concern and
indignation about the recurrent attempt at planned invasion of the
another Armenian church, and described it as breach of the agreement
with the Georgian party for a civilized settlement of the problem
of returning St. Norashen and the other four Armenian churches of
Tbilisi – St. Nshan, St. Red Testament, St. Minas, St. Gevorg –
to the Armenian Diocese of Georgia.

The Diocese has sent letters to the relevant government agencies of
Georgia, as well as the foreign legations in Georgia. The believers
of the Diocese viewed this action as violation of the Constitutional
rights for freedom of religion and equal religious rights.

The city hall of Tbilisi and the Patriarchate decided to demolish
the illegally built fence but did not bring the decision into
being, explaining that Father Tariel hinders them. Meanwhile, the
Georgian priest continues the construction of the fence around
St. Norashen. Even though the problem of return of churches is
mentioned in the annual report of the U.S. State Department and
the UN Human Rights Committee, the government of Georgia fails to
display political will to solve the issues of the Armenian citizens
of their country. The press release alarms about religious and ethnic
discrimination in Georgia.

The Armenian Diocese of Georgia calls upon the relevant government
agencies of Georgia to solve this problem, as well as the problem of
the legal status of the Traditional Religious Organizations.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NO LEADER OF FACTION IS NEEDED AS LONG AS HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN IS THERE

Lragir
16:05:42 – 23/10/2008

This was the overall impression from Republican MP Rafik Petrosyan’s
speech on the election of leader of the Republican faction, who was
hosted at the Pastark press club on October 23. The point is that
the former leader of the faction Karen Karapetyan was appointed as
head of the president staff three weeks ago, and the post of leader
of the Republican faction has been vacant since then.

The reporters asked Rafik Petrosyan why the election of the faction
leader is postponed, and whether it is determined by the complicated
external situation, and the Republican Party is reluctant to focus on
this minor issue. Rafik Petrosyan said the function of the leader of
the faction is to have the members of parliament come to parliament and
to coordinate nomination affairs. According to Petrosyan, the leader
of the faction has no other functions which affect the activities
of the National Assembly. In this sense, he said after election as
speaker Hovik Abrahamyan performs that function, he has the members
of parliament come, stay and work.

It follows from Rafik Petrosyan’s words that as long as Hovik
Abrahamyan is there, there is no need for leader of faction. However,
Petrosyan says soon the issue of the faction leader will be
solved. According to him, the problem is that the country’s leadership
is busy with the visits of high-ranking guests, and he has had no
time to discuss the issue of the leader of the faction.

According to Rafik Petrosyan, there are two candidates, Galust Sahakyan
and Edward Sharmazanov. Petrosyan says he has learned about it from
the media and talks among the members of parliament but there is no
official decision yet. As to who will be preferred, Petrosyan says on
his behalf only that he endorses both, and the members of the faction
will affirm any nomination of the country’s leadership which is also
the Republican leadership. Rafik Petrosyan says they will affirm
after discussion. But he also says the Republican faction has over 60
members of parliament, and each of them can be leader of the Republican
faction, and whoever the government nominates, the faction will affirm.

BETWEEN FACT-FINDING AND COMMISSION

Lragir.am
15:43:44 – 23/10/2008

Member of Parliament Rafik Petrosyan, Republican, who was hosted
at the Pastark press club on October 23, said even if the study is
prolonged for four months, the ad-hoc commission to study March 1
will not be able to answer the questions "who shot", "who ordered",
"who is to blame for ten deaths". Petrosyan said if the special
investigative service cannot answer those questions, the March 1
commission will not be able to answer them at all because it lacks
both the intellectual capacity and authorization that it takes. By
saying intellectual capacity Rafik Petrosyan means the forensic
training in case of absence of which the commission will be unable
to collect the necessary facts and work with them.

In this sense, Rafik Petrosyan holds out hope regarding the
fact-finding group that will be set up, noting that the group will
be set on the basis of parity, i.e. equal representatives of the
opposition and the government, and one representative for the human
rights defender. According to Petrosyan, only parity will help carry
out non-tendentious work. Rafik Hovanisyan made an unexpected statement
that in any case the members of the ad-hoc parliamentary commission
representing the coalition are bound to the authorization of their
parties, meanwhile the representatives of the coalition have the
deciding vote because the opposition rejected participation. This is
what Rafik Petrosyan says. However, the reporters remarked that the
parliament gave the coalition the right to deciding vote, and the
opposition rejected participation because it had no voting rights.

In answer to this remark Rafik Petrosyan said it would be strange
if the parliamentary majority did not prevail in the parliamentary
commission. The reporters noted that consequently the fact-finding
group is an obligatory step because an unbalanced commission cannot
do balanced and effective work.

Rafik Petrosyan said he did not mean that, he only says that the
fact-finding group can work more effectively than the commission
because first there will be parity, then dominance of the opposition
because the representative of the human rights defender will be
the fifth member of the group. Besides, the fact-finding group is
going to be a group of specialists. All this allows Rafik Petrosyan
to state that the group may answer the question about the gunmen,
the instigators, those accountable for the killings.

Generally, it is obvious from Rafik Petrosyan’s answers that he does
not know what the fact-finding group is for if there was an ad-hoc
commission, or what the meaning of parity in the fact-finding group is
if as he says the commission is going to draw the final conclusions, in
which the representatives of the coalition hold the deciding vote. The
impression was that Rafik Petrosyan has heard that the government
may set up a fact-finding group, therefore he speaks positively about
what he has heard and underscores it as important and useful.

DEPLOYMENT OF PEACEKEEPERS IS EQUAL TO THE LOSS OF KARABAKH
Nano Arghutyan

Lragir.am
13:05:02 – 23/10/2008

The first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan thinks the Karabakh
settlement has stepped into a deciding phase, and the issue will be
resolved within the upcoming 2-3 months. Levon Ter-Petrosyan presented
the proposal offered by the mediators, one of the disputable points of
which is the issue of the territories around former Nagorno-Karabakh
Autonomous Region (NKAR).

The Armenian government did not deny having agreed to that, confirming
that Armenia will continue to negotiate the principles of Madrid.

The territories have become a hindrance to the resolution. And there
are several highly important reasons the most insignificant of which is
perhaps the settlement of the Karabakh problem. And the most important
one, of course, is the small section of the Karabakh-Iranian border
which is now defended by the Karabakh force.

Whose area of influence the entire South Caucasus will be depends
on whose troops will be deployed at this section. So far no troops
have been deployed in this area because the Minsk Group co-chairs,
the United States, Russia and France, could not reach agreement on
whose force should be deployed there. It is remembered that several
years ago the OSCE sent a planning group to Karabakh which was
supposed to study the site for ensuing deployment of peacekeepers. On
the same day the former (and perhaps present) representative of the
Russian president for the Karabakh issue Vladimir Kazimirov, who had
a trip to the area of security and even held an interview about the
deployment of peacekeepers. At that time no agreement was reached,
and obviously no agreement will be reached now. And now each side
will hold separate talks with Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The "intrigue" of the situation is that these territories which are
now part of NKR are in an unofficial area of influence of Armenia,
however, by international documents, they belong to Azerbaijan. In
other words, for the deployment of troops the agreement of both
Azerbaijan and Armenia is needed. Baku has already stated to disagree
to the deployment of any troops in their territories although
obviously these are just words. In reality, however, Aliyev dreams
of anyone’s troops to separate former NKAR which is usually referred
to as Karabakh from the rest of the territories, finally solving
this disputable issue. And afterwards it will be a matter of time
to solve the issue of "Karabakh" itself. Here no force is needed –
block the road for a couple of days and that’s it.

Therefore, it is not important to Azerbaijan whose troops will
be standing at the border of the former NKAR and the rest of
Karabakh. Most importantly, they want to rid of the bugbear called
the "seven territories around Karabakh". In this situation, it is
not clear what importance the "nationality" of the peacekeeping force
has to Armenia. No matter what uniforms they wear, they will deprive
Armenia of the most important factor of security.

Unfortunately, many people in Armenia do not acknowledge the
importance of this factor. In "political" conversations and even
negotiations these territories are handled as a trump card, and
there is nothing terrible about losing it. Many even did not bother
to visit those territories, let alone building in their development
and settlement. Moreover, when in 2000 the OSCE sent a monitoring
group at the request of Azerbaijan, the Armenian government started
to swear with such ardor that those territories are not settled as
if those territories were unreal and existed only on maps.

Meanwhile, after the division into Mountainous and Lowland Karabakh in
1923 these territories were not included in the Autonomous Region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, were settled by Azerbaijan and became a wedge tapped
between NKAR populated with Armenians and Armenia. After ousting the
Azerbaijani force from these territories Armenia and Karabakh got a
long border.

The territory of NKAR was 4.4 thousand square kilometers, the
population was 157.2 thousand (1998). Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was
proclaimed on September 2, 1991 in the territory of NKAR and the region
of Shahumyan. Territory 12, 047 square kilometers, population 144
thousand (2007). The territory of NKR was divided into 7 administrative
territories: Askeran, Hadrut, Martakert, Martuni, Shushi, Shahumyan and
Kashatagh. In December 1993 the region of Kashatagh, NKR, was formed
in the territory of the region of Lachin with the administrative
center of Lachin, which was later renamed Berdzor.

The territories around former NKAR, the parts where there are
communications are now populated. Most densely populated regions are
Kashatagh (former Lachin) and Shahumyan (former Kelbadjar). As of 2007,
about 9 thousand people lived in the region of Kashatagh. In the region
of Shahumyan the people of the former region of Shahumyan, Azerbaijan,
live now. Annually 130-150 families settle here with assistance from
the government. An annual 3 million dollars is invested in settlement.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE SENT SIGNALS TO TIGRAN SARGSYAN

Lragir.am
19:29:05 – 22/10/2008

The meetings of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in the United States
were the logical continuation of Serge Sargsyan’s meetings which
the president had during the visit to the United States for the UN
General Assembly.

Tigran Sargsyan stated this on October 22 from the rostrum of
the parliament answering the question of Member of Parliament Avet
Adonts, Bargavach Hayastan Party, about the U.S.-Armenian relations
and their prospects.

Tigran Sargsyan says during his visit to the United States he took
along the messages which Serge Sargsyan wanted to pass to the American
colleagues.

"Especially after that football diplomacy, everyone wanted to know
about new developments regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations,
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict," Tigran Sargsyan said.

He says that in this connection Armenia made principal evaluations. "In
particular, we evaluated two addresses from the UN rostrum, the
statements of the president of Turkey and the foreign minister of
Azerbaijan, and the public statements of some American officials,
we considered them as unacceptable. In particular, the thesis was
brought up that the Karabakh issue should be settled on the basis of
the principle of territorial integrity, which we had to set forth. The
second issue that the logic of settlement of the Karabakh conflict
must be in the framework of the famous UN resolution, which was
also important, that we noted that it was also unacceptable for us,
because in that case the Minsk Group becomes pointless.

In addition, the Minsk Group becomes pointless as soon as American
officials make such statements," Tigran Sargsyan says.

According to him, the American colleagues assured that the problem
cannot be settled on the basis of one principle. "And it is highly
important that the assistant to Condoleezza Rice who arrived in
Armenia after that, also made such a statement, assuring that it is
an official stance," the prime minister says.

Apart from that Tigran Sargsyan says that after the meeting of
Serge Sargsyan and Condoleezza Rice in New York a new phase in the
U.S.-Armenian relations is marked. "At least, from our talk with
Condoleezza Rice, I got a clear signal from her that it is going to be
a quite new phase of cooperation, cooperation between friendly states,
new programs will be worked out, serious technical and financial
assistance will be provided to Armenia. As to the programs of the
Millennium, Condoleezza Rice again made a rather important evaluation,
which is not an examination that the Armenian government must take but
cooperation which is highly important to our society, the political
forces, because political manipulations are frequent that if we do
not do one thing or another, the assistance of the Millennium will
not be provided," Tigran Sargsyan said.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE PROMISED TO TIGRAN SARGSYAN

Lragir.am
19:03:23 – 22/10/2008

During the Russian-Georgian war in August the Armenian economy
sustained damage of 670 million dollars, including the lost profit,
possible investments, and other, stated Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan on October 22 during the question and answer session of
the parliament. He answered the question of Member of Parliament
Victor Dallakyan whether the Armenian government brings up this issue
during international meetings, and whether this particular issue was
discussed with the Americans when the prime minister visited the U.S.,
and the Russians, when the Russian president visited there.

"The stance of the president and the government of the republic
is that the international organizations must discuss this issue
in terms of the region rather than separate countries when the
compensation of territories or financial and technical assistance
is under consideration," Tigran Sargsyan stated. He says for this
reason both he and the foreign minister bring up the issue that
Armenia also sustained losses, and when the financial assistance
for the recovery of the damage is discussed, they must realize that
Armenia also sustained losses, and Armenia must also get assistance.

"We were reassured by our colleagues in the United States that
this issue will be discussed. This issue was discussed not only
in the meeting with Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, but also the
director of the IMF and the leadership of the World Bank with whom
we met. We will get such assistance, first of all it is going to
be technical assistance. And they promised that we will get that
assistance. Condoleezza Rice made this promise, that any technical
assistance that we will get is necessary to us, as well as we have
arrangements with the IMF and the World Bank about financial and
technical assistance," Tigran Sargsyan said.

They discussed the issue with the Russians as well, and discussed more
thoroughly. They discussed sphere by sphere what risks the August
events pose to Armenia. "The problems that we were discussing were
divided into two parts. The first, what action we should take to raise
the reliability of the economic system of Armenia, the ability to face
risks, and second, the undisrupted operation of definite enterprises
because there are over 1000 companies which are run on Russian capital,
some of which have a vital importance to our economic system. And
naturally we have discussed the problem of raising the reliability of
definite businesses, and we have definite arrangements, including on
technical and financial assistance, and we hope that the protocols
which we signed during the activities of the interstate commission,
we will be able to bring them into being together with our Russian
partners," Tigran Sargsyan stated.

CONFERENCE IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT "A JOURNEY OF CULTURAL REDISCOVERY: ARMENIAN HERITAGE IN TURKEY", 13/11

23/10/08

AGBU Europe Conference Announcement, Brussels, October 23 2008 –
AGBU Europe will host a conference in the European Parliament on the
rediscovery of Armenians and of Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey.

The conference is open to all and is part of the official European
Year for Intercultural Dialogue. It will review the recent public
debate in Turkey on the country’s forgotten Armenian heritage in the
light of recent groundbreaking artistic and intellectual contributions
in Turkey itself. It will also examine the significance of Armenian
cultural heritage in Turkey from a European perspective.

Speakers at the conference will include Fethiye Cetin, author of the
book "My Grandmother", Osman Köker, creator of the groundbreaking
exhibition "My Dear Brother", art historian Professor Patrick
Donabedian as well as historian Vahe Tachjian and historian and
publisher Ara Sarafian. The conference will be opened by Michael
Leigh, Director General at the European Commission in charge of
enlargement. It will conclude with a panel debate. A reception
will follow.

This events is organized under the Aegis of Bernard Lehideux MEP,
with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Brussels office.

It is open to all but prior registration is indispensable to access
the European Parliament’s building.

Registration deadline: 4 November 2008.

For registration and further information, please contact AGBU at:
Email: [email protected]. Tel +331 45 20 03 18.

Conference time and location: Thursday 13 November, 9.30 am – 1 pm.

European Parliament, Room ASP 3G3 Rue Wiertz/Wiertzstraat 60 B-1047
Brussels

–Boundary_(ID_oxMHz3RDEJ+Fq2aJAk WMqw)–

EBRD ALLOCATES $975 MLN FOR GEORGIA IN 2008-2010

RIA Novosti
18:31 | 23/ 10/ 2008

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) plans to invest $975 million in Georgia in
2008-2010, the bank said on Thursday.

The EBRD said the funds were meant to support the ex-Soviet state’s
banking sector and to encourage foreign direct investment.

The bank said it would increase its investment as loans and acquired
shares to $350 million in 2009, with plans to grant Georgia some $300
million in 2010.

The EBRD has invested over $500 million in Georgia in recent years in
all major sectors of the economy, the bank said on its website. Tbilisi
has already received $100 million from the EBRD for the implementation
of various projects this year, and another $225 million is due to be
granted before yearend.

Georgia is involved in the bank’s Early Transition Countries
Initiative, aimed at mobilizing more investment and encouraging
economic reform. The initiative, launched in April 2004, also includes
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.

Foreign governments and private businesses pledged to lend Georgia
$4.55 billion at an international Donors’ Conference for Georgia in
Brussels on Wednesday. The United States promised to contribute the
largest sum of around $960 million, with the EU and Japan planning
to donate $640 million and $192 million, respectively.

Following the August conflict with Russia over Georgia’s breakaway
region of South Ossetia, the World Bank has assessed the Georgian
economy’s demands for the next three years at $3.2 billion.

900,000 DRAMS FOR A KNIFE

A1+
[07:32 pm] 23 October, 2008

Former head of the Prison Administration department and Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s proxy during the last presidential elections Mushegh
Saghatelian was sentenced to five years in prison.

Judge of the Yerevan Criminal Court Mnatsakan Martirosian found him
guilty for applying force against a state official based on the 1st
and 2nd sections of the 316th article of the RA Criminal Code.

In addition to that, the court also ordered him to pay 900,000 drams
for the sharp weapon [knife] that the court had revealed. By the way,
Mnatsakan Martirosian is the same judge who had sentenced Robert
Kocharyan’s bodyguard to house arrest for the murder at "Aragast" cafe.

Gatherers applauded Mushegh Saghatelian as he entered the
courtroom. Until the verdict was reached, Mushegh Saghatelian said
that he didn’t believe in any verdict of acquittal. "I am innocent,
no matter how much they give me."

After hearing the verdict, those present started screaming "Fight,
fight until the end" and "It’s a shame".

Member of the provisional parliamentary commission on the March
1 events Aram Harutyunian had come to hear the verdict and said:
"I think that they have to appeal to the Appeals Court. It was an
unfair verdict and I am certain that the court did not take into
account the evidence," said Harutyunian after hearing the verdict.

PUBLIC OPINION DEFORMED
Gevorg Harutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
23 Oct 2008
Armenia

The Eyewitnesses Don’t Want To Tell Anything

Interview with the Chairman of the Interim Committee Investigating
March 1-2 Developments and Its Reasons, Samvel Nikoyan.

"Mr. Nikoyan by now which are the events linked with March 1 that have
been completely investigated by the committee and have you drawn any
clear conclusions?"

"The committee has thoroughly revealed what has exactly happened
in the morning of March 1, in the Theatrical Square, what actions
the law enforcers and the demonstrators took. We have scrupulously
studied the events that took place in the morning, and all the other
events following it, which took place in Yerevan streets, up to the
accumulation of the demonstrators in front of the French Embassy.

We have spoken with lots of eyewitnesses. We have conducted
official surveys and have received answers. We have compared all
the answers. And today we have almost the clear picture of what had
happened during the first half of March 1."

"You have many times appealed to the public asking the eyewitnesses
of the 10 death cases to help you clarify in what conditions those
people died.

Are there any responses?"

"Unfortunately no. There are more journalists than citizens working
with us. There is a perception among our society that it is a bad thing
to give testimony. It comes from the Soviet times, that assisting the
state is not encouraged. Our public opinion is deformed in such a way
that people treat the murderer better than the one who gave testimony
against that murder. On the whole, to clarify the death cases,
we get information from the police officers and the law enforcers
who were doing their job at that time. Each death case took place
in front of hundreds of eyewitnesses, but no one wants to give any
information. But everyone demands that the committee reveals all the
details of the events."

"But all the developments took place in the streets, didn’t they?

And there are lots of houses there. Why don’t you invite the
inhabitants of those houses? All of them are eyewitnesses."

"Our American partners gave one idea – that the committee is doing
its best to meet the demands and the expectations of society. Partial
attitude has been formed among our society towards the committee. Even
if we tell absolute truth society won’t accept. This is the aftermath
of the advocacy of certain political forces.

The proposal about questioning the inhabitants of the buildings
located in the places where the deaths occurred is quite to the point
and the committee will discuss this proposal. In my view the inquest
body must firstly invite them for questioning. Our committee can only
invite them but we can’t force them to come and give information to
the committee. At the moment the journalists are very active. They
give us lots of information. But why are they so late?"

"Don’t you see any intentions here? To what extent do the journalists
give the true testimony, devoid of emotions and self-interests to
mislead social perceptions?"

"The committee is not completely based on those pieces of information.

But we want to hear lots of opinions and stories later to compare
them, to see the difference between the false and the true ones and
draw conclusions.

We have two quite contradicting pieces of information given by two
journalists. One of them says that at 10.20 p.m. on March 1 the water
spraying cars were cleaning the stains of blood. The other one states
that he saw the same river of blood after midnight. Let alone the
fact that you have to butcher a cow to have that much blood on the
ground. Of course these data are baseless. But we are ready to hear
any type of information, to have something to compare.

I’m well conscious that the committee is also aimed at developing
public opinion. But I also believe that society will perceive our
activity in the right way and will understand that we don’t veil
anything.

The same DVDs were being secretly spread among the people, aimed at
inflaming artificial fervor. The moment we started to discuss that
issue the public’s interest towards those DVDs diminished. At the
moment the committee is setting up a fact-collecting group. In my
view next week it will start its activity and an expert representing
the opposition will also be included in that group.