Month: October 2008

DISCUSSION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT: WHICH IS THIRD COUNTRY

Panorama.am
20:00 21/10/2008

Today the President of Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev announced
that most hopefully soon the leaders of three countries, engaged in
the regulation of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, will have a meeting.

"I hope that the leaders of three countries will meet to continue the
negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. I guess that the
meeting will take place in Russia," said the President of Russia in
a press conference.

President Medvedev did not specify which the third country is to take
part in the negotiations.

1.5 MILLION DOLLARS FOR IRAN-ARMENIA RAIL ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Panorama.am
20:17 21/10/2008

"Asian Development Bank" disposed 1.5 million dollars for the
construction of Iran-Armenia rail road, said the Prime Minister of
Armenia Tigran Sargsyan, today.

"Certain projects should be drafted and in the middle of the coming
year specific business calculations, economic efficiency. We do offer
our strategic colleagues to participate in this project, and hopefully
in the future year that there is a serious development in this field,"
said T. Sargsyan.

RUSSIA’S MEDVEDEV PUSHES NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS
By Denis Dyomkin

Reuters UK
Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:26pm BST
UK

YEREVAN, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev,
projecting Moscow’s diplomatic clout in the Caucasus, pushed on Tuesday
to bring the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan together for talks on
breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population broke away from
Azerbaijan in a war as the Soviet Union fell apart and now runs its own
affairs, with support from Armenia. It has declared its independence,
but is unrecognised by any state.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev last
met on the issue in early June, but the war in Georgia in August
appears to have lent fresh impetus to diplomatic efforts to resolve
the conflict.

The war in Georgia erupted when Moscow sent troops to crush a bid
by Georgian troops to reassert control over the breakaway region of
South Ossetia, another "frozen conflict" arising from the break-up
of the Soviet Union.

Visiting staunch ally Armenia, Medvedev said the war in Georgia had
shown the need to resolve disputes "on the basis of international
principles and by negotiations."

Armenia and Azerbaijan have never signed a peace treaty, and
Azerbaijan has not ruled out using force to restore its control over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

"I hope we are in an advanced stage now," Medvedev said after talks
with Sarksyan.

"Both sides are ready to seek solutions," he said, adding that he hoped
to meet together with Sarksyan and Aliyev "in the very near future."

"I hope such a meeting will take place in Russia."

Azeri ally and NATO member Turkey had taken the diplomatic lead in
the wake of the August war. Medvedev’s initative will be seen as a
response, in a region where Russia and the West are vying for influence
over vital energy transit routes from Central Asia to Western markets.

Diplomats say that, without Russia, little headway can be made on the
‘frozen conflicts’.

Russia’s war with Georgia deepened concern in the West over the
reliability of the Caucasus energy corridor.

Armenia is considered Russia’s strongest ally in the region, but is
also being courted by the United States. Yerevan is a member of NATO’s
Partnership for Peace programme, and hosted alliance exercises over
the past three weeks. (Writing by Matt Robinson, editing by Richard
balmforth)

TURKS CONVICTED OF DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Swissinfo
October 21, 2008 – 5:50 PM
Switzerland

A Swiss district court has found three Turkish defendants guilty of
denying the Armenian holocaust during the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.

They were ordered to pay up to SFr6,500 ($5,630) each for violating
Swiss anti-racism legislation, but part of the fine was suspended
over three years according to a statement by the Winterthur court
on Tuesday.

The defence lawyer said he would appeal the verdict, although it is
milder than the sentence demanded by the prosecutor.

Last year the leader of Turkish Workers’ Party, Dogu Perincek, was
ordered to pay a fine of SFr13,000 for a similar offence. During a
visit to western Switzerland he publicly denied that the killing of
hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians amounted to genocide.

The case caused diplomatic tensions between Switzerland and
Turkey. However, both countries recently decided to forge closer ties
following a visit by the Turkish foreign minister to Switzerland.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN TALKS WERE HELD IN YEREVAN

President of Russia Official Web Portal
October 21, 2008

Dmitry Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had a private
discussion on various aspects of their countries’ cooperation in
the economic, cultural and educational spheres, as well as topical
issues related to the current global economic situation. The talks
then continued in an expanded format.

Following the meeting several documents on cooperation were signed in
the presence of the presidents of Russia and Armenia. In particular,
the foreign ministries of Russia and Armenia signed a consultation
plan. An agreement on trade, economic, scientific and cultural
cooperation between the government of the Sverdlovsk Region and
the government of Armenia was also signed. A similar agreement was
concluded between the Yaroslavl Region and Armenia’s Armavir Region.

Following the Russian-Armenian talks Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan
made press statements and answered questions from journalists.

ARMENIAN-UKRAINIAN INTER-PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION DISCUSSED

ARMENPRESS
Oct 21, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS: NA speaker Hovik Abrahamian received
today Ukrainian ambassador to Armenia Alexander Bozhko.

NA public relations official told Armenpress that during the
meeting the ambassador conveyed to the speaker the greetings and
congratulations of the chairman of the Ukrainian Rada.

Referring to inter-parliamentary ties the ambassador reminded that
many points of the cooperation agreement are still waiting to be
carried out. In this respect Al. Bozhko underscored the necessity
of mutual visits, and with the request of Hovik Abrahamian presented
the inner-political situation in Ukraine.

Armenian NA speaker underscored the inter-parliamentary cooperation
and said that the mutual visits are good opportunities for exchange
of experience.

During the meeting the sides also discussed other issues of mutual
interests.

ARMENIAN-AMERICAN ACTIVISTS: COME OUT IN FORCE

Armenian Reporter
October 21, 2008
Armenia

Winning the presidency, a Senate seat, or a seat in the House of
Representatives is an expensive proposition. The 2004 elections cost
the candidates and their parties some $4 billion. Looking at the
sums involved, many Americans conclude that anything they may have
to offer is but a drop in the bucket, and they sit the campaigns out.

That’s a shame, because the election season offers us wonderful
opportunities to participate in the political process, to build
relationships, and to make a difference.

Volunteering In specific races our individual contributions can have an
important impact. And the collective contribution of Armenian-Americans
can have an even greater impact. By focusing on races where a candidate
relies on our help, or where we know we can make a difference, we
can be the most effective.

The collective impact of thousands upon thousands of Armenian-Americans
participating in election campaigns is felt by candidates. A lack of
participation would be equally palpable.

Donating money is part of it. Some of us can afford to donate the
maximum allowable by law. Others can afford $100 or less. Whatever
the amount, each act of donating adds to the credibility of
Armenian-American advocacy efforts.

Each of us has a role to play in our local races for senator and
representative, as well as the presidential election. There are
also a handful of candidates who have emerged as national leaders in
Armenian-American advocacy. We need to show them our financial support.

We can – and ought to – do more than that. Money can buy campaign ads
on television, but nothing beats the personal touch; nothing beats
people talking to their neighbors and their friends.

Every campaign is looking for volunteers.

It can be as simple as putting up a lawn sign. Or it can involve
long hours as a phone bank. A volunteer can host a tea at home for
friends to discuss the election. A volunteer can hand out flyers,
or go door to door on Election Day, making sure voters vote.

Building relationships Election season is also a good time to build
personal relationships with candidates for office and their close
associates. The candidates are out there, looking for the voters. Alone
or with some friends, we can attend a fund raiser, or schedule an
appointment with a candidate. We can let the candidate hear from us
personally the importance of Armenian issues.

Plan to get out and vote And in the end, voting is the most important
right to be exercised in this democracy. The states are making it
increasingly easy to register to vote, and to vote by absentee ballot.

If you’re not registered to vote, now is the time to register.

If you think you may be away on Election Day – November 4 – or may
have difficulty getting to the polls, or simply prefer not to go,
you can generally vote by absentee ballot.

ROUND TABLE DEVOTED TO TENDENCIES AROUND KARABAKH ISSUE TO BE HELD AT CAUCASUS INSTITUTE IN YEREVAN

DeFacto Agency
2008-10-21 16:28:00
Armenia

YEREVAN, 20.10.08. DE FACTO. On October 23, 2008, the Caucasus
Institute will hold a round table entitled "New Tendencies around
Karabakh Issue in the Context of Parliamentary Hearings Held in
Stepanakert".

According to Novosti-Armenia, the problems and perspectives of
development of political processes around Karabakh conflict and their
influence on the South Caucasus’ Regional Security will be discussed
in the course of the round table.

Sergey Minasian, the head of the Caucasus Institute Political
Research Department, and Stepan Grigorian, the head of Analytical
Centre for Globalization and Regional Cooperation, who participated
in parliamentary hearings held in Nagorno-Karabakh on October 10,
2008, will make reports.

The reporters will present their view of main tendencies around
Karabakh issue and share their impression on parliamentary hearings
held in Stepanakert.

The round table has been initiated by the Caucasus Institute together
with Henrik Bell Foundation in the South Caucasus within the frames
of a joint project on realization of a number of expert seminars and
public discussions to focus Armenian public’s attention on some urgent
issue of regional and international development.

IRAQI ARMENIANS KILLED, WOUNDED IN ATTACKS
by Emil Sanamyan

Armenian Reporter

Oct 21, 2008
Armenia

Washington – An ethnic Armenian music-store owner, Farques Batool,
was killed, and his nephew was wounded in attacks in Iraq’s northern
city of Mosul on October 13, news agencies reported. The attacks were
apparently religiously motivated.

Since the surge in violence, ethnic Armenians and other Christians
who had remained in Mosul, one of Iraq’s largest cities, more than
4,000 people in all, have fled, most for the relative safety of
Iraqi Kurdistan.

In all, at least ten people have been killed in fresh attacks blamed
on Sunni radicals linked with Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Associated Press
linked the attacks to calls by Iraqi Christians for restoration of
Saddam Hussein-era quotas that would give them seats in provincial
councils. The Shiite-dominated Iraqi government sent police
reinforcements to try to stabilize the situation in Mosul.

"Thousands of people fled virtually overnight, many with only
the clothes on their back," said Jamil Abdul-Ahad, the head of an
interfaith Christian council in Mosul that has been distributing aid
to the displaced, The AP reported.

"Our situation needs active work, not just media propaganda from
government officials," Mr. Abdul-Ahad said. "The government should
protect Christians in Mosul and safeguard their rights."

Sunni extremists have regularly targeted Iraqi Christians since the
U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. In addition to Armenians,
Iraqi Christians include Syrian Orthodox and Catholics.

PRISON GUARDS CALL STRIKE TO PROTEST SUICIDES

Radio France Internationale
2008-10-21 17:34 TU
France

An alarming increase in jail suicides in France, including four inmates
over the past three weeks, has led prison guards to call a strike in
an effort to press the French government to act immediately. A total
of 90 people have committed suicide in one of France’s 200 jails this
year, close to last year’s total of 96 people, but down from 2005,
when 122 people killed themselves in French prisons.

A 45-year-old man hung himself in his cell last Friday in Ensisheim
in eastern France, while another, an Armenian, hanged himself in a
Strasbourg jail using his shoelaces.

This month two 16-year-olds in jails in Metz and Strasbourg killed
themselves in separate incidents.

Three main prison guard unions have repeatedly complained of
overcrowding and lack of resources, and are now calling for a
nationwide strike on 13 November.

There are currently 63,185 inmates throughout the country in jails
designed for 51,000 prisoners.

The unions accuse Justice Minister Rachida Dati of overloading the
prison system with a "tough on crime" stance that does not allow for
reinforced rehabilitation efforts.

"The penitentiaries are in agony and the minister doesn’t see this,"
said union official Christophe Marques. "If this continues, there
will be big trouble," he added.

Rights groups have harshly criticised the French prison system. The
Council of Europe calls France’s treatment of convicts "inhumane and
degrading", while the watchdog group the International Observatory
of Prisons said France needs to change its approach.

The OIP reccommends that authorities drastically reduce the use of
isolation cells as punishment.

Meanwhile, Dati has come up against problems within the French system
as magistrates have balked at her judiciary reform plan. The plan
itself has led to protests across the country.

The Justice Ministry says it is putting more than 1,000 jobs in the
prison system over the next year, and is in the process of creating
a new bill on prison reform.