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AZERBAIJAN’S STRATEGY IN KARABAKH ISSUE DOOMED TO FAILURE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.04.2008 18:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan’s attempts to extract the Nagorno Karabakh
process from the OSCE Minsk Group format will not bring success,
said Orinats Yerkir faction leader.

"The OSCE Minsk Group has proved to be the most informed and most
efficient format for the negotiation process. The MG has matured in
searching for compromise in the issue," Artur Baghdassaryan said.

"Azerbaijan’s strategy arouses concern. They tried to make use
of the internal political situation in Armenia. The forthcoming
presidential election also promises toughening in position of the
Azeri authorities," he said, Novosti Armenia reports.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER HOPES ARMENIAN NEW LEADERSHIP WILL CONTINUE REFORMS

ARMENPRESS
April 4, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: On April 3 Council of Europe Human
Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg sent a letter to Armenian
president Robert Kocharian.

The letter, particularly, says: "A number of meetings which I had
during my March 12-14 visit to Armenia gave me an opportunity for a
better understanding of circumstances behind the March 1-2 events in
Yerevan and of future actions.

I will have them in consideration when reporting to the Council
of Europe Committee of Ministers. You have always been open for
a constructive dialogue with this institution and I would like to
express my appreciation of it.

Since you have terminated your second term in office and are handing
presidency to the president-elect Serzh Sarkisian I would like to
acknowledge the substantial amount of reforms carried out by Armenia
under your leadership and reflected in my recent report. I know
that some of those reforms were highly sensitive and difficult and I
would like to pay tribute to your dedication and political courage,
for making them happen.

I am confident that your successor will continue the reform efforts
and take my recommendations into consideration while addressing a
number of issues highlighted in the same report, in respect of which
more work remains to be done," says the letter.

POLAD BUL BUL OGHLU: "KARABAKH WILL NOT BE SURRENDERED UNTIL THERE IS A SINGLE AZERBAIJANI IN THE WORLD"

Today.Az
itics/44043.html
April 4 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is interested in the peaceful liberation of Karabakh,
occupied by Armenia, yet it will never agree to its annexation.

The due announcement was made by ambassador of Azerbaijan to Moscow
Polad Bul Bul oghlu at a conference "Azerbaijan-2008: step to
development", Novosti-Azerbaijan reports.

"We want to settle the Karabakh conflict peacefully, in line with
international law and in the framework with territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. The resolution of this problem is not an easy task,
however, there is anm international law, and there is a map, which
shows who is an occupant.

Karabakh will not be surrendered until there is a single Azerbaijani
in the world", the ambassador noted.

He said it should be taken into account that Azerbaijan is economically
much stronger than Armenia, yet it carries out the policy of peace
and tries to settle this issue peacefully.

"I think strong countries, which define the policy in the world,
should also be interested in the peaceful resolution of the conflict",
Polad Bul Bul oghlu concluded.

AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS BAKU’S STANCE REMAINS UNCHANGED

ARMENPRESS
April 3, 2008

BUCHAREST, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar
Mamedyarov downplayed today media speculations that his government
has toughened its position on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

Speaking to Armenian journalists in Bucharest, the venue of a NATO
summit, Mamedyarov said his Azerbaijan’s position is not different
from what it was in recent years.

In comments on the current stage of the efforts to find a settlement
to the conflict he said during a yesterday’s meeting with the OSCE
Minsk Group cochairmen from Russia, France and USA the Azeri side
discussed the idea of continuing the talks.

"It is now up to Armenia to show its vision of how the talks could
be continued. Azerbaijan’s position has not altered-the conflict
must be settled based on the principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity, but with the sense that Nagorno-Karabakh is granted a
high-level autonomy within integral Azerbaijan," Azerbaijani foreign
minister said.

According to him, more and more countries are starting to understand
that this is the only solution option.

In comments on Azerbaijan’s application to the OSCE secretariat to
get explanations on how the Minsk Group could be dissolved he said
the institution of cochairmen was established, but no one knows when
it ends.

"In this sense we need to make clear how this institution works and
if it has a beginning then it should have an end, like any other
institution,’ he said.

In response to a question that this stance is being interpreted as
a warning to the OSCE Minsk Group, Mamedyarov said it is rather a
clarification so that the cochairmen realize the responsibility which
they have for the conflicts resolution.

Mamedyarov also said he could not predict when presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan may meet, saying it could happen only after the
inauguration of Armenian president-elect.

DIAMANDA GALAS @ QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, LONDON

Playlouder news
gal-s-queen-elizabeth-hall-london
April 3 2008
UK

It’s a motley crew sipping Pinot Noir from plastic in the foyer of
Queen Elizabeth Hall, and small wonder: from what little I’ve heard
about (and by) tonight’s performer, she’s likely to be filed under
‘niche’, if indeed she’s likely to be filed, which I doubt.

Personally, I’ve never dared slot ‘Defixiones: Will and Testament’
in between Free’s ‘Fire and Water’ and the eponymous debut album
by Garbage.

The idea of Shirley singing "I’m only happy when it rains" on one side
and Paul singing "Alright now" on the other, while betwixt Diamanda
wails and screams in languages I don’t know about the Armenian genocide
does not sit well with me.

Tonight’s performance isn’t about genocide though, or about AIDS,
(another of Diamanda’s favourite topics), it’s about (as unlikely as
it may seem) love.

Ms. Galas’ latest collection, ‘Guilty, Guilty, Guilty’, is billed as
"a program of tragic and homicidal love songs and death songs", but
I haven’t heard it yet, so am earnestly hoping for a cover of Bobby
Goldsborough’s ‘Honey’. She specialises in covers, although ‘cover’
doesn’t really do her justice. Perhaps ‘deconstruction’ or simply
‘destruction’ would be closer to the truth? (And we’re not talking
Emma Bunton’s ‘Downtown’ here.)

Diamanda emerges from a successfully foreboding cloud of solid carbon
dioxide looking like she means business. If you can imagine Cruella
de Vil as painted by Hieronymus Bosch in his little-known monochrome
period, you’re close. She seats herself gracefully at the lone piano
on the large, empty stage, (careful not to sit on her hair), draws
back her long black, black sleeves revealing slender white, white
fingers, and without so much as a "Hello London!" begins tentatively
exploring the length of the keyboard, feeling it, playing with it,
and then attacking it quite savagely.

She got very angry once when a journalist said she didn’t improvise
live. Now I’m no piano expert, but frankly I’d be pretty bloody
surprised if the death jazz, doom blues, creepingly monstrous, and
occasionally dainty technique we witness is anything but archaic
deities being channelled.

And her voice? Well, suffice to say I suggested to staff on my way
out that they might want to consider fitting the seats with belts,
and the audience with crash helmets. Not to say it’s not a thing of
beauty – it is – but Diamanda’s voice is like a natural disaster of
supernatural proportions. Insure your ears against acts of God. You
have been warned.

When ‘Gloomy Sunday’ was played in Hungary in the early 20th century
it apparently encouraged a spate of deaths, so much so that it became
known as ‘The Hungarian Suicide Song’. The desperate lyrics coupled
with the already crippling Curse of Turan were too much for the
miserable Magyars, and they topped themselves by the dozen.

Had they heard Diamanda’s rendering, perhaps it’d have done the
job for them. When Diamanda sings she is not a lone forsaken lover,
she is all forsaken love.

She sings in numerous languages too. French, being the only other one
I vaguely understood, and that was quite a pleasant song: I may even
have tapped my foot.

The rapturous applause that greets the end of each song is especially
fervent after one unrecognisable number. The chap next to me leaps up
and shouts "Σ’αγα&am p;#960;ώ!" so I assume it was
(or he is) Greek.

Anyway, smashing stuff.

UKRAINE’S DEPUTY FM KONSTANTIN YELISEEV VISITS ARMENIA

armradio.am
03.04.2008 11:11

April 3-5 the delegation headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister of
Ukraine Konstantin Yeliseevwill visit Armenia to participate in
interagency consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs
of Armenia and Ukraine.

During the visit Konstantin Yeliseev will meet with RA Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian and will participate in the opening ceremony of an
exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Armenian-Ukrainian
diplomatic relations and will have a meeting with the Chairman of
the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations
Armen Rustamyan.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine is also expected to visit
Matenadaran and Etchmiadzin.

Armenian National Committee – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

April 3, 2008
Contact: Ani Garabedian

Community Groups Increase Support of ANC-WR

Los Angeles, CA – Members of the Armenian Youth Federation from all
over Southern California gathered at the ANC-WR headquarters in
Glendale, CA on March 19, 2008 to participate in the ANC-WR monthly
public policy forum. This month’s workshop was presented by Glendale
City Clerk, Ardashes Kassakhian and was comprised of various topics,
including the importance of community activism and voter registration
in the upcoming 2008 presidential elections.

"It’s important for today’s young Armenian Americans to take advantage
of opportunities to involve themselves in the American political and
electoral process." said Ardashes Kassakhian, Glendale City Clerk.

This installment of the ANC-WR Public Policy Forum aimed to encourage
attendees to take a proactive role and stronger interest in their
local communities and government affairs.

Los Angeles, CA – Over sixty members of the Homenetmen Western United
States attended Azkayin Shkanshan from March 7-9 at the recently
acquired Homenetmen Camp Tecuya in Frazier Park, California. The
event, intended at presenting both an historical overview of late 19th
century Armenian politics and an overview of issues of concern to
Armenian Americans today, was attended by Homenetmen scouts from
Southern California, Fresno and Las Vegas.

The program, organized by the Homenetmen Western United States
Regional Scouting Council, featured a presentation by Raffi Hamparian,
ANC-WR Board Member. Hamparian provided participants with a historical
and contemporary overview of the Armenian cause.

Attendees also prepared hundreds of letters to Speaker Nancy Pelosi
expressing thanks for her efforts in bringing H. Res. 106, the
Armenian Genocide resolution, to a vote during this term of Congress.

The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States
and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR advances
the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

RA MFA: KARABAKH TALKS BASE ON MADRID PROPOSALS

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.04.2008 15:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenia views the proposals submitted to the Foreign
Minister of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Madrid s a basis for talks on the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, RA MFA acting spokesman Tigran Balayan told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter when commenting on Araz Azimov’s statement
that "the proposals issued four years ago focused on maintenance of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity."

"The document submitted to the sides in Madrid clearly mentions of
the right of Karabakhi people to self-determination," Balayan said.

Commenting on Azimov’s remarks about ‘possible use of the Lachin
corridor by Armenia and Azerbaijan in case the former remains within
Azerbaijan’, Balayan said, "It’s only Baku’s wish."

WALK-MARATHON IN MEMORY OF THE GENOCIDE

AZG Armenian Daily
03/04/2008

Armenian Genocide

Armenians of Philadelphia will organize a walk-marathon in memory of
the Armenian Genocide. The aim of the event is to gather the Armenians
of Philadelphia and call to the authorities for the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide in order similar crimes not to be committed to
any nation.

The walk-marathon will start from Philadelphia Art Museum, Noyan
Tapan reports.

GEGHAM HARUTIUNIAN SENTENCED TO 1.5-YEAR PROBATION

A1+
02 April, 2008

Today Gegham Harutiunian, member of the political board of the
Hanrapetutiun (Republic) Party, was sentenced by Court of Avan and
Nor Nork to 1.5 years’ probation.

The Court found the charges laid against Harutiunian warranted and
upheld the claims of the RA National Security Services. Under Article
235 of the RA Penal Code Harutiunian was found guilty and sentenced
to a 1.5-year probation period.

Harutiunian was charged with carrying illegal weapon.