Author: admin

PRESS RELEASE
Federation of Armenian Organizations in The Netherlands
April 24 Committee
For Recognition and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide of 1915
Contact: Mrs. I. Drost
Tel. 070 4490209
E-mail: [email protected]
K.v.K. 27264382

EU can only end the systematic denial of genocide of 1915 now

The Hague, 22 September 2004 – The Armenian Federation has again appealed in
a letter to the government and parliament to move Turkey to make an end to
the systematic denial of the genocide of Armenians and the crimes against
other Christian minorities in WW I, and to normalise the relations with
neighbouring country Armenia. An earlier call on this issue to the Foreign
Affairs minister and Secretary Of State of the Netherlands to the address
of their Turkish colleagues failed to yield any visible results.

The European Commission – the executive body of the European Union in
Brussels – will present a report on Turkey on October 6. This document is
decisive for the question of whether Turkey can become a member of the EU.
Turkey has been in the waiting room of the EU for forty-one years. However,
the Armenians have been waiting longer. They want for the genocide of 1915
to be finally recognised. However, Turkey has kept her door closed for 89
years. And each year again another year is added to this one.

The current Turkish republic was founded on the first systematic genocide of
the twentieth century. In 1915, 1.5 million Armenians were deported and
killed by the Turkish rulers, among others by Kemal Atatürk, who wanted to
establish (with violence) a secular state of the Ottoman Empire. In 1923,
the task had been completed: the Turkish republic was founded and nothing
more was mentioned of the genocide. The Armenians have already struggled for
three generations for recognition of the injustice that has been done to
them.

The Austrian writer Franz Werfel (1890-1945) of Jewish descent had already
attempted to bring the Armenian genocide to light before World War II . In
his novel ³The Forty Days of Musa Dagh² (1938), which deals with the
Armenian Genocide, he outlined a spectre for what could happen to the Jews
in Europe. His warning could not prevent the destruction of the European
Jews. In 1939, on the eve of the Holocaust, even Adolf Hitler brushed aside
the Armenian Genocide as irrelevant.

Notwithstanding, modern-day Turkey continues to carry out the policy of
denial to this day. According to the Turkish government the Armenian
Genocide is a fabrication. Stronger still: the Turkish minister of education
recently ordered all primary schools to write an essay in certain classes in
which they had to describe the official reading of the history on this
point. The schools were also obliged to dedicate a conference on this
issue. Teachers who had the courage to refuse to follow this order, were
arrested. Here, in the least, the rights of minorities and freedom of
speech are an issue. Therefore Turkey does not qualify yet for the so-called
Copenhagen criteria which serve as a test for the commencement of
negotiations for the accession of Turkey to the EU.

It needs little argumentation (compare for example with denial of the
Holocaust) that such a question – Copenhagen criteria or not – is of
overwhelming and humanitarian importance. In this respect, it is interesting
that the French socialist party, – to avoid discussion on this and moreover,
as a party favourable for Turkey¹s accession, – explicitly puts the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a condition for the accession of
Turkey to the EU. Possibly this is an example to follow.

With a letter, the Armenian Federation has again called on (the Dutch
government and) the Dutch parliament to put pressure on Turkey for the
recognition of the genocide of Armenians and other Christians at the
beginning of the previous century. The denial of it up to the present is
unacceptable for many countries and for the Armenians spread throughout the
whole world. The denial is moreover the most important cause for the bad
relations between Turkey and neighbouring country Armenia. Therefore the
border is closed on the Turkish side and there are no diplomatic relations
between Turkey and Armenia.

The Federation indicates that at this moment everything seems to be possible
in Turkey, big and fast changes, small improvements, reform bills are
submitted and adopted and if necessary partly withdrawn. The Federation of
course welcomes with joy each improvement, but these changes also highlight
the refusal to change the policy on the denial of the genocide and the
negative consequences thereof, like the bad relations with Armenia. Recently
Dutch government members Bot and Nicolai indicted in the Parliament that
they and EU leaders have explicitly questioned their Turkish colleagues on
this issue. This was made clear from the consultation that these government
members conducted in the Dutch Parliament. They appear, however, to speak to
deaf ears. On this point, Turkey leaves the EU and the Armenians in the
dark.

The Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands calls on the
Dutch government in her position of President of the European Union to
express explicitly its care for this question and to indicate that denial of
the genocide is of such an importance that accession negotiations are
unthinkable under this denial. In this context, the Netherlands must
emphasise that Europe should not allow itself to blur its own eyes with
remarks that later (once Turkey becomes/is the EU member) all will be good.
This is only possible if a statement is fixed now. The European Union only
now has a chance to stop Turkey¹s policy of systematic denial.

Moreover, at European level the Armenians and human rights organisations are
trying to attract the necessary attention to this problem. In this respect,
during a press conference on 22 September in Brussels the co-operating human
right and humanitarian organisations of several European countries will
present a memorandum concerning these questions.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Voice of America, DC
Sept 25 2004

Iodine Deficiency Disorders Plague Europe, Central Asia, says UNICEF
Lisa Schlein
Geneva

The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says Iodine Deficiency Disorders,
which cause mental retardation, are a huge problem in Europe and
Central Asia. UNICEF says this disorder can be solved for as little
as five cents per person per year by iodizing salt.
In this video clip, UNICEF’s regional ambassador and 16-time world
chess champion, Anatoly Karpov, tells children they must have iodine
in their diet, if they want to be smart. He repeats this message in a
joking manner to a group of journalists.

“I can answer you like a joke that I believe that, when we solve the
problem, every child will play chess,” said Anatoly Karpov. “I
believe that this is extremely important, and this is a problem we
know how to solve. One of the few problems we know how to solve.”

Mr. Karpov comes from Russia, located in one of the regions of the
world most seriously affected by iodine deficiency. UNICEF statistics
show that more than half of the people in Western and Central Europe
live in iodine-deficient countries. Surprisingly, some of the most
developed countries, such as Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany
suffer from a lack of iodine. However, the problem is most severe in
countries such as Russia and the Ukraine.

UNICEF says these two countries account for 1.3 million newborn
babies a year, who are not protected from iodine deficiency. This out
of five million iodine deficient babies born in all of the region’s
22 countries.

Mr. Karpov says the babies suffer because their mothers did not
include iodine in their diets when they were pregnant. He says,
unfortunately, the mental retardation that results from iodine
deficiency in the womb is not reversible in later life.

“We believe that the cheapest, simplest and general message, to avoid
iodine deficiency, is to have general iodization of salt,” he said.
“And, it does not cost too much. It is about five cents per year, per
person-very cheap.”

Mr. Karpov says governments should pass legislation to make iodized
salt mandatory. He says, in countries with such laws, iodine
deficiency disorders have decreased. He notes this can be seen even
in poor countries, such as Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Armenia and Georgia.

UNICEF says governments often do not promote iodine in food out of
ignorance or widely-held misconceptions. For example, it says India
rescinded legislation on iodized salt under pressure from consumer
groups. It says these groups claimed that iodine in salt causes a
variety of health problems. Tragically, it says, by eliminating
iodine from the diet, mental retardation among children in India,
once again, is on the rise.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FREEDOM HOUSE:

FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2004

Armenia / Azerbaijan

NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Political Rights: 5
Civil Liberties: 5

Status: Partly Free

Population: 150,000

Religious Groups: Armenian Apostolic Church (majority)

Ethnic Groups: Armenian (95 percent), other (5 percent)

Ten Year Ratings Timeline [OMMITTED]

Overview

Internationally mediated efforts to find a political settlement to the
protracted Nagorno-Karabakh conflict made little progress in 2003. With
presidential elections scheduled for both Armenia and Azerbaijan during the
year, neither country’s leadership appeared willing to risk a public
backlash by agreeing to compromises over the disputed territory’s status.
Meanwhile, a mounting number of cease-fire violations led to concerns over a
possible threat of renewed larger-scale confrontations.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, a territory largely populated by
ethnic Armenians inside the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, was
established in 1923. In February 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh’s regional
legislature adopted a resolution calling for union with Armenia. The
announcement triggered the first mass violence related to the conflict with
attacks against Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait several days
later.

Successive battles and counteroffensives were fought over the next several
years between various Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Nagorno-Karabakh forces. At
its inaugural session in January 1992, Nagorno-Karabakh’s new legislature
adopted a declaration of independence, which was not recognized by the
international community. By the time a Russian-brokered cease-fire was
signed in May 1994, Karabakh Armenians, assisted by Armenia, had captured
essentially the entire territory, as well as six Azerbaijani districts
surrounding the enclave. Nearly all ethnic Azeris had fled or been forced
out of the enclave and its surrounding areas, and the fighting had resulted
in thousands of casualties and an estimated one million refugees.

In December 1994, the head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s state defense committee,
Robert Kocharian, was selected by the territory’s parliament for the newly
established post of president. Parliamentary elections were held in April
and May 1995, and Kocharian defeated two other candidates in a popular vote
for president in November of the following year.

In September 1997, Foreign Minister Arkady Ghukasian was elected to replace
Kocharian, who had been named prime minister of Armenia in March of that
year. In the territory’s June 2000 parliamentary vote, 123 candidates
representing five parties competed for the assembly’s 33 seats. The ruling
Democratic Union Artsakh (ZhAM), which supported Ghukasian, enjoyed a slim
victory, winning 13 seats. The Related Territories Reports 643 Armenian
Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutiun won 9 seats, the Armenakan Party
captured 1 seat, and formally independent candidates, most of whom supported
Ghukasian, won 10. International observers described the electoral campaign
and voting process as calm and largely transparent, although problems were
noted with the accuracy of some voter lists.

In February 2001, former Defense Minister Samvel Babayan was found guilty of
organizing a March 2000 assassination attempt against Ghukasian and
sentenced to 14 years in prison. His supporters insisted that the arrest was
politically motivated, as Babayan had been involved in a power struggle with
Ghukasian. Others, however, welcomed the arrest and conviction of Babayan,
who had been accused of corruption and reportedly wielded considerable
political and economic power in the territory.

Ghukasian was reelected to a second term as president on August 11, 2002,
with 89 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, former parliament
speaker Artur Tovmasian, received just 8 percent. Voter turnout was close to
75 percent. Observers from countries including the United States, the United
Kingdom, and France reported no serious violations. While a number of
domestic and international nongovernmental organizations concluded that the
elections marked a further step in Nagorno-Karabakh’s democratization, they
did voice some criticisms, including the limited access for the opposition
to state-controlled media. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry described the
election as a violation of international norms, insisting that a legitimate
vote could be held only after a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

With both Armenia’s president, Robert Kocharian, and Azerbaijan’s president,
Heydar Aliev, poised to seek reelection in 2003 – and the domestic political
risk associated with either leader’s making significant public concessions
over the territory during a campaign year – few observers expected any
breakthroughs in the conflict during 2003. An upsurge in shooting incidents
along the ceasefire line in the summer, which both Armenian and Azerbaijani
officials accused the other side of instigating, fueled concerns of a
further and more widespread escalation of violence. Meanwhile, speculation
grew over the impact of Aliev’s failing health and the October election of
his son, Ilham, to succeed him as president on prospects for a negotiated
settlement to the conflict.

Despite continued high-level discussions in the framework of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group – which
was established a decade earlier to facilitate dialogue on a political
settlement on Nagorno-Karabakh’s status – a resolution of the long-standing
dispute remained elusive at year’s end. While Yerevan insists that
Nagorno-Karabakh should be left outside Azeri jurisdiction, Baku maintains
that the territory may be granted broad autonomy while remaining a
constituent part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan also has refused to negotiate
with Ghukasian, who has demanded direct representation in the peace process.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

A self-declared republic, Nagorno-Karabakh has enjoyed de facto
independence from Azerbaijan since 1994 while retaining close political,
economic, and military ties with Armenia. Parliamentary elections in 1995
and 2000 were regarded as generally free and fair, as were the 1996 and
1997 presidential votes. However, the elections were considered invalid by
most of the international community that does not recognize 644 Freedom in
the World – 2004 Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence. Nagorno-Karabakh’s
electoral law calls for a single-mandate system to be used in
parliamentary elections; lawmakers have rejected the opposition’s demands
for the inclusion of party-based lists.

The territory officially remains under martial law, which imposes
restrictions on civil liberties, including media censorship and the banning
of public demonstrations. However, the authorities maintain that these
provisions have not been enforced since 1995, a year after the cease-fire
was signed.

The government controls many of the territory’s broadcast media outlets, and
most journalists practice self-censorship, particularly on subjects dealing
with policies related to Azerbaijan and the peace process. Some observers
maintain that the government used the attempted murder of President Arkady
Ghukasian in 2000 as a pretext to intensify attacks against its critics.

The registration of religious groups is required under Nagorno-Karabakh’s
1997 law on religion. The Armenian Apostolic Church, which is the territory’
s predominant religion, is the only faith registered with the state.
According to Forum 18, a religious-freedom watchdog group based in Norway,
members of various minority faiths, including Pentecostals, Adventists,
Baptists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, have faced restrictions on their
activities. In 2003, a local Baptist was beaten, was threatened with
mind-altering drugs, and had threats made against his wife by law
enforcement officials for distributing religious literature on the street,
Forum 18 reported; authorities denied that any threats were made against
him.

Freedom of assembly and association is limited, although political parties
and unions are allowed to organize.

The judiciary, which is not independent in practice, is influenced by the
executive branch and powerful political and clan forces. Former defense
minister Samvel Babayan alleged that he had been physically assaulted during
his interrogation and detention as a suspect in the failed assassination
attempt against President Ghukasian in March 2000. The presiding judge in
the case announced that the subsequent guilty verdict against Babayan was
based on pretrial testimony in which Babayan confessed to the charges,
although he later retracted his admission of guilt, claiming that it had
been obtained under duress. The republic’s government announced that it had
replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment as of August 1, 2003.

The majority of those who fled the fighting continue to live in squalid
conditions in refugee camps in Azerbaijan, while international aid
organizations are reducing direct assistance to the refugees. Landmine
explosions continue to result in casualties each year, with children and
teenagers among the most vulnerable groups. According to the International
Committee of the Red Cross, at least 50,000 anti-personnel mines were laid
during the war, although in many cases, records of minefield locations were
never created or were lost. The HALO Trust, a British nongovernmental
organization, is the major de-mining group operating in the territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s fragile peace has failed to bring significant improvement
to the economy, particularly in the countryside, and pensioners are
particularly hard hit. Widespread corruption, a lack of substantive economic
reforms, and the control of major economic activity by powerful elites limit
equality of opportunity for most residents.

—

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IN KARABAKH PROBLEM ARMENIA’S OPPOSITION DOES NOT SHARE PRINCIPLE
“CONCESSION FOR CONCESSION”

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23. ARMINFO. The absence of the Concept of national
security in Armenia is the reason for the failure of the policy of the
present ruling regime in all the spheres. Secretary of the opposition
bloc Justice Viktor Dallakian stated during the press conference
today.

According to him, the absence of the Concept makes impossible the
elaboration of foreign political, military and economic doctrines,
which, in its turn, hinders the development and correct coordination
of the activities in these spheres. Viktor Dallakian stressed that as
a result of untalented foreign political course of the authorities of
the country the Karabakh problem has reached a deadlock. The fact that
the international community takes the Karabakh conflict as a
territorial problem testifies. “Today the international community
insists on the settlement of the Karabakh problem on the basis of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The negative estimation of the
European structures to the elections to local self-government bodies
in Nagorny Karabakh is the evidence of it. In From the point of their
view these elections contradicted the principle of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan”, Viktor Dallakian said.

According to Dallakian, the report of Terry Davis concerning Nagorny
Karabakh, submitted during the sitting of the PACE Political
committee, is the evidence of the clumsy policy of the authorities of
Armenia in the Karabakh problem. The deputy reminded that it was
proposed in the report to settle the Karabakh problem on the basis of
the territorial integrity of the states. The position of Terry Davis,
who is the CE Secretary General, reflects the position of the whole
Council of Europe, Dallakian thinks. Besides, during his recent
interview the American cochairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Steven Mann
had stated that the most part of the territory of Azerbaijan is
occupied, in fact, calling the Armenian side occupants, Viktor
Dallakian said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
Sept 24 2004

ARMENIA, GREAT BRITAIN SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON DEFENSE
CONTACTS AND COOPERATION

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS: The Ministry of Defense of the
United Kingdom and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia
have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Contacts and
Co-operation. The aim of the Memorandum is to further strengthen the
good relations which already exist between the two Ministries, and to
serve as a basis for increased co-operation between them in the field
of defense.
Serge Sarkisian, the Armenian Minister of Defense, and the British
Ambassador to Armenia, Miss Thorda Abbott-Watt, signed the Memorandum
in a short ceremony at the Armenian Ministry of Defense in Yerevan on
Friday, 24 September 2004.
Over the last year the United Kingdom has sponsored places for 16
members of the Armenian Armed Forces to conduct a variety of training
courses outside Armenia, including the first Armenian cadet ever to
attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. The British Ministry
of Defense also funds English language training through the
Peacekeeping English Program run by the British Council Armenia in
the Armenian Ministry of Defense.
The Memorandum of Understanding reflects a common recognition
that stable and democratic sovereign states contribute to confidence,
stability and security in Europe as a whole. It will put the existing
co-operation program on a formal footing, and enable Britain and
Armenia to develop further contacts in areas such as the management
of defense in democratic societies, language training, peace support
in humanitarian operations and arms control.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Sept 25 2004

Late 20th century life gets a twist of ‘Vodka Lemon’

Iraqi Kurd’s tragicomic film about post-communist Armenia is a
highlight of the Cinema Days festival

By Jim Quilty
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: Hinner Salim’s “Vodka Lemon” opens with an old man in bed. A
car is dragging him, bed and all, along a snow-covered road. He
arrives at his destination, the graveyard, solemnly removes both
racks of false teeth and begins to play the doudouk – the beautifully
mournful pipe that is probably Armenia’s best-known export, aside
from the Armenians themselves. The old fellow is one of a band of
musicians summoned to perform for somebody else’s funeral.

It is one of those moments that audiences have learned to expect of
films emerging from the once-communist world. Gypsy brass bands run
behind speeding cars while they play (alternatively having money
thrown and bullets fired at them), a la Emir Kusturica’s
“Underground.” Cows inexplicably fall from the sky to kill
bridegrooms, as in Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov’s “Luna Papa.” These
bizarre, funny, poetic conjurings serve as brilliant metaphors for
the tragicomic dislocations of the late 20th century.

There are a number of such moments in “Vodka Lemon,” one of the
non-Arab “guest films” at the Ayam Beirut Cinemaiyya (Cinema Days)
film festival which ends Sunday. Salim’s skill in using them renders
his story – which is pretty damn depressing in itself – all the more
entertaining and artful.

Set in a bleak, snowbound Armenian village, the story revolves around
Hamo (Romik Avinian) and Nina (Lala Sarkissian) and the snowbound
graveyard they visit every day. Hamo’s wife died some years earlier,
leaving him a trio of grown sons. The oldest, Dilovan (Ivan Franek),
lives poorly in the same village as Hamo, another works in Russia,
the youngest, Robert, has emigrated to the good life in Paris.

The arrival of the youngest son’s letters sends Hamo to Yerevan
periodically, in hopes the boy is sending money. Salim wrings some
great comedy out of Hamo’s plight. Upon his first return from
Yerevan, his son, then the other men of the village materialize on
his doorstep looking for handouts. None of them believe that there
was no money enclosed, so he has to show them the letter and the
photo of his son happily hugging his French girlfriend.

Money, or the lack of it, nudges the plot forward. The village is
becalmed, stuck in the doldrums of economic transition. The communist
economy has evaporated, and with it the provision of basic
essentials. Consumer capitalism – or rather the jobs that make
consumer capitalism “work” – has yet to arrive. With no visible means
of income aside from sheep-rearing and sales of the local tipple (the
ubiquitous, almond-flavoured “Vodka Lemon”), the locals have been
forced to start selling their meager possessions. The images of
people staggering along desolate roadways lugging pieces of furniture
on their backs would be utterly depressing were they not so absurdly
funny.

Nina is also next to penniless. Her husband, a fighter of some
description, has been dead for a decade, leaving her with a pair of
daughters. One of them has made it safely outside the village. Nina
explains to Hamo that the other daughter, a musician, plays piano in
a hotel but that her only source of income are “tips” from her
“admirers.” As we later see, in post-communist Armenia personal
possessions aren’t the only things people are forced to put a price
on.

When Hamo’s granddaughter becomes pregnant by one of the local men
who’s made good in capitalist Russia, Hamo, his son and the young
man’s father negotiate a marriage. Hamo’s son remarks that his
daughter is no whore, yet we later learn that the fee for the
“marriage contract” – the price of his daughter’s virginity – is
$2,000 and a job for him in Russia. When his son-in-law can’t furnish
the fee, the father-in-law shoots him.

Though he carries a gun and, like so many of the men in the film,
looks a bit of a thug, Hamo’s son isn’t particularly villainous. He’s
just desperate for want of money. The film lingers over the
implication that in circumstances where everything has a price –
which, with greater or lesser degrees of overt violence, are the
circumstances everywhere – human dignity goes out the window. Many a
devastatingly bleak film has worked with this very theme, in fact.
Salim, however, resists the temptation.

This may have something to do with the fact that – if the press is to
be believed – Hinner Salim is relatively new to film. Like Iranian
director Abbas Kiarostami, this native of Iraqi Kurdistan is known as
a poet and painter. It is tempting to compare Salim’s pacing, and his
remarkable use of landscape, with that of Kiarostami, but the
comparison wouldn’t do justice to the subtle emotion and wry humour
that are central to “Vodka Lemon.”

Hamo and Nina strike up a friendship while visiting their respective
graves. When she’s not on the bus one day – she can’t pay the $5 in
accumulated fares she owes the bus driver – Hamo pays her bill,
though he’s been selling his possessions at the open market. Nina
later loses her job at the Vodka Lemon kiosk – the owner complains
that the location’s not making him any money – at the same time that
her daughter loses her meal ticket. Destitute, she calls upon Hamo to
give her a hand, moving her only valued possession – an out-of-tune
piano that her daughter uses to practice.

They move it to the roadside, but Salim lets the couple find another
use for the instrument, one that – if fantastical, in the tradition
of magic realism – reaffirms and reinforces the dignity of his
characters rather than utterly extinguishing it. Though set in
Armenia, Hinner Salim’s film takes his audience on a stroll through a
compact metaphor for the human condition at the beginning of the 21st
century. Remarkably enough, he leaves us smiling.

Hinner Salim’s “Vodka Lemon,” the closing film of Ayam Beirut
Cinemaiyya Film Festival, will screen at Beirut’s Cinema Sofil on
Sunday, 26 September, at 8.30pm

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
September 24, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

FULL SENATE REVERSES ADMINISTRATION
EFFORT TO BREAK MILITARY PARITY AGREEMENT

— Joins House in Restoring Parity in Military Aid
Allocations to Armenia and Azerbaijan

WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian Americans welcomed the adoption by the
Senate, late yesterday evening, of a $19.6 billion fiscal year 2005
foreign aid bill that earmarks at least $75 million in economic aid
for Armenia, provides another $8.75 million in military aid, a $2.5
million appropriation for Nagorno Karabagh, and reverses the
Administration’s efforts to tip the balance of U.S. military aid
toward Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).

“We appreciate the leadership of Senator McConnell and the support
of all of our friends on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee in
constructively addressing the many provisions of the foreign aid
bill that hold special meaning for the Armenian American
community,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “In
particular, we welcome the Senate’s reversal of the ill-advised
effort to break the military aid parity agreement, as well as its
decision to increase the aid level for Armenia beyond the figure in
both the Administration’s and the House’s version of the bill. At
the same time, we regret that the Senate, in failing to include
language similar to the Schiff Amendment, missed an opportunity to
send a clear message to Turkey that the U.S. government will not
tolerate its shameful denial of the Armenian Genocide.”

The restoration of military aid parity by the Senate follows
similar action taken by the House earlier this year. In February
of 2005, the Administration’s budget proposal recommended breaking
the agreement struck between the White House and Congress in late
2001 during discussions over Section 907, to keep military aid to
Armenia and Azerbaijan at equal levels. The White House proposal
would have allocated roughly four times more Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) assistance to Azerbaijan ($8 million) than Armenia
($2 million). The House version of the foreign aid bill set the
FMF figures at $5 million for each country. The Senate bill
adopted last night sets the FMF level for both countries at $8
million, with an additional $750,000 to each country for
International Military Education and Training (IMET).

The Senate version of the foreign aid bill did not include Schiff
Amendment language. This provision, adopted unanimously by voice
vote in the U.S. House this July, restricts the government of
Turkey from using any of the aid it receives from this
appropriation to lobby against the adoption of the Congressional
Genocide Resolution.

The FY 2005 Foreign Operations bill, which was adopted by voice
vote, was $210 million above the House version, and $1.7 billion
below the Administration request. The bill includes $150 million
in emergency funds for Global HIV AIDS and $75 million in emergency
funds for peacekeeping in Sudan. The $75 million hard earmark for
Armenia is $10 million more than the figure approved by the House
and $13 million over the Administration’s $62 million budget
request. By contrast, foreign aid levels to neighboring Caucus
countries include $38 million to Azerbaijan and $100 million for
Georgia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency
Sept 24 2004

Security and stability in Caucasus are very important to Europe

RA Government and UNDP develop joint program on monitoring of
corruption

Trends and directions of development of science and technology in
Armenia and Russia coincide – representative of Russian Academy of
Science

International theater festival `Highfest 2004′ to take place on Oct
2-9 in Yerevan

RA President hands awards and honorary titles to art figures

Newly appointed US Ambassador to Armenia meets with representatives
of American Companies in Armenia

*********************************************************************

SECURITY AND STABILITY IN CAUCASUS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO EUROPE

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. Security and stability in Caucasus are
very important to Europe, Vice Chairman of Parliament Assembly of
West European Union Marco Dzaker stated today at the meeting with RA
Minister of Defense Serge Sargsian. Dzaker said that his mission is
to prepare report on security issues in the region. Sargsian noted
that security issue is one of the most important. `Caucasus is very
sensitive region, namely in the view of international goals. Problem
of Karabakh must be settled by peace by all means’, he added. The
Minister represented three basic principles of Armenian party on
conflict settlement: Nagorno Karabakh cannot no longer be a part of
Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh cannot be in isolation and must have
land border with Armenia and it is necessary to provide guarantees of
security.
Talking about relations with Turkey, he said that `Turkey’s entry in
EU is very profitable to Armenia’. `Diplomatic relations with Turkey
should be established without preconditions’, he added.
Dzaker said that fully supports given point of view and will include
this issue in the report. The parties also discussed issues of fight
against terrorism. L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

RA GOVERNMENT AND UNDP DEVELOP JOINT PROGRAM ON MONITORING OF
CORRUPTION

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. RA Government and UNDP developed joint
program on monitoring of corruption, RA Government press office told
ARKA that this was stated today by the Head of Monitoring Commission
on Anticorruption Strategy, RA President’s Advisor Bagrat Yesayan at
the sitting of RA Council on Fight Against Corruption. Besides, he
said that the group of CE countries represented Armenia a list of
questions, on the base of which, by the end of Oct 2004, the
preliminary works on development of National report on conducted
works in the field of fight against corruption must be prepared.
With this goal, according to Yesayan, working group has been created.
L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

TRENDS AND DIRECTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN
ARMENIA AND RUSSIA COINCIDE – REPRESENTATIVE OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF
SCIENCE

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. Trends and directions of development
of science and technology in Armenia and Russia coincide, RA
Government press office told ARKA that it was stated by the
representative of Russian Academy of Science Gennady Matishov during
the meeting with RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian. Matishov
stressed that coincidence of basic development directions allows both
countries to put realistic goals and productively solve them.
RA PM in his turn stressed the importance of restoration of
scientific links between Armenia and Russia and establishment of new
cooperation, which at the same time will contribute to development of
Armenian-Russia bilateral links. In given aspect Margarian stressed
the importance of the agreement signed in June 2004 in the sphere of
science and technology between Armenian Academy of Science and South
Center of Russian Academy of Science.
Margarian assured in readiness of Armenian Government to provide
assistance to activation of links between science circles of the two
countries and stressed the important role of Armenian-Russia
interstate commission on economic issues. L.D. –0

*********************************************************************

INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL `HIGHFEST 2004′ TO TAKE PLACE ON OCT
2-9 IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. International theater festival
`Highfest 2004′ will take place on Oct 2-9 in Yerevan. According to
the President of the Festival and the Head of Armenian Actors Union
Arthur Gukasian, more than 150 actors from 18 countries as well as 20
troupes from Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Korea, Serbia, Czech
Republic and Romania will take part in the festival. The show of 25
performances is scheduled in the frames of the festival. The basic
goal of the festival is expanding of culture links of Armenia with
other countries, which will contribute to activation and development
of Armenian cultural life and stimulate integration of Armenia in
international culture area. Gukasian also said that producers,
artists and chairmen of international festivals will conduct seminars
and discussions, which would contribute to development of culture
policy and sphere of art-management in Armenia. He also said that
total budget of the festival makes about 15 million AMD.
The festival is organized by Caucasus Fund, Producer Center AlfaEl
and Union of Armenian Actors in assistance with RA Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian. The festival is conducted in Yerevan second time.
L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

RA PRESIDENT HANDS AWARDS AND HONORARY TITLES TO ART FIGURES

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian handed
awards and honorary titles to art figures on occasion of 13th
anniversary of Independence Day of Armenia. After the ceremony the
President congratulated everyone with the awards and noted that the
country has good tradition to hand awards dedicated to Independence
Day. According to Kocharian, `it allows to estimate the role of the
people that made their contribution in strengthening of the state’.
He stressed that only proportional development of all directions –
army, science, culture and art – can lead to development and
stability of the republic. `Every one of us makes contribution in
development of separate spheres and the state in the whole. Thank You
for your activity’, Kocharian said.
Note the President awarded Yeghishe Astsatrian with order of St.
Mesrop Mashtots for serious contribution in development of Armenian
economy, the actress of Abelian Theater Roza Mkhitarian with the
medal of Movses Khorenatsi and Chief Nurse of Kapan Anti Tuberculosis
Clinic Marusya Gukasian with Mkhitar Geratsi Medal.
The title of people’s artist was given to professor of State
Conservatory after Komitas Araksya Davtian, Composer Araik Gevorkian,
Violinist Nikolay Madoev, artists of National Academic Theater after
Sundukian Greta Medjlumian and Harutyun Movsesian.
The title of honorary art figure was given to the sculptor Eduard
Ter-Kazarian and the title of honorary doctor – to Pediatrist Eve
Bajanova.
Captain of Police Haik Galumian was posthumously awarded with order
Battle Cross and Commander of 80925 military base, Colonel Garegin
Gabrielian, the Head of Artillery Mayor-General Vladimir Airapetian
and the Head of Aviation Department of RA Armed Forces Colonel Kadjik
Mnatsakanian were awarded with orders of Vardan Mamikonian. L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

NEWLY APPOINTED US AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES
OF AMERICAN COMPANIES IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. The newly appointed US Ambassador to
Armenia John Evans met today with members of American Chamber of
Commerce in RA and representatives of American business community in
Armenia. According to American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia
(AmCham), the objective of the meeting attended by 45 members of
chamber and members of Economic and Commerce Departments of US
Embassy was the acquaintance of the newly appointed Ambassador with
American companies functioning in Armenia. During the meeting, the
members of Chamber of Commerce presented the business opportunities
and existing obstacles in Armenia. At that, the Head of AmCham Edit
Khatchatryan noted that the American Chamber of Commerce is an
organization which creates opportunities for business cooperation in
Armenia and participation of John Evans in these activities is very
important for the creation of favorable business atmosphere in
Armenia. In his turn, Evans pointed out the special role of the
organization in bringing together the US companies in Armenia
`Establishment of close relations between the Embassy and American
Chamber of Commerce, increase of American investments in Armenia are
our priorities’, added the Ambassador.
According to the regulations of AmCham, the US Ambassador in Armenia
is a member of Directors Board of the Chamber of Commerce, according
to his position. L.V. – 0 –

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Fighting Back: Political activist seeks justice for police brutality
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmenianNow Reporter
Sept 24, 2004
”When they tied my hands behind my back I couldn’t defend myself anymore. I
was begging: ‘Please don’t hit below the belt, I can’t stand the pain
anymore . . .”
Grisha Virabyan describes the day he says he stood up for his rights and
paid a severe price for doing so.
While he was handcuffed, after attacking a policeman who insulted Virabyan’s
family, police punched and kicked 46-year old Virabyan until a testicle
ruptured.Hours after the beating, he was taken to hospital where doctors
removed the damaged testicle.
As a consequence Virabyan has tried, without success, to bring charges
against the Artashat Police Department. He says he was offered money to not
pursue the matter in court. He says the matter is not about money.
In legal documents, police deny any mistreatment of Virabyan. Doctors at the
regional hospital where he was taken, however, say he is by no means the
first detainee brought to them from the jail where he was being held, who
required urgent care.
This is Virabyan’s account of the day he says he fought back “in the name of
the Republic of Armenia”.
Grisha Virabyan is a member of the oppositional party, the Peoples Party of
Armenia.
On April 9, during mass oppositional protests, Virabyan helped organize a
march from Artashat to Yerevan (some 40 kilometers).
Police stopped a first group of marchers by putting up roadblocks – a common
practice during last spring’s opposition movement and during the previous
year’s presidential campaign protests – and sent them back to Artashat.
But a second group headed by Virabyan managed to evade the roadblocks and
reached Yerevan.
Angered by his defiance, police began a search for Virabyan, making daily
visits to his mother’s home in the village of Shahumyan. A fellow
demonstrator warned Virabyan to stay out of Artashat.
But on April 23, and on the assurance of an acquaintance who is a police
officer that he would not be detained, Virabyan returned to meet with
Artashat police, who immediately launched a case against him for failing to
obey police orders.
Virabyan says that, while interrogating Virabyan, the head of the criminal
department, Hovik Movsisyan struck him and said “f*** your mother; f*** your
parents”.
In response, Virabyan grabbed a cellphone re-charger and struck Movsisyan in
the eye (the officer later required stitches).
Another officer, who Virabyan says was Armen Arsenyan, entered the room and,
with Movsisyan, began kicking and beating Virabyan.
“I was on the ground and they were beating me,” he recalls, these five
months later. “I wasn’t responding I just wanted everything to be finished
soon and I lay down in the corner so that they could only hit my back.
“They were hitting and delivering blows directly at my kidneys. Then they
left and another policeman entered and told me to sit down. I stood up to
sit but Armen entered the room and didn’t allow me to sit. He kicked me
below my belt. The pain was terrible and I fell down. I stood up again and
he again kicked me and then for a long time he was kicking me below the
belt.”
Virabyan says Deputy Head of the Police Department of Ararat Region Ashot
Karapetyan squared the cruelest accounts with him.
”As soon as he entered the room he spat at me and hit me below the belt.
After the first blow I gripped the collar of his coat and said: ‘If we meet
in a friendly company you will feel ashamed for what you did’.”
Karapetyan ordered another officer to handcuff Virabyan.
Virabyan begged the policemen to stop the beating because he was in too much
pain.
“You’re faking it,” Karapetyan retorted.
“He began kicking me in the testicles and on my side,” Virabyan says. “His
shoes were sharp-toed. I was trying to crouch so that he couldn’t hit me
there but I couldn’t.”
ArmeniaNow requested an interview with Movsisyan, who refused, saying it was
not appropriate for a policeman to give a media interview. He did confirm
that his eye had been injured.
In his testimonies Ashot Karapetyan denies that Virabyan was hit and he says
that he was only questioned.
”I treated him very gently. I never cursed him or shouted at him,” the
officer wrote.
But another letter to the court contradicts claims that Karapetyan is a
“gentle” investigator.
Araik Vardanyan, an inmate at Nubarashen Prison wrote a letter to the court
stating that he had confessed to crimes that he didn’t commit, merely to
avoid being beaten by Karapetyan and another officer.
“In the winter, those two butchers tried several times to involve me in
accusations by means of beating and other cruelties,” Vardanyan wrote. “They
even drove me to the point that I slit my wrists.”
Natasha Voskanyan, of Sevan, also told ArmeniaNow that she was called as a
witness to Nor Nork police department (where Karapetyan formerly was
assigned) and was slapped several times by Karapetyan and that he burned her
with a cigarette to get her to give testimony as a witness in a murder case.
While Virabyan was being held at the police station, the Prosecutor’s Office
of Artashat was initiating a criminal case based on the fact that policeman
Movsisyan sustained a bodily injury.
Meanwhile, police called for a doctor to give Virabyan a sobriety test.
The head of traffic police, Avetik Harutyunyan, held a device to Virabyan’s
face and told him to blow into it. Virabyan told the officer he was not
drunk.
“Then he suddenly hit my face with his fist and again held out the ampoule.
I repeated I’m not drunk and he hit me again,” Virabyan says. “It was
repeated four times. Finally he turned and was going to leave the room but
he turned back and again punched me in the testicles.”
Doctor Anahit Gasparyan signed a document saying that Vriabyan was under the
influence of alcohol.
But the doctor told ArmeniaNow that she was unsure about the analysis
because the measuring device was old and unreliable.
The color (that indicates the level of alcohol) changed only slightly from
Virabyan’s response. She asked if the device was old. Police said they did
not know. Her assessment of Virabyan’s sobriety was based mainly on the
reaction of his eyes to tests. But, later, when she found out that he’d been
beaten, she says his response was consistent with that of someone who’d
received a blow to the head – and not, necessarily, that of a drunk man.
Only a blood test could correctly determine whether Virabyan was
intoxicated, the doctor says. But adds that she didn’t demand that the
police let her give one because “You cannot impose your rules onto members
of law enforcement . . . It made no difference whether he was drunk or not,
in any case it wouldn’t have any influence on his future.”
Virabyan was jailed. In the evening he began experiencing severe pain.
Gasparyan was called again and, upon seeing Virabyan, ordered that he must
immediately be taken to hospital.
At midnight, surgeon Ruben Liloyan examined Virabyan at the Artashat
hospital and found that he had chest and testicle injuries.
”I was worried about his chest,” Liloyan says, “because it could have been
a threat to his life. Unfortunately, I had no roentgen film and I couldn’t
X-ray him. Using clinical methods we ascertain that there was an ordinary
injury and there was no threat to his life. Concerning his testicle, we
decided to conduct an echogram in the morning. It was blackened and
enlarged. Pain made him moan.”
Virabyan was taken back to the isolation ward. The doctor says he didn’t
insist that Virabyan be kept in hospital, because he thought they would take
Virabyan home.
Liloyan also says he didn’t imagine that Virabyan’s testicle had ruptured
because such injuries are very rare. But: “Unfortunately there was a strong
blow.”
Back at the jail, Virabyan again was overcome with pain and was taken a few
hours later back to the hospital.
Doctor Gagik Hambardzumyan found that Virabyan’s scrotum was filled with
blood and determined that the testicle must be removed.
It was the first time when someone with such an injury was taken to hospital
from police, Hambardzumyan says. However, people with other injuries –
especially to the stomach – are often taken to the hospital from the police
station, the doctor says.
On the day of the operation, Virabyan’s uncle Sashik Virabyan informed
Artashat Prosecutor’s Office about the incident and later wrote an
application to the Prosecutor General of Armenia, to the Chief of Police,
and to the Prime Minister asking that charges be brought against the police.
He received no answer. In contrast, charges were brought against Virabyan on
May 3. He says he was told the charges would be dropped if he would not put
up a defense.
”I was offered money several times and asked not to defend myself,”
Virabyan told ArmeniaNow. “But I rejected their offer as I’m not going to
sell injury inflicted on me for money. I’m going to do everything so that
policemen will be punished.”
An investigation was launched, and on August 30, the Prosecutor’s Office
quashed the case, writing in his decision that Virabyan had suffered enough
physical injury to assuage any guilt for the charges brought against him.
Republic of Armenia Ombudswoman, Larisa Alaverdyan, visited Virabyan while
he was in hospital and twice appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office on his
behalf, calling for an objective investigation.
”If a man entered the police station and he was healthy, and then in the
morning he was operated on, then it means he was subjected to improper and
cruel treatment,” Alaverdyan says.
It was after Alaverdyan’s second letter that the case against Virabyan was
quashed. Now the rights’ attorney wants to see an investigation into the
behavior of police in the case.
”. . . Everything should have been brought to light,” Alaverdyan says.
“However, investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office didn’t pay attention to
everything that concerned Virabyan. Now when the case was quashed the road
is open and Grisha Virabyan can appeal and a new case can be initiated.”
Virabyan’s lawyers have sent numerous applications to the Prosecutor General
and various courts for initiating a case against Artashat police. All have
been denied.
Editor’s note: Through a grant from the World Learning Foundation,
ArmeniaNow reporter Vahan Ishkhanyan is researching a book on recent cases
in which citizens have been arrested in relation to political events. The
cases highlight episodes in which police used force or pressure against
members of oppositional political parties and participants in last spring’s
protests. This is the first in a series of articles resulting from
Ishkhanyan’s research.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Figaro, France
24 septembre 2004

En France, la droite est contre, le PS a quelques réserves;
UNION EUROPÉENNE

– ILS SONT CONTRE L’OUVERTURE DE NÉGOCIATIONS :

L’UMP, en contradiction avec le président de la République, s’est
prononcée contre l’adhésion de la Turquie à l’UE. Le 7 avril,
l’ancien président du parti, Alain Juppé a souhaité, au nom de sa
formation, « qu’on n’engage pas de discussion avec la Turquie à la
fin de l’année ».

L’UDF est opposée à l’adhésion de la Turquie. La semaine dernière,
son président François Bayrou a demandé « que cette décision capitale
pour notre avenir soit précédée d’un débat et d’un vote au Parlement
».

Les souverainistes utiliseront leur hostilité à la candidature turque
pour leur campagne contre la Constitution européenne. Philippe de
Villiers, président du MPF, a dénoncé « la théophobie qui éconduit
Dieu pour faire entrer Allah ».

A l’extrême droite, le président du FN, Jean-Marie Le Pen, estime que
la Turquie « n’est pas un pays européen » pour des raisons «
historiques, géographiques, politiques, morales et religieuses ».
Pour lui, la Turquie est « un pays d’Asie (…) en voie de
réislamisation » .

– ILS Y SONT PLUTÔT FAVORABLES :

Le Parti socialiste s’est déclaré « favorable » à l’ouverture des
négociations avec la Turquie, à condition que celle-ci respecte « les
critères dits de Copenhague, droits de l’homme, statut des personnes
dont les femmes, des minorités, des langues ». Le PS insiste
notamment sur la reconnaissance du génocide arménien. Plus réservé,
le numéro deux du parti, Laurent Fabius, a estimé au printemps qu’il
ne fallait « certainement pas se presser » de faire entrer la Turquie
dans l’UE. Le 9 septembre, il a expliqué que la Turquie avait
vocation à appartenir à « l’Europe associée, qui accueillera les pays
du pourtour oriental et méditerranéen ».

Pour les Verts, l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’UE « est des plus
souhaitables » pour « réduire la fracture entre un monde occidental à
majorité chrétienne et un monde oriental à majorité musulmane ».

A l’extrême gauche, la porte-parole de LO Arlette Laguiller est
favorable à l’adhésion turque : « Les travailleurs turcs sont là
depuis longtemps en Europe. »

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress