Author: Andranik Taslakhchian

Pan Armenian News
YURI MERZLYAKOV: OSCE INTERESTED IN COOPERATION WITH PACE
23.09.2005 04:09
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE Minsk Group and the PACE Subcommittee on Nagorno
Karabakh can cooperate on a number of issues, OSCE MG Russian Co-Chair Yuri
Merzlyakov stated when commenting on the Subcommittee sitting held in Paris
last week. `The OSCE MG Co-Chairs mediate and advance proposals while PACE
can mobilize public opinion in both states for achieving a compromise
essential for the settlement of the conflict. PACE can also encourage the
conflicting parting to honor the commitments to the CoE, one of them being
the resolution of the Karabakh conflict,’ the Russian diplomat said. Yuri
Merzlyakov voiced opinion that the CoE and PACE can take the control over
the ceasefire and urge the states to fulfill the obligations. In his words,
`frequent militaristic statements do not promote the settlement of the
conflict.’ `We are ready to share authority with PACE to prevent statements
of the kind’, he noted adding that the OSCE MG Co-Chairs are concerned over
the increase of the military budget of Armenia and Azerbaijan, since it can
have a negative impact upon the peaceful settlement process, Mediamax
reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE US ADMINISTRATION DISAPPROVES OF THE ADOPTION OF THE GENOCIDE RESOLUTIONS AT THE US CONGRESS
DeFacto News, Armenia
Sept 19 2005
The US State Department official representative Adam Erely stated
the US decision concerning “forced resettlement and murder of 1.5
million Armenians” had not been changed.
Adam Erely noted, “The US policy on the issue has not been changed.
The US President voiced it in his speech made on April 24 having
stated the US grieved about forced resettlement and murder of 1, 5
million Armenians in the last years of the Osman Empire considering
the event to be one of the greatest tragedies in the history of
mankind”. However, he added,”the US administration does not support
voting on the Resolutions at the House of Representatives and we go
on stating it”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WAITING FOR HOUSES
A1+
| 13:03:02 | 19-09-2005 | Regions |
The first phase of the House buying certificate program has finished. 1676
families have been informed about their right to receive a certificate but
only 420 have applied to get a certificate.
230 applications have been investigated. 14 families have received houses
and are waiting for the financing; the others are looking for houses.
Although it is difficult to buy a house today, the number of the applicants
has grown.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COMMENTS OF NKR FOREIGN MINISTER TO `DE-FACTO’
Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 Aug 05
– Mr. Minister, how will you comment the formation of the voting
district by the Central Electoral Commission of the Azerbaijani
Republic for the citizens of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic? – As for
the current agiotage around the formation of voting districts by the
Azerbaijani Central Electoral Commission (CEC) for the population of
territories currently under the sovereignty of the NKR then it is a
serious threat to the possible democratic reforms in AR because this
allows Azerbaijani authorities using at least several hundreds of
thousands virtual voters for their purposes. The same perspective is
evident also in the proposed electronic voting. These steps of the
Azerbaijani CEC indicate that local and international observers will
be deprived of possibilities to effectively supervise the course of
elections in AR. – Doyou consider participation of NKR citizens in
Azerbaijani elections possible? – NKR legislation provides for dual
citizenship and if one day a NKR citizen obtained Azerbaijani
citizenship then the necessity of interstate agreement betweenthe
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Azerbaijani Republic would
arise. This agreement will have to regulate such issues as rights and
responsibilitiesof people with dual citizenship including the
realization of their electoral rights. This is international
practice. For such agreement to be signed, anumber of issues have to
be solved in advance. First of all, it is the recognition of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s sovereignty by the Azerbaijani Republic.
Without this further steps will be impossible. In the second place
Azerbaijani legislation must provide for the right to dual citizenship
and if necessary corresponding changes have to be introduced. In the
aftermath of these steps it will be possible to speak about signing an
interstate agreement on persons with dual or more citizenship. However,
it seems quite problematic that AR will be able to carry out
corresponding actions before the coming parliamentary elections,
though everything depends exclusively on the political will of
Azerbaijani leaders. Any positive steps in this direction will be
welcome.
`DE-FACTO’.
26-08-2005
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SAAKASHVILI AND BURJANADZE RECEIVE RA PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARIAN IN
TBILISI
Azg/arm
26 July 05
Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian President, and Nino Burjanadze,
Chairwoman of Georgian Parliament, received Andranik Margarian, RA
Prime Minister, in Tbilisi. Armenian PM is paying a working visit to
Georgia these days. Mr. Margarian and Mr. Saakashvili discussed
prospects of developing and deepening bilateral relations between our
countries. RA PM made no comments at the meeting withthe
journalists. RA PM also met with Nino Burjanadze, Chairwoman of the
Georgian Parliament. Mrs. Burjanadze stated that RA PM asked that the
government of both countries, as well as the Armenian and the Georgian
churches, finally discuss and settle the issue of the Armenian
churches in the territory of Georgia.
“I definitely want to emphasize that the position of the Armenian
Prime Minister is absolutely correct, right and friendly. I think it
is importantthat the Armenian and the Georgian Churches make a joint
statement so that everybody both in Armenia and Georgia and
Samtskhe-Javakhk realize that by causing a conflict between the
Armenian and the Georgian residents, they fan the fires of our
enemies,” Nino Burjanadze said.
Andranik Margarian said that in two weeks a tobacco plant will open in
Tbilisi. One of the Armenian entrepreneurs invested $4 million in this
business. The row materials will be imported from Armenia.
It’s worth mentioning that RA and Georgian Prime Ministers paid a
joint visit to Samtskhe-Javakhk region and left for Tbilisi on July
24.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian premier, IMF official discuss economic indices, tax reforms
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
21 Jul 05
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan and the deputy director of
the International Monetary Fund [IMF], Augustin Carstens, discussed
cooperation in various spheres today.
The Armenian prime minister thanked the IMF for assisting the
Armenian government in drawing up a poverty reduction programme and
implementing it. The sides also discussed microeconomic indices of
Armenia, existing problems and ways of their solution.
Carstens welcomed the Armenian government’s initiative to carry out
reforms in the spheres of tax and customs. The sides also discussed
fiscal and credit policy of Armenia, issues related to evaluation of
national currency and the development of the financial sector.
Carstens pointed out that the Armenian government had successfully
reacted to the problems related to the rate of national currency by
increasing the volume of the funds brought to the country.
Carstens offered the IMF’s consultative assistance, and the Armenian
prime minister thanked for this.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 5 2005
NEW IRANIAN PRESIDENT FAVORS AZERBAIJAN: AFSHAR SULEYMANI
YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. The newly elected Iranian President Mahmud
Akhmadinejad has a positive attitude to Azerbaijan, and the bilateral
relations will be improved during his presidency, Iranian Ambassador
to Azerbaijan Afshar Suleimani told reporters in Baku. Mahmud
Akhmadinejad has a very favorable attitude to Azerbaijan. When he was
Deputy of Ardebil he paid a visit to Azerbaijan and contributed to
the Azerbaijani-Iranian cooperation in every way, the Ambassador
said. According to him, the new Iranian President played a unique
role in supplying fuel to Nakhichevan. Speaking of the new
president’s attitude to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Suleimani
pointed out that Iran has always supported Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and helped refugees and forcibly displaced persons.
Commenting on Armenian-Iranian relations, the Ambassador said that
his country’s foreign policy is based on the Constitution. He
stressed that special importance is attached to good neighborly
relations. Pointing out that any change in Iran’s position depends on
negotiations, Suleimani added that bilateral and pentalateral
meetings will be continued. Friendly neighboring countries must not
have any problems, he said.
At the same time, Ambassador Suleimani accused those raining the
issue of Southern Azerbaijan of causing serious damage to
Azerbaijan.He said that raising this issue does not meet Azerbaijan’s
interests. He asked what those raising this issue have done for
Azerbaijan’s independence and territorial integrity. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER: THERE IS THE SAME SYSTEM OF VALUES IN KARABAKH AS IN EUROPE
YEREVAN, June 15. /ARKA/. There is the same system of values in
Karabakh as in Europe, Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Minister Armean
Melikyan said in his interview with Armenian Second TV Channel
answering the question about whether NKR intends to join European
integration processes, particularly in the frame of the EU Widened
Neighborhood program. In his opinion, world-vision ground of NKR’s
aspiration to be closer to Europe is obvious. However, it should be
clearly acknowledged that the EU is not a benevolent organization.
“Eurointegration doesn’t mean South Caucasus countries’ membership
in the EU within 10 or 15 years”, the Minister said adding that
Eurointegration-related problems emerged in Europe itself. “I think it
would be better to create preliminary conditions for Eurointegration to
become able to actively participate in the process when time comes”,
Melikyan said in his televised interview. “It is too early to make
optimistic forecasts” he added. M.V. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
REPS. RADANOVICH, SCHIFF, KNOLLENBERG, AND PALLONE
INTRODUCE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION
— Resolution Reaffirms U.S. Record on the Armenian Genocide
WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan group of over 50 U.S. Representatives
joined today with lead sponsors George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam
Schiff (D-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) in introducing the
Armenian Genocide Resolution in the House of Representatives,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We join with Armenian Americans across the United States in
welcoming the introduction today of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution by Congressmen Radanovich, Schiff, Knollenberg, and
Pallone,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We look
forward to working with our Congressional friends, community
partners, and the growing genocide-prevention coalition to build
bipartisan support for this measure and to help secure its timely
adoption by the House of Representatives.”
The resolution enjoys the support of the ANCA, Armenian Assembly,
and the entire Armenian American community. It will be referred
to the House International Relations Committee for consideration.
The Radanovich-Schiff-Knollenberg-Pallone Resolution calls upon the
President “to ensure that the foreign policy of the Untied States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning
issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide
documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian
Genocide.” The resolution includes thirty detailed findings from
past U.S. hearings, resolutions and Presidential statements on the
Armenian Genocide from 1916 through the present, as well as
references to statements by international bodies and organizations.
Upon introduction of the measure, Rep. Radanovich noted that “By
properly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, we recognize this
atrocity and renew our commitment to prevent other occurrences of
man’s inhumanity to man. I am proud to have been a leader in this
community for the past decade as one voice for a people who were
silenced for too long.”
Members of Congress joining Representatives Radanovich, Schiff,
Knollenberg and Pallone as original cosponsors of the resolution
are: Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Charles Bass (R-NH), Howard Berman (D-CA),
Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA),
John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jerry Costello (D-IL),
Joseph Crowley (D-NY), David Dreier (R-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA),
Bob Filner (D-CA) , Mark Foley (R-FL), Barney Frank (D-MA), Scott
Garrett (R-NJ), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) , Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),
Steve Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI),
Mark Kirk (R-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Sander Levin (D-MI),
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim McDermott
(D-WA), James McGovern (D-MA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Michael
McNulty (D-NY), Marty Meehan (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
Candice Miller (R-MI), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Devin Nunes (R-CA),
Mike Rogers (R-MI), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA),
Ed Royce (R-CA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Joe Schwarz (R-MI), E. Clay Shaw
(R-FL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Chris Smith (R-NJ),
Mark Souder (R-IN), John Sweeney (R-NY), Peter Visclosky (D-IN),
Diane Watson (D-CA), and Anthony Weiner (D-NY).
The text of the resolution is similar to one introduced in 1999,
during the 106th Congress, again led by Rep. Radanovich, spearheaded
along with then House Democratic Whip David Bonior (D-MI) and the
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs. That bill secured the
support of over 140 cosponsors and, following extensive hearings,
was overwhelmingly adopted by the House International Relations
Committee by a vote of 24 to 11, and scheduled for a floor vote.
Despite the clear bipartisan support for the measure, it was
withdrawn from the House calendar in October of 2000 by the Speaker
of the House, under heavy pressure from President Clinton.
The text of the resolution follows.
#####
===============================================================
TEXT OF RADANOVICH-SCHIFF-KNOLLENBERG-PALLONE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
================================================== =============
Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide
RESOLUTION
Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the
United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and
genocide documented in the United States record relating to the
Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This resolution may be cited as the “Affirmation of the United
States Record on the Armenian Genocide.”
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The House of Representatives finds the following:
1) The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of
nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and
children were killed, 500,000 survivors were expelled from their
homes, and which succeeded in the elimination of the over 2,500-
year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland.
2) On May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers, England, France, and Russia,
jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first time
ever another government of committing “a crime against humanity.”
3) This joint statement stated “[i]n view of these new crimes of
Turkey against humanity and civilization, the Allied Governments
announce publicly to the Sublime Porte that they will hold
personally responsible for these crimes all members of the Ottoman
Government, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in
such massacres.”
4) The post-World War I Turkish Government indicted the top leaders
involved in the “organization and execution” of the Armenian
Genocide and in the “massacre and destruction of the Armenians.”
5) In a series of courts-martial, officials of the Young Turk
Regime were tried and convicted, as charged, for organizing and
executing massacres against the Armenian people.
6) The chief organizers of the Armenian Genocide, Minister of War
Enver, Minister of the Interior Talaat, and Minister of the Navy
Jemal were all condemned to death for their crimes, however, the
verdicts of the courts were not enforced.
7) The Armenian Genocide and these domestic judicial failures are
documented with overwhelming evidence in the national archives of
Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, the United States,
the Vatican and many other countries, and this vast body of
evidence attests to the same facts, the same events, and the same
consequences.
8) The United States National Archives and Record Administration
holds extensive and thorough documentation on the Armenian
Genocide, especially in its holdings under Record Group 59 of the
United States Department of State, files 867.00 and 867.40, which
are open and widely available to the public and interested
institutions.
9) The Honorable Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led protests by
officials of many countries, among them the allies of the Ottoman
Empire, against the Armenian Genocide.
10) Ambassador Morgenthau explicitly described to the United States
Department of State the policy of the Government of the Ottoman
Empire as “a campaign of race extermination,” and was instructed on
July 16, 1915, by United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing
that the “Department approves your procedure . . . to stop Armenian
persecution.”
11) Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 of February 9, 1916, resolved
that “the President of the United States be respectfully asked to
designate a day on which the citizens of this country may give
expression to their sympathy by contributing funds now being raised
for the relief of the Armenians”, who at the time were enduring
“starvation, disease, and untold suffering.”
12) President Woodrow Wilson concurred and also encouraged the
formation of the organization known as Near East Relief, chartered
by an Act of Congress, which contributed some $116,000,000 from
1915 to 1930 to aid Armenian Genocide survivors, including 132,000
orphans who became foster children of the American people.
13) Senate Resolution 359, dated May 11, 1920, stated in part, “the
testimony adduced at the hearings conducted by the sub-committee of
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have clearly established
the truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities from which
the Armenian people have suffered.”
14) The resolution followed the April 13, 1920, report to the
Senate of the American Military Mission to Armenia led by General
James Harbord, that stated “[m]utilation, violation, torture, and
death have left their haunting memories in a hundred beautiful
Armenian valleys, and the traveler in that region is seldom free
from the evidence of this most colossal crime of all the ages.”
15) As displayed in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Adolf Hitler, on ordering his military commanders to attack Poland
without provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by saying “[w]ho,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” and
thus set the stage for the Holocaust.
16) Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide” in 1944, and who
was the earliest proponent of the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, invoked the Armenian case as
a definitive example of genocide in the 20th century.
17) The first resolution on genocide adopted by the United Nations
at Lemkin’s urging, the December 11, 1946, United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 96(1) and the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide itself recognized the
Armenian Genocide as the type of crime the United Nations intended
to prevent and punish by codifying existing standards.
18) In 1948 the United Nations War Crimes Commission invoked the
Armenian Genocide “precisely . . . one of the types of acts which
the modern term ‘crimes against humanity’ is intended to cover” as
a precedent for the Nuremberg tribunals.
19) The Commission stated that “[t]he provisions of Article 230 of
the Peace Treaty of Sevres were obviously intended to cover, in
conformity with the Allied note of 1915 . . ., offenses which had
been committed on Turkish territory against persons of Turkish
citizenship, though of Armenian or Greek race. This article
constitutes therefore a precedent for Article 6c and 5c of the
Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters, and offers an example of one of the
categories of ‘crimes against humanity’ as understood by these
enactments.”
20) House Joint Resolution 148, adopted on April 8, 1975, resolved:
“[t]hat April 24, 1975 is hereby designated as ‘National Day of
Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, and the President of the
United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation
calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as
a day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially
those of Armenian ancestry. . . .”
21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated
April 22, 1981, stated in part “like the genocide of the Armenians
before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it–
and like too many other persecutions of too many other people–the
lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.”
22) House Joint Resolution 247, adopted on September 10, 1984,
resolved: “[t]hat April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as ‘National
Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, and the President
of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a
proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to
observe such day as a day of remembrance for all the victims of
genocide, especially the one and one-half million people of
Armenian ancestry . . . .”
23) In August 1985, after extensive study and deliberation, the
United Nations SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities voted 14 to 1 to accept a report entitled
“Study of the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide,” which stated “[t]he Nazi aberration has
unfortunately not been the only case of genocide in the twentieth
century. Among other examples which can be cited as qualifying are
. . the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915-1916.”.
24) This report also explained that “[a]t least 1 million, and
possibly well over half of the Armenian population, are reliably
estimated to have been killed or death marched by independent
authorities and eye-witnesses. This is corroborated by reports in
United States, German and British archives and of contemporary
diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, including those of its ally
Germany.”
25) The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent
Federal agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would include the Armenian
Genocide in the Museum and has since done so.
26) Reviewing an aberrant 1982 expression (later retracted) by the
United States Department of State asserting that the facts of the
Armenian Genocide may be ambiguous, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1993, after a review of
documents pertaining to the policy record of the United States,
noted that the assertion on ambiguity in the United States record
about the Armenian Genocide “contradicted longstanding United
States policy and was eventually retracted.”
27) On June 5, 1996, the House adopted an amendment to the Fiscal
Year 1997 Foreign Operations Appropriation Act to reduce aid to
Turkey by $3 million (an estimate of its payment of lobbying fees
in the U.S.) until the Turkish government acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide and took steps to honor the memory of its victims.
28) President William Jefferson Clinton, on April 24, 1998, stated
in part “This year, as in the past, we join with Armenian-Americans
throughout the nation in commemorating one of the saddest chapters
in the history of this century, the deportations and massacres of a
million and a half Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the years
1915-1923.”
29) President George W. Bush, on April 24, 2004 stated in part “On
this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible
tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5
million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the
Ottoman Empire.”
30) Despite the international recognition and affirmation of the
Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and international
authorities to punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide
is a reason why similar genocides have recurred and may recur in
the future, and that a just resolution will help prevent future
genocides.
SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.
The House of Representatives –
1) Calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects appropriate understanding and
sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record
relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the
failure to realize a just resolution;
2) Calls upon the President in the President’s annual message
commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24 to
accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation
of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history
of United States intervention in opposition to the Armenian
Genocide.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
18:32:28 | 13-06-2005 | Official |
FALL IN THE DEFENSE MINISTRY
Serge Sargsyan, Defense Minister and secretary of the Security Service
attached to the RA President, received the delegation of Sir Brian
Fall, United Kingdom Representative to the South Caucasus.
Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Armenia Ms. Torda Ebbot Watt
also took part in the meeting.
At Mr. Fall’s request Minister Serge Sargsyan represented the details
of the latest visit to Brussels. Referring to several meetings in
Brussels, the Minister mentioned the private conversation with the
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
The sides also referred to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress