Author: Andres-Papazian

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email. [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
April 21, 2011

Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian (ANCA)
[email protected] / (202) 775-1918

BRYZA DENIED ACCESS TO DESTROYED DJULFA CEMETERY

— ANCA: Ambassador Bryza’s Effort “Far too Little, Five Years too
Late”

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Embassy in Baku has reported that a
recent attempt by U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matt Bryza to visit
the ruins of the 1,300 year old Armenian Cemetery in Djulfa,
Nakhichevan was blocked by the same Azerbaijani Government which
orchestrated its desecration some five years ago of this Armenian
cultural and religious site

“Ambassador Bryza’s done far too little, five years too late,” said
Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA), in response to the U.S. Embassy’s
report on his failed bid to honor his commitment to the U.S. Senate
that he would visit the remains of the 7th Century Armenian
religious cemetery, which included thousands of intricate stone-
cross gravestones, known as khatchkars.

“As Deputy Assistant Secretary in 2006, Matt Bryza, despite direct
appeals for his intervention, waited three long months to make his
first public statement regarding Azerbaijan’s video-taped act of
cultural desecration, and even then only in response to a
reporter’s inquiry at a Yerevan press conference. As a nominee for
the post of Ambassador to Azerbaijan, he chose not to raise this
hateful act of intolerance in his prepared testimony to the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, and only after repeated questioning by
Senators, pledged to visit this sacred site. As Ambassador, he
waited another three months to attempt to keep this commitment,
only to allow himself to be turned away by the very perpetrators
who so brazenly demolished these historic stone-cross gravestones.”

News of the Azerbaijani government’s refusal to allow Bryza access
to the historic Armenian cemetery in Djulfa was revealed in a press
release by the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, which neither explained
why the American Ambassador was denied entry, nor, what the U.S.
response will be to this most recent example of the Azerbaijani
government’s stonewalling. Despite the real-time video of the
cemetery’s destruction, detailed satellite imaging confirming the
results of its demolition, and the widespread international
condemnation of this assault on world heritage, the release only
states that the Armenian khatchkars were “reportedly destroyed.”

In the release, Amb. Bryza is quoted as stating, in generic terms,
that “the desecration of cultural sites – especially a cemetery –
is a tragedy, which we deplore, regardless of where it happens.”
He added that: “The United States continues to call on all parties
to respect such sites and collaborate on their preservation,” but
fell short of specifically condemning the Azerbaijani authorities
for either their systematic desecration or their refusal of access
to this cultural site.

Ambassador Bryza’s reluctance to speak out forcefully on the
destruction of the Djulfa cemetery in 2005, was the topic of
repeated questions by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Robert
Menendez (D-NJ) during his 2010 confirmation hearing. During this
confirmation process, he did not commit to investigating the
demolition, although he was asked to do so by Senator Boxer.
Instead, he only stated that he would “visit Djulfa” and publicly
and privately stress the importance of “safeguard[ing] Armenian
religious and cultural sites in Azerbaijan.” In response to Senator
Menendez’s follow up question, Mr. Bryza pointed to his visits to
Armenian cultural sites in Nagorno Karabagh, which have not been at
risk, as proof that he takes protecting cultural sites seriously.

In December, 2010, President Obama sidestepped Senate concerns and
dual “holds” by Senators Boxer and Menendez and sent Ambassador
Bryza to Azerbaijan through a recess appointment, which requires
Senate approval for him to continue in his position past December,
2011. The Senate has yet to schedule a vote on his nomination.

To learn more about the destruction of the 1,300-year-old historic
Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, watch the independent film “The New
Tears of Araxes” at

To view a timeline of the U.S. and international response to the
destruction of Djulfa, visit:

To learn more about the ANCA’s opposition to the nomination of
Matthew Bryza as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, visit:

#####

From: A. Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

COMMEMORATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE TEN MAIDENS IN ANTELIAS

On Great and Holy Tuesday during the evening service, the Armenian Orthodox
Church commemorated the parable of the Ten Maidens in Antelias. After
prayers and hymns on the theme, reminding the faithful to be prepared for
the Day of Judgment, the priest read the parable (Mathew 25:14-30). As is
the tradition, during the Gospel reading, ten young girls presented
themselves in front of the Altar holding candles; the five ‘wise’ women were
prepared to wait for the ‘bridegroom’ with their candles until he arrived,
while the other five ‘foolish’ women were unprepared.

After the service, His Holiness Aram I received the ten young women, and
encouraged them to continue to safeguard their faith through the teachings
of the Armenian church. At the end he blessed them and gave them symbolic
gifts.
##
View the photos here:

*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

From: A. Papazian

Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
T +995 32 75 19 03/04
F +995 32 75 19 05
[email protected]

MATRA Call for Proposals 2011 Opened – Deadline May 9, 13:00h

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Georgia and Armenia
announces a call for proposals under its MATRA 2011 programme.

The general objective of Matra is to contribute to the development of a
pluralistic democracy, grounded on the rule of law with room for dialogue
between government and civil society; and to build capacity and strengthen
the institutions of civil society and government. This is achieved by
supporting interventions of local NGO’s or local government capable of
bringing positive change into the priority areas identified per each Matra
country. Such change should affect civic organization, institutions and
social relations.

Eligibility

The program is open for Armenian and Georgian NGO’s and local governments.

Following are the qualifying themes for MATRA 2011 (different per country):

Georgia: (i) Human Rights/Media; and (ii) Environment

Armenia: (i) Human Rights/Media; and (ii) Welfare

Duration

Proposed projects can have the implementation period of:

(i) up to 12 months; or

(ii) from 12 months up to 24 months.

The duration of the project defines the budget that the project is eligible
for.

Budget

The maximum budget for a project with the duration of up to 12 months is
25,000 EUR for projects by Armenian NGO’s, and 59,800 GEL for projects by
Georgian NGO’s.

The maximum budget for a project with the duration from 12 months up to 24
months is 50,000 EUR for projects by Armenian NGO’s, and 119,600 GEL for
projects by Georgian NGO’s.

Deadline

The appraisal process will be organised in two stages. In first instance,
applicants will be invited to submit short project outlines, on the basis of
which a number of organisations will be shortlisted. These will be invited
to submit their project in more detail (for which a separate format will be
provided). Final grantees will be selected from these shortlisted
applications.

The deadline for the first stage application is 9 May, 13:00 hrs. Timelines
for the next stage will be communicated later.

Further Information

For full information about the program, guidelines, application procedure
and forms please refer to the MATRA section of the Netherlands Embassy
website:

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

APRIL 15-21, 2011

HIGHLIGHTS:

“E-CLUB” CYCLE: INTERNET AND SCIENCE

COURT OF CASSATION REVOKED THE COMPLAINT OF “INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS”

RA CHAMBER OF ADVOCATES COUNCIL APPROVED THE ORDER FOR DETERMINING
ATTORNEYS’ FEES IN DEFAMATION CASES

PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTED THE LACKS OF ARMENIAN BROADCAST SPHERE

“E-CLUB” CYCLE: INTERNET AND SCIENCE

On April 19 another program from “E-Club” weekly cycle went on the online
broadcast of “A1+” TV company (). The “E-Club” is produced by
Yerevan Press Club in cooperation with “A1+” TV company under “Alternative
Resources in Media” project, supported by USAID.

The information and education blocs, particularly, dealt with the
opportunities of 3D Internet, the new portal One of the
plots regarded the technical equipment of the Byurakan Astrophysical
Observatory, including with IT technologies. The guests of the discussion
part of “E-Club” – Khachik Gevorgian, founder of the online educational
network “Armacad”, and Daniel Ioannisian, postgraduate student of the
Physics Faculty of Yerevan State University, considered the use of Internet
resources in science.

The next “E-Club” will be aired on “A1+” on April 26.

COURT OF CASSATION REVOKED THE COMPLAINT OF “INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS”

On April 18 “Investigative Journalists” NGO received a notification
informing that RA Court of Cassation has revoked its complaint on the case
with Ijevan Municipality (Tavush region). As it has been reported, the
reason for about a three-year litigation became the articles “Whose Pocket
Receives Money from Sand Mine?” and “Will the Three Commissions Notice the
Illegal Use of Sand?”. The pieces were published in “Hetq” online
publication, founded by “Investigative Journalists”, on May 5 and June 23,
2008, and in the supplement to “Azg” daily, “Transparent Local
Self-Government”, on May 20 and July 9, 2008, respectively. The information
reflected in the articles discredited the honor, dignity and business
reputation of Ijevan Mayor Varuzhan Nersisian – as seen by the city
administration. Passing through several court hearings (see details in
Yerevan Press Club Reports “On Freedom of Speech in Armenia” for 2008 and
2009 on in “Media Reports” section), the case was reconsidered by
the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative
districts of Yerevan. On July 9, 2010 the court bound the “Investigative
Journalists” to refute the information and to compensate the expenses of 930
thousand AMD (about $ 2,500) made for the attorney services, as well as to
pay the state duty for filling the court by Ijevan municipality.
“Investigative Journalists” contested this decision at the RA Civil Court of
Appeal. On December 27, 2010 the Court of second jurisdiction partially
secured the appeal of the plaintiff, reducing the amount to be compensated
to 450 thousand AMD (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, January 10-20, 2011). The
NGO had contested the decision of the Civil Court of Appeal at the Court of
Cassation. The latter did not take the complaint into consideration.

The “Investigative Journalists” informed YPC about their intention to
address the European Court of Human Rights.

RA CHAMBER OF ADVOCATES COUNCIL APPROVED THE ORDER FOR DETERMINING
ATTORNEYS’ FEES IN DEFAMATION CASES

On April 15 the Council of RA Chamber of Advocates approved the Order for
determining reasonable fees for attorney services in the cases regarding
compensation of damage caused to the honor, dignity and business reputation.
The provisions of the RA Civil Procedure and Administrative Procedure Codes,
providing for “reasonable attorneys’ fees” and “reasonable rates of court
expenses” (including attorney services), respectively, served ground for
developing this document. The legislation authorizes the courts to define
reasonable rates of attorneys’ fees. Since the Civil Code was supplemented
by Article 1087.1 (“Order and Conditions of Compensation of Damage to the
Honor, Dignity or Business Reputation”), in addition to the compensation
foreseen by the law, the lawsuits versus media contain demands for paying
off the attorney services, “which make in the average 2 million AMD in
cases being considered nowadays” (about $ 5,400), emphasized the Chamber’s
Council. The document authors expressed a concern that in case of excessive
claims by the plaintiffs, the court decisions, which are not pursuant to the
reasonable rates of attorneys’ fees, can be incommensurate to the financial
situation of media.

The Order for determining reasonable fees for attorney services sets maximum
rates: 200,000 AMD – in cases on protecting the honor and/or dignity, and
300,000 AMD – in cases on protecting the business reputation, damaged by
libel and/or defamation. At the same time, even if the suit contains all the
three demands (protection of the honor, dignity and business reputation) or
also others, the maximum amount should not exceed 300,000 AMD. While
considering the cases by the upper jurisdictions, the abovementioned rates
are applied by a factor of 0.8. Besides, the Chamber’s Council specified
that the Order does not curtail the freedom of attorneys when concluding
contracts with their clients and setting their conditions. In its turn, the
court may not take into account the contracts that stipulate large amounts.

The Chamber’s Council stressed that the approved document has a
supplementary nature and is destined only for judges, entitled to define the
limits for attorneys’ fees, as mentioned above.

As the Chamber of Advocates informed YPC, the Order was presented to the RA
Judicial Department for considering its applicability in the judicial
practice.

PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTED THE LACKS OF ARMENIAN BROADCAST SPHERE

On April 14 the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe passed the report (co-rapporteurs – John Prescott and Axel
Fischer) on honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia. The document
was developed on the fact-finding visit of the co-rapporteurs to Yerevan on
March 16-17, 2011.

Two provisions of the Monitoring Committee report regard the broadcast
sphere.

Point 22 notes that the bid of “A1+” TV company, participating in the
digital broadcast licensing competitions, was – once again – rejected. While
not wishing to comment on the merits of the respective decision of the
National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR), especially since it is
still sub judice, the co-rapporteurs stressed that “the pluralism criterion
has not been sufficiently taken into account by the licensing authority when
making its decision”. As a result, the tendering process did not lead to a
more pluralist media environment, which was one of the PACE recommendations.
“This matter should be urgently addressed by the authorities”, the report
stresses.

Point 23 emphasizes that one of the key problems with regard to the
broadcast regulatory and licensing framework is the composition of the
National Commission on Television and Radio. While the recently amended
legislation strives to ensure the independence of the individual members, it
does not require that the NCTR in its entirety is truly representative or
reflects the different views that exist in the Armenian society. It is clear
that the current formula for the composition of the NCTR – 50% nominated by
the President of the Republic and 50% by the parliament (in which the ruling
coalition has a comfortable majority) – does not lead to a heterogeneous and
impartial composition from a political point of view. “This shortcoming
should be remedied”, the report of the PACE Monitoring Committee mentions.

The report on honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia will be
presented to the PACE September session.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

From: A. Papazian

SITUATION AT FUKUSHIMA NOT TO AFFECT ARMENIA’S ENERGY POLICY

news.am
April 20 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenian authorities do not intend to give up their energy
programs. The situation at Japan’s nuclear power plant will not affect
Armenia’s energy policy, Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory
Commission Ashot Martirosyan told reporters on Wednesday.

“The program aims at building a new nuclear unit of the Armenian
nuclear station,” Martirosyan noted.

The construction of a new power unit that will cost over $4bn is
planned to start in 2012.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, on April 27-28, Armenia
will host an international conference on construction of a new nuclear
power unit. The conference aims to discuss and determine the sources
of investments.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA LOST MUCH BY DELAYING KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION – EXPERT

news.az
April 20 2011
Azerbaijan

Expert Rasim Musabeyov has commented on Armenian ex-President Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s remarks he has made in an interview with BBC Russian
service.

Musabeyov, also non-partisan member of the Azerbaijani Parliament,
the Milli Majlis, said Armenian ex-president was right when he noted
that Nagorno-Karabakh parties were closest to the full resolution of
the problem back in1997.

In his interview, Petrosyan said “the problem could be solved by giving
some territory to Azerbaijan. A truce could be concluded creating an
interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh in order to determine the final
status of Karabakh later.”

He said the plan failed as “Karabakh people demonstrated the maximalist
approach, and decided that this is not enough and they can still wait
and get more.”

“And this is not only about Karabakh people. There were people in
Yerevan, in my inner circles who were thinking the same way and refused
to accept the plan,” Petrosyan underscored. “I said at that time:
once you believe that there is a better solution, I can’t undermine
it. Give it a try. Maybe it will work.”

Musabeyov said the Karabakh clan and field commanders did not allow
Ter-Petrosyan to conclude a truce in 1997.

“Today many factors prove that an option to drag out Karabakh conflict
resolution was a mistake for Armenia. First and foremost, more 500,000
Armenians have left Armenia over the last 12 years. Secondly, several
huge regional energy transit projects which could enrich the country
and its people have bypassed Armenia,” Musabeyov added.

“As a result, the Karabakh clan emerged winners while Armenian
population was losers. “Karabakh thugs” seized themost important
posts in Armenia and became billionaires by delaying the resolution
of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“So that the Karabakh clan does not care that the people of Armenia
are poor, and Armenia is deprived of a development. The main thing
for Karabakh people is to secure comfortable life and power for
themselves.”

“But in the end, all this is bound to impact them. After all, Armenia
is in deplorable state: no development, no prospects, the people are
leaving the country with the country heading towards abyss.”

“Anyway, sooner or later, Armenia will be obliged to agree to resolve
the conflict, but even now it will not get those favorableconditions
of 1997. It has wasted 12 years of socio-economic development,”
he expert noted.

“As a result, Armenia lost in terms of development and failed to
influence the position of Azerbaijan and the international community
on the Karabakh conflict. After all, today there is a package of
proposals at the negotiating table, not much different from what it
was in 1997, which means that Armenia has gained nothing by delaying
the resolution of the conflict,” Musabeyov said.

From: A. Papazian

KUMAS: DON’T CALL IT ‘GENOCIDE’

Milford Daily News

April 20 2011

NEWTON – President Obama – please do not use the term “genocide”
on April 24

As a Turkic-American, me and my family urge to resist and oppose
the requests for a presidential proclamation to designate April 24
as some “Armenian genocide” day. We ask Mr. President to not use
“genocide” or its Armenian language equivalent “Mets Yeghern” in the
April 24 proclamation. Unlike many other tragedies and massacres,
the Armenian allegations of genocide are hotly contested and have
been rejected by U.S. federal courts, as well as never accepted by
the UN courts (the only authority on designating a historic event as
“genocide”). Hence, we should not allow our state and our nation,
as well as strategic U.S. allies such as Turkey, to become pawns in
the hands of the Armenian propaganda and its high-priced lobbyists.

Moreover, in that tragic period of history, thousands of Turks and
other Muslims have violently died in the hands of Armenian military.

Indeed, according to Ottoman archives, some 523,000 Turks were
massacred by Armenian military in the period 1910-1922. Unfortunately,
massacres of Turks and the suffering by Turks and other Muslims of the
region are not well known and never acknowledged in any proclamation.

The Turkic-Americans are almost one million people, who also have
hopes of change of such one-sided attitude toward the suffering of
their ancestors. Thank you for keeping our concerns in your mind.

From: A. Papazian

DOCUMENTS ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO APPEAR ON INTERNET BY 2015

news.am
April 20 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Reliable documents indicating the Armenian Genocide took
place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 are preserved in the Armenian
National Archive, archive’s director Amatuni Virabyan told the
journalists on Wednesday.

The documents record stories of 10,000 eyewitnesses of the bloody
events in the Ottoman Empire dating to 1914-1915. There are also
stories of the eyewitnesses recorded in 1916 describing events in
700 villages of Western Armenia.

Virabyan said the archive will publish three volumes in 2015 based on
these records. Each book will tell about the fate of residents of Van,
Bitlis and Erzrum regions.

It will be published in Armenian, English, German, French and Russian
languages.

Besides there are 2000 documents recorded based on the reports of
the Russian soldiers and Armenian volunteers. Digital copies of the
documents will appear on the Internet by 2015.

The lists of Armenian Genocide victims will be drawn up as well.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIA AND ARMENIA COOPERATING THROUGH IRAN

The Messenger
April 20 2011
Georgia

Trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in 2010 amounted to USD 870
mln. There are more than 1400 enterprises operating with the Russian
capital inside Armenia. Both countries are focused on regional
cooperation for developing small and medium size businesses. The
representatives of those two countries are concerned because of the
fact that there is no direct border between the two countries and
they have to operate through a third country. Armenian and Russian
officials are considering the option of establishing links between
the two countries via Iran and the Caspian Sea.

From: A. Papazian

GEORGIA’S DECISION NOT TO AFFECT COMBAT READINESS OF ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES

news.am
April 20 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Georgian Parliament’s decision will not affect the combat
readiness of the Armenian armed forces, Spokesman for Armenian MOD
David Karapetyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He commented on the question whether Georgian parliament’s decision
to terminate the agreement with Russia on transit of military cargo
will affect Armenian armed forces’ combat readiness.

“I will decline comments on Georgian parliament’s decision. As
regards the supply of military cargo, I would like to mention that
this decision will not affect Armenia’s security and armed forces’
combat efficiency in any way,” he emphasized.

On Tuesday, Parliament of Georgia unanimously adopted the government’s
proposal to terminate a five-year agreement on transit of Russian
military personnel and cargo to Armenia through Georgia. The transit
agreement was signed in March 2006 and will expire in November 2011.

From: A. Papazian