Author: Andres-Papazian

ONDEROGLU: JUDICIAL PRESSURE EQUALS PRESSURE ON PRESS AND RESEARCH

BIAnet.org
May 31 2010
Turkey

Social Science Students of the Platform ‘We are still Witnesses’
organized a panel discussion on governing mechanisms of the political
power over oppositional movements. The discussion was also an
expression of solidarity for rights activist Pınar Selek.

Cicek TAHAOÄ~^LU Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center31 May 2010, Monday Methods
of how the governing mechanisms deal with opposition and the relation
between science and activism were discussed in the panel discussion
“Information and Power 3”. The event was organized at the Bosporus
University in Istanbul by Social Science Students of the Platform
‘We are still witnesses’.

The discussion was based on the case of rights activist Pınar Selek.

Selek is accused of the bombing of the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul
in 1998. She had been acquitted twice before the Court of Appeals
requested her prosecution and life sentence in April 2009.

“Journalists should be well aware of the angle between power and
freedom of thought” “The three legs of Power: Law, Media, Politics” was
the topic of the first session which was lead by Karin KarakaÅ~_lı,
a Turkish writer with Armenian origins.

bianet editor Erol Onderoglu referred in his speech to the journalistic
approach towards lawsuits. Onderoglu emphasized the crucial relations
between researchers and journalists. He pointed out that judicial
pressure in political cases at the same time means pressure on sources
for the media and research. Onderoglu added, “The professional press
organizations do not provide journalists with ethic codes for the
media. Journalists reporting on political cases should know the legal
concepts and they should very well know the angle between political
power and freedom of thought”.

Relations between law, politics and justice Activist Yasemin Oz,
lawyer of the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity
Association (Kaos GL) and of the Armagi Women Acadamy, talked about the
concept of law: “Law is not solely a way to establish justice, it is an
ideological system used by the political power to reach their aims. We
are all part of that power. We even foster the power at the points
where we are opposing it. When we know how we became a part of that
process, we must also know how to establish a transforming opposition”.

Sociologist Nazlı Okten furthermore talked on the theory of social
contract. Faculty member Zeynep Direk gave a speech in the second
session on “Science and Activism”. (CT/VK)

From: A. Papazian

SEMINAR ON ARMENIAN, JEWISH NATIONS LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN

Aysor
May 31 2010
Armenia

A seminar-discussion entitled “Armenians and Jews: transformation of
the historical perceptions” was kicked off in Yerevan Monday. The event
is organised within the framework of the Paideia Project Incubator
program designed in Stockholm in August of 2009 and is taking place
in the Department of Arabic Studies of the Yerevan State University
from May 31 to June 5.

The aim of the seminar is to give participants an overview of Jewish
culture and history and to compare and reveal the similarities between
the Jewish and the Armenian experiences.

The seminar program includes series of lectures on parallels between
Armenian and Jewish destinies, historical memory and cultural ties
between the two nations.

Included in the event’s program are a film about the present-day
problems of the Jewish people, their traditions, holidays and national
festivals.

From: A. Papazian

$200 MILLION SPENT ON CIGARETTES EVERY YEAR, SAYS SOCIOLOGIST

Aysor
May 31 2010
Armenia

28 percent of adults, in particular, 55% of men and 1-2% of women,
are smokers in Armenia, told media in the press conference on Monday
director of the Sociometer Center, Agaron Adibekian. He said that
nearly 37,5% of tobacco products are importing into Armenia, and
nearly 62,5% of tobacco is producing in Armenia, with total annual
turnover of $200 million.

“Tobacco makes people more tolerant of others; smoking can remove
social stresses. So when a person is told of stop smoking he should
first think of other recourses to compensate the lack of nicotine,”
said Agaron Adibekian pointing at the blunting effects of nicotine.

A survey was conducted in 1986-1987s that showed that 70% of the
3,000 cancer patients were smokers while 60% of all smokers were men
those years.

According to Adibekian, Armenia has low smoking rates among the CIS
countries; the largest number of smokers is in China – there are 300
million smokers there; number of smokers all around the world is more
than 2 billion people.

“If one spends $300 per year on cigarettes, then you just count
how much money people have been spending. That is the industry,”
said sociologist.

Agaron Adibekian presented the “no smoking” campaigns and events
that were held in the Armenian schools by the ADRA international
organisations (Adventist Development and Relief Agency). The students
were told of the danger of smoking and were instructed to watch the
parents to make sure that they didn’t smoke.

It’s worth mentioning that today marks the World No Tobacco Day
designed to increase awareness of the danger of smoking among people
and especially children and teenagers.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN EXPERT: THERE IS TREND THAT ARMENIA’S INTERESTS WILL BE SACRIFICED

Today

May 31 2010
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with Director of the Russia-based Institute of
Political Sociology Vyacheslav Smirnov.

How do you assess the current level of rapprochement between Turkey
and Russia?

Today, Russia wants to become some sort of a bridge between the West
in the face of US and Europe and East in the face of the Muslim world
and South-East Asia. It strives to be some sort of a third force in
conflicts and contradictions, for example in a contradiction between
Israel and Muslim countries. This is because Russia is a multinational
and multi-xenophobia county and that Russia has normal relations
with the Muslim world. Turkey is Russia’s key ally and partner in the
Muslim world. Moreover, Russia has always enjoyed at least positive
economic relations with Turkey.

The same can be said about Azerbaijan, too. Azerbaijanis are
fraternal nation for us who has lived in the same state with Russia
for many years. We do not have any acute differences. We have never
had territorial or economic differences. There is large economic
diaspora of Azerbaijan in Moscow and St. Petersburg. So, there are
many points of rapprochement.

Today, Armenia has a one support, which is its diaspora. The fact that
Armenia is a Christian state also plays a role to a certain degree.

But the country is largely isolated in the geopolitical area. Given
this factor and also developing ties between Moscow, Ankara and Baku,
there is certain trend that Armenia’s interests will be sacrificed for
the geopolitical interests of the U.S., Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In your opinion, what role have the United States played in the South
Caucasus as of late?

The United States has big problems with the Muslim world which sees it
as both economic and cultural aggressor. Despite the fact that Russia
has some problems with Wahhabis in the North Caucasus, our policy that
we do not oppose the Muslim world because, by and large, we are part of
this world. However, the United States with its economic and cultural
hegemony tries to instill its culture in the guise of democracy to
countries that do not want it and are not ready to face big problems.

The Russian government wants to devote all its energy to establishing
close contacts with Asian countries, particularly Muslim states.

Again, this is an attempt to become the third force between the West
and the countries of Southeast Asia and the Muslim world, who live
in its traditional cultural community. In this respect, Turkey and
Azerbaijan are the most the closest allies of Russia, because we have
a largely common mentality. Once Russia finds a common language with
Turkey and Azerbaijan, Russia has a chance to find a common language
with other Muslim countries.

Unlike Azerbaijan, Armenia has not yet voiced its response on the
updated Madrid principles. In your opinion, how long will Yerevan
delay the response? What will be Yerevan’s response?

In this case, the decision does not depend on Armenia and Armenian
people, but on the so-called Karabakh clan which is currently holding
power in Armenia. If today the Minister of Defence of Armenia is a
man like Seyran Ohanian, how can one expect that Armenia will return
something? That is, it all depends on what benefits it will give to
this clan. And this concerns not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but also other
similar entities. To be honest, the history has not witnessed cases
when part of a country’s territory that once gone out of control then
peacefully returned to a country’s control.

Not only Azerbaijan, but also the UN, PACE MPs and Moscow strongly
condemned the so-called May 23 “parliamentary elections” in
Nagorno-Karabakh…

I don’t think Moscow reacted harshly. It just did not approve this
“election”. And this is because Russia is interested in developing
relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. So today, it is tactically,
strategically, geopolitically advantageous to Moscow to have a position
closer to that of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

But Kremlin will not take a clear position any time soon because it
is a matter of bargaining for any politician.

From: A. Papazian

GM GEVORG HARUTYUNIAN SEEDS THE 13TH OUT OF 249 AT OPEN CHESS

Aysor
May 31 2010
Armenia

Armenia’s Grand Master Gevorg Harutyunian has scored 8 points out
of 11 and became the 13th chess player out of 249 participants of
the Open Chess Championship taking place in India’s Bhubaneshwar,
the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Orissa.

Gevorg Harutyunian is half a point behind the tournament’s leaders
GMs Kravtsov from Ukraine, Tourov, Dreev and Aleksandrov from Russia,
and IM Abdihan from India.

Hrayr Simonian scored 7,5 points, Sergey Kasparov from Belarus earned
7 points, and Tatiana Kasparova scored 5,5 points, a spokesperson to
the Armenian Chess Federation said.

From: A. Papazian

ERDOGAN CANCELS ARGENTINA TRIP DUE TO ARMENIAN INTERFERENCE

All Headline News

May 31 2010

America, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled a
scheduled two-day visit to Argentina May 30 to 31.

Turkish foreign ministry officials said Erdogan was was supposed to
attend the inauguration in Buenos Aires of a monument to the founder
of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

But, city officials called off the event due to “hostile” interference
from Armenian pressure groups.

Turkey and Armenia are still in dispute over the 1915 massacre of
Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.

Ankara has adamantly refused to recognize the mass killing as genocide
despite the fact that 42 countries, including Argentina, have done so.

The Turkish foreign ministry said, “Argentine authorities are expected
to take necessary steps to remove the shadow cast on relations between
Turkey and Argentina after the wrong decision made by autonomous
Buenos Aires administration.”

The ministry added that from Brazil, Erdogan is proceeding to Chile.

From: A. Papazian

HAKOBYAN AND KHACHIKYAN ARE IN THE NUMBER OF THE LEADERS

Aysor
May 31 2010
Armenia

In the open of the Chicago, the USA the Armenian chess players
Varuzhan Hakobyan and Melikset Khachiyan have taken victory in the
starting 3 rounds and share the 1-6th places with Naer (Russia),
Garev (Uzbekistan), Sgtochek (Zech) and Sedlak (Serbia).

149 chess players partake in this tournament.

From: A. Papazian

CHARLES AZNAVOUR UNVEILS KHACHKAR IN VERSAILLES
By Jean Eckian

31.05.10 | 14:57

Feature photo

Beloved international crooner and Armenia’s Ambassador to Switzerland,
French-Armenian Charles Aznavour unveiled a stone cross (khachkar)
in Versailles, France on Sunday (May 30).

The cross, made in Armenia, was unveiled on the anniversary of the
Treaty of Versailles, and honors Armenian veterans of WWII who fought
for France, as well as victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Antoine Bagdikian, president of the National Association of Armenian
Veterans), organizer of the event, said: “We are not here to seek
revenge. We only ask that justice be done after all these years. We
give thanks to France that was the first to recognize this genocide.”

From: A. Papazian

SENATE SHOULD SCRUTINIZE BRYZA BEFORE CONFIRMING HIM AS AMBASSADOR TO BAKU
By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier

Noyan Tapan

After a lengthy delay, Azerbaijan consented last week to the
appointment of Matthew Bryza as U.S. Ambassador to Baku, an unnamed
American official told EurasiaNet.org. The California Courier confirmed
Bryza’s nomination through its own Washington sources. The White
House is expected to shortly issue an official announcement.

It is noteworthy that there has not been an American Ambassador in
Azerbaijan since last July. When John Evans was recalled as Ambassador
to Armenia in 2006 for using the term Armenian Genocide, the Bush
administration pressured the Senate to quickly confirm his successor,
claiming that the United States urgently needed an Ambassador in that
country. Surprisingly, there has not been a similar sense of urgency
in Washington, during the year-long absence of a U.S. Ambassador from
Azerbaijan! Pres. Aliyev must have viewed this holdup as a snub to
his country.

Until 2009, Matthew Bryza served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State and U.S. Co-Chair of the Minsk Group negotiators on the Karabagh
(Artsakh) conflict. Interestingly, he was dubbed by colleagues as
“Baby DAS” (Deputy Assistant Secretary) for his swift promotion,
despite his youthful age and limited diplomatic experience.

The delay in his appointment to Baku could be attributed to
Azerbaijan’s misgivings concerning Bryza and discontent with recent
U.S. foreign policy initiatives. During the course of his upcoming
Senate confirmation, Bryza should be questioned regarding his past
actions and recent tensions between Azerbaijan and the United States.

Here are some questions that members of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee should consider asking Bryza during his nomination process:

— Why did it take so long for Azerbaijan to consent to your
appointment? What complaints did Azerbaijan have against you and
against U.S. foreign policy in the region? What assurances were
given by the United States to Azerbaijan to allay its concerns before
consenting to your appointment?

— Despite your and Minsk Group’s persistent efforts to resolve the
Karabagh conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan are still far from reaching
a peace agreement. What do you think are the remaining obstacles
to resolving this conflict? Given your expertise in this region,
what steps would you take as U.S. Ambassador to secure Azerbaijan’s
consent to a peaceful resolution of the Karabagh conflict rather than
resorting to war?

— Pres. Aliyev has been pressuring Turkey not to lift its blockade
of Armenia. How would you dissuade Azerbaijan from undermining
Armenia-Turkey relations?

— Given the absence of democratic norms in Azerbaijan, known for
forged elections, lack of media freedom, and repressive measures
against opposition parties and minorities, how would you persuade
Azerbaijan’s leaders to establish rule of law?

— What messages did you convey to Georgia’s leadership prior to
the Georgia-Russia war of 2008? Is there any truth to reports that
you had advised the Georgians that the United States would intervene
militarily in case of an attack by Russia?

— Do you believe you can carry out your diplomatic duties
professionally and objectively, given your wife’s outspoken views
on Armenian, Azeri and Turkish issues? [Bryza married Zeyno Baran,
a Turkish-born foreign policy analyst at the Hudson Institute. Their
wedding took place at the former home of the prominent Balian family of
architects on an island near Istanbul. It was attended by Azerbaijan’s
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and high-ranking Turkish, Georgian,
and American officials].

— Did you have any role in the recall and premature retirement of
Amb. John Evans? Do you think that an Ambassador should be fired
simply for using the term Armenian Genocide? What are your own views
on the Armenian Genocide? Do you think it is appropriate for Pres.

Obama to break his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide?

— In a letter to Secretary Clinton, the Armenian National Committee
of America accused you of not being impartial on “Armenia-related
matters,” harboring a “pro-Azerbaijani bias in the Nagorno Karabagh
peace process,” and advocating “U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denials
of the Armenian Genocide.” What assurances can you give the American
people that you would fairly and objectively carry out your diplomatic
duties in Azerbaijan as the official representative of the United
States?

The members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should closely
scrutinize Bryza’s nomination to ensure that, if confirmed, he
represents U.S. interests in Baku, and not the other way around,
since both he and his wife, Zeyno Baran, have had extensive ties
with both Turkey and Azerbaijan. In her 2005 Senate testimony,
Baran expressed her opposition to the congressional resolution on
the Armenian Genocide, while her husband, Bryza, told a reporter that
Turkey was his “second home.”

From: A. Papazian

GOVERNING BOARD OF LINCY FOUNDATION APPROVES RESULTS OF TENDERS FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND REPAIRS OF 6 REGIONAL SCHOOLS

NOYAN TAPAN
MAY 31, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia,
Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgian conducted a
meeting of the Governing Board of the Lincy Foundation, during which
Director of School Construction program implementation unit Hrayr
Sargsyan presented the results of tenders.

Shinarar LLC, Triton LLC and Ukrshin OJSC were announced the winners
of the tenders for reconstruction of school No 1 in Spitak, school
No 6 in Stepanavan and school No 22 in Vanadzor, respectively (Lori
marz). The tender proposals submitted by them made up 88.9%, 90.5%
and 92.1% respectively of the costs envisaged by the design estimates.

Koopshin LLC, Algare LLC, and Baghramianshin OJSC were announced the
winners of the tenders for reconstruction of schools in the villages
of Sarakap, Nor Kyank, and Arevshat, respectively (Shirak marz). Their
proposals made up 82.9%, 89.1% and 84.3% respectively of the costs
of the design estimates.

The Board approved the results of the tenders, as a result of which
about 5 thousand was saved and will be allocated later for additional
work.

The regional governors and the head of the program implementation
unit were instructed to start preparatory work in order to immediately
launch construction work as soon as the financing begins.

According to the press service of the RA Ministry of Territorial
Administration, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the
Spitak earthquake, the 3rd program of the Lincy Foundation’s School
Construction project will be implemented in Shirak and Lori marzes.

The total cost of the program is million. Construction work is
scheduled to finish in March 2012.

From: A. Papazian