Author: Anna Tamamian

ROBERT KOCHARYAN, TIGRAN KARAPETYAN NAMED AS MOST PROMINENT PERSONS OF
YEAR IN ARMENIA
A1 Plus | 15:39:30 | 19-11-2004 | Social |
Vox Populi center conducted recently a telephone survey in Yerevan to
know the most important person and the most remarkable event in Armenia
and entire world of this year. As many as 964 Yerevan residents were
questioned about that.
64,8% of respondents found it difficult to answer the question about
the most remarkable event in Armenia, though following events were
mentioned:
Opposition-staged rallies – 7,7%
Peace maintenance – 6,7%
Jehovah Witnesses sect registration – 5,3%
Ongoing emigration – 4,6%
Samvel Babayan release from jail – 1,2%
Other answers – 9,6%
35% of respondents said the most important event in the world is
American presidential elections. The others mentioned war in Iraq,
terrorist act in Beslan and Yasser Arafat’s death.
24% said they saw not a single “person of the year” in Armenia while
12,9% named Tigran Karapetyan, 11,4% – said it was Armenian president
Robert Kocharyan.
PM Andranik Margaryan was mentioned by 10,9%, National Assembly
speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan by 9,4% and defense minister Serge
Sargssyan by 6,8%.
What about “the world person of the year”, 33% said it was the U.S.
president Bush, after him Vladimir Putin and then Yasser Arafat,
Mikhail Saakashvili and even Bin Laden.
–Boundary_(ID_KP9mwB8D2hi5hFstyZYf9Q)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY VICE SPEAKER COMMENTS ON REFORMS IN ELECTION SYSTEM
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMINFO. Changeover to 100% proportional system
of elections to the Armenian Parliament will rather bring damage than
benefit, Vice Chairman of the Armenian Parliament Tigran Torosyan said
at a press-conference at the National Press Club today.
Touching upon the forthcoming reforms in the Election Code of Armenia,
Torosyan said that the Council of the political parties included in
the ruling coalition has repeatedly considered the above
issue. However, sharp changes must be ruled out in order not to damage
the whole reforms. It is not a secret that political parties in
Armenia cannot be called full-fledged, that is why a full changeover
to the proportional principle will become a peculiar obstacle in the
way of “oligarchs running for the parliament on majority constituency,
they will successfully prove to be in the party lists, and it happened
to all the parties without an exception during the last parliamentary
elections in 2003,” Torosyan said.
He refused to bring any specific figures of single-mandate and ticket
seats in the Armenian Parliament, calling it untimely. Vice Speaker
touched upon the recent actively spread issue on possible advancement
of Robert Kocharyan’s candidature for a third term. He said that this
issue was not discussed either during consideration of the package of
constitutional reforms in 2003 or in the course of the current
discussions. As regards freedom of native mass media, Torosyan said
that this sphere like the others in the country is not perfect.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI PUNDITS DIVIDED ON PRESIDENT’S SUCCESS IN FIRST YEAR IN POWER
Ekho, Baku
15 Oct 04
No serious changes for the better have taken place in Azerbaijan
during President Ilham Aliyev’s first year in power, independent
political analyst Eldar Namazov has said. Namazov said that Ilham
Aliyev had failed to live up to the voters’ expectations – there is no
well-thought-out strategy to democratize the country, nor is there a
team capable of implementing this strategy. However, an official from
the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Bahar Muradova, said that the public’s
trust in the president had increased and Ilham Aliyev had proved to
be “a global politician”. Another political expert, Zardust Alizada,
said that the president had promised to be faithful to his father
ex-President Heydar Aliyev’s policies and had kept his word. Thus,
“the past year was in no way different from previous years”. Political
analyst Inqilab Ahmadov praised the incumbent president for focusing
on regional development but said Aliyev failed to demonstrate a new
approach to economic reforms. The following is the text of S. Rza’s
report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 15 October headlined “What
did the past year bring to us?”; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:
It has been exactly a year since Ilham Aliyev headed our country. Ekho
has asked well-known politicians and experts to comment on the results
of the first year of the incumbent president’s tenure.
“Global-level politician”
The deputy executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party,
Bahar Muradova, believes that the passed year has once again
proved that the policies of (late President) Heydar Aliyev will
be successfully continued. In addition, the public’s trust in the
president, whom they elected on 15 October 2003, has strengthened
over the past year.
“The incumbent president strengthened further the country’s
independence. In addition, he managed to step up domestic
stability. Ilham Aliyev achieved great success also in the economic
policy and in the implementation of the regional development
programme. Achievements in the country’s social sphere over the past
year have once again proved that the Azerbaijani people made the
right choice. Apart from this, the past year showed that the president
was interested in not only foreign policy issues directly related to
Azerbaijan but in global processes as well. He is trying to resolve
all these issues by providing quite important advice. Thus, he again
proved to be ‘a global-level politician’. The president once again
asserted in the past year that the country’s position on the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict could not be changed. Ilham Aliyev demonstrated a
firm position in this connection and made it clear that the problem
could be resolved provided that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
is observed.”
No changes for better
Political analyst Eldar Namazov, head of the civil forum For
Azerbaijan, is less optimistic about the passed year. He said that
the expectations of the voters who hoped that reforms would be
launched in the country after the election of a new leader did not
come true. No changes have taken place in the economy. Namazov said
that at the same time there were serious doubts over whether there
was a well-thought-out strategy to democratize the country. “It is
also obvious that there is lack of a team that could implement this
programme,” he said.
Namazov said that it was next to impossible to differentiate between
foreign policy issues and processes inside the country. “Azerbaijan’s
image is mainly formed on the basis of what is happening inside
the country. There are no serious changes for the better in this
regard. The country is still on the crossroads, as it was ahead of
the presidential elections.”
The political analyst believes that the cancellation of NATO exercises
in Azerbaijan was the gravest mistake in the foreign policy in the
past year. “This undoubtedly inflicted serious damage to Azerbaijan in
the Euro-Atlantic space.” In Namazov’s opinion, this was a serious
mistake of the country’s authorities. “It is still unclear what
countries and directions are our priorities. There remained more
questions than answers in the foreign policy in the past year.”
Employment cornerstone of president’s economic policy
“A year is not a very big period of time in terms of economic
achievements in order to assess all its parameters. But something still
can be said about some tendencies,” Inqilab Ahmadov, director of the
Institute for Economic Analysis, said. There are some moments which
can be viewed as achievements of the incumbent president. Certain
contours and directions became clear over the past year. First,
more attention is paid to regional development. To some extent, this
was the result of the endorsed regional development programme. In
fact, regional development was in the focus of the government. Some
facilities were opened and investment projects were launched in the
regions with state assistance. The country’s leadership tends to boost
employment in the regions. Employment became the cornerstone of the
government’s economic policy.”
The expert said that the country’s oil sector was developing quite
successfully. “The newly-elected president was lucky over the past
year to some extent. Oil prices have surged recently. The price of
Azerbaijani oil exceeds 50 dollars (per barrel). This resulted in
more funds being channelled into the social sphere.”
However, the expert regrets that in the past year “we did not witness
a conceptual new approach to economic reforms. Apart from this, no
active steps were taken towards structural reforms. The institutional
activities of the country’s economy were not reformed. These major
issues were not dealt with in the past year.” Ahmadov said that they
might be dealt with next year.
Commenting on employment, the expert stressed that the
figures advertised by officials did not point to a qualitative
change in this issue. “Many statistical data are sometimes
contradictory. Unfortunately, private business has not really
reached the regions. Employment in the country’s regions was mainly
subsidized. Increasing prices are becoming quite a serious problem. We
will be speaking more often about this problem next year when it
really becomes a pressing issue. This is of course connected with an
increase in social payments both from the budget and non-budgetary
funds. But this is not the only factor causing the increase in
prices. The monopoly problem still remains in the country’s economy,
and it was not resolved in the past year.”
Faithful to father’s line
Political analyst Zardust Alizada believes that “the past year was
noted for the fact that the new president continued the political
line of national leader Heydar Aliyev. This in fact means giving
away the country to foreign companies for plundering, trampling
upon all freedoms and putting full pressure on the press.” All this,
the political analyst said, has been going on recently.
Commenting on the president’s personnel policy over the past year,
Alizada compared it to the rules of the Weakest Link TV show. “As a
rule, those who did not suit other team members were ousted from the
ruling team.” He cited the dismissal of National Security Minister
Namiq Abbasov as an example. “The replacement of the professional cheka
(Soviet secret police) member with an Interior Ministry employee
clearly shows what the authorities are interested in. They are
interested solely in having a monopoly on money and hence on power.
“At the same time, the situation around the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
remains unchanged. A stride backward was made in people’s respect for
their government. This happened despite the purely external signs of
prosperity that was possible thanks to oil money. The past year was in
no way different from previous years. The president was quite sincere
saying on many occasions that he would continue his father’s line. And
he kept his word. The president is persistently enforcing the ideology
of Heydarism, posting his father’s portraits everywhere. The goal is
to idolize the ex-president. This finally points to the authorities’
lack of ideology.”
Alizada said that the president had signed several pardoning decrees
in the past year. “These steps were taken under external pressure
from international structures.”
The authorities have been imitating creating new jobs over the
past year. “Despite everything, people are trying to survive and
are doing something independently.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
October 15, 2004
His Holiness Karekin II Departs for Moscow
On October 15, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, during a meeting with the Brotherhood
of Holy Etchmiadzin, announced that he was departing for the Russian
Federation to join the Armenian community of Moscow as they celebrate
the 75th Anniversary of the birth of His Holiness Alexey II, Patriarch
of Moscow and All Russia, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
During his two-day visit to Moscow, the Catholicos of All Armenians
will also offer the service of Blessing the Foundation of the new Holy
Cross Armenian Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters for the Armenian
Diocese of New Nakhijevan and Russia.
In the course of the meeting, His Holiness reflected on the recent news
that the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” religious organization has received
official registration by the state authorities of the Republic of
Armenia, and expressed his concern at the registration of yet another
totalitarian cult. His Holiness stated that attempts to justify the
registration of this destructive group are unacceptable, and regards
as disingenuous and unfair the accusations that the Armenian Church
and her clergy are weak and incomplete in their pastoral ministry.
“The Holy Armenian Apostolic Church has a mission to serve, and
notwithstanding all difficulties and challenges, will bring all of
her efforts to realizing that sacred mission in the lives of our
people”, stated His Holiness. The Pontiff of All Armenians expressed
his appreciation to all faithful sons and daughters of the Armenian
Church who have displayed concern and devotion regarding this issue.
Accompanying His Holiness during his visit to the Russian Federation
are His Grace Bishop Navasard Kjoyan, Vicar General of the Araratian
Pontifical Diocese; His Grace Bishop Arshak Khatchatrian, Chancellor
of the Mother See; and Rev. Fr. Mushegh Babayan, Staff-bearer of
His Holiness.
##
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
October 6, 2004
TURCHIA: UE, GRUPPI SI DIVIDONO IN PARLAMENTO / ANSA ;
ANCHE I FAVOREVOLI A AVVIO NEGOZIATI INSISTONO SU DIRITTI UMANI
BRUXELLES
(di Danila Clegg)

(ANSA) – BRUXELLES, 6 OTT – Reazioni discordi al Parlamento
europeo fra i gruppi parlamentari alla notizia che la
Commissione europea ha adottato una raccomandazione con la quale
si invitano i capi di Stato e di governo ad aprire il negoziato
di adesione, seppur condizionato, con la Turchia.

I piu’ preoccupati sono apparsi i Popolari, che oltre a
sollevare l’allarme sulle conseguenze sulla natura stessa
dell’Unione che avrebbe un ingresso della Turchia, hanno anche
paventato il rischio di un legame negativo fra la questione
turca e quella della ratifica della Costituzione europea.

A dar voce alle forti perplessita’ degli euroscettici e
stato il danese Jens-Peter Bonde, il quale ha sottolineato come
la Turchia per il suo peso demografico influirebbe enormemente
sulle scelte dell’Ue, in vista dei nuovi criteri decisionali che
entreranno in vigore con la nuova Costituzione.

Positivo invece il giudizio di una apertura dei negoziati con
la Turchia di Socialisti, Verdi e Sinistra europea. Per tutti
pero’ la parola chiave e’ che l’inizio del negoziato non
significa una sua conclusione e che e’ essenziale passare per un
monitoraggio scrupoloso e rigoroso del rispetto dei diritti
umani in Turchia.

Il capogruppo dei Popolari, Hans Gert Poettering, ha
sottolineato che con l’ingresso della Turchia nell’Unione,
quest’ultima sara’ diversa”. Quanto ai negoziati, Poettering ha
sollecitato i capi di Stato e di governo a non precludere la
possibilita’ che si possano concludere con l’opzione del
partenariato speciale con la Turchia.

Il suo compagno di gruppo, il presidente della comissione
Esteri, Elmar Bork, ha sollecitato Commissione e Consiglio a
fare in modo che la ratifica della Costituzione europea non
“venga resa piu’ difficile” dall’apertura dei negoziati con la
Turchia.

Decisamente piu’ positivo l’approccio del capogruppo del Pse,
Martin Schulz, secondo il quale questa decisione e’ “di
fondamentale importanza e ha un valore epocale”. “L’adesione
della Turchia, infatti, potra’ dimostrare – ha sottolineato – che
la societa’ musulmana condivide gli stessi valori dei cittadini
europei e mettera’ in contraddizione i fondamentalisti”.

Il gruppo dei liberaldemocratici, nella sua maggioranza, ha
precisato il capogruppo Graham Watson, accoglie con favore le
raccomandazioni della Commissione. Watson ha anche posto in
rilievo come “lo scontro di civilta’ vada evitato e come
l’adesione della Turchia contribuira’ alla costruzione di un
mondo in cui le tre grandi religioni monoteiste convivono
pacificamente”.

Il verde Daniel Cohn Bendit ha rintuzzato le preoccupazioni
dei popolari sulle conseguenze di una adesione turca sulla
natura stessa dell’Unione, osservando di avere fiducia nel fatto
che l’adesione non modifichera’ le sue convinzioni profonde e i
valori dell’Unione. I negoziati – ha sottolineato Cohn Bendit –
devono andare avanti: “se la Turchia sbaglia sara’ richiamata,
se le trattative falliscono, si vedra’ “.

Piu’ problematico l’approccio di Francis Wurtz, capogruppo
della sinistra europa, il quale ha sollevato il problema della
“minaccia alla liberta’ di espressione” contenuta nel nuovo
codice penale turco, l’occupazione militare di Cipro e il
mancato riconoscimento del genocidio armeno.

Che la questione turca tagli trasversalmente i gruppi lo
dimostra la presa di posizione di Guido Podesta’ di Forza
Italia, il quale ha apprezzato il rigore e l’equilibrio
dimostrato nei negoziati dal commissario Vereughen.

L’europarlamentare ha quindi sottolineato come accettando
l’impostazione della raccomandazione sulla Turchia, gli
eventuali timori vadano eliminati. Si deve quindi mantenere
l’impegno, pur senza garantire automaticamente l’adesione, ha
osservato Podesta’. (ANSA).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ACCORDING TO GEORGIAN OFFICIALS, APPOINTMENT OF NEW AMBASSADOR TO
ARMENIA DELAYS DUE TO ABSENCE OF SPECIALIST
AKHALKALAKI, August 10 (Noyan Tapan). At the joint session of the
Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Integration into
Europe, Deputy of the Georgian parliament Van Bayburdian drew
attention of the Deputy Minister and MPs to the fact that Georgia has
no Ambassador to neighboring Armenia for 8-9 months. No new Ambassador
was appointed after the tenure of Ambassador Nikolos Nikolozishvili
expired. According to the “A-Info” Agency, the Armenian MP undrelined
the fact that if a state is considered friendly, the appointment of
the Ambassador should not be delayed for a long time. Deputy Foreign
Minister Lasha Shvania, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Georgian parliament Kote Kabashvili and Chairman of the
Committee on Issues of European Integration David Bakradze considered
this comment as relevant, but noted that the appointment of the new
Ambassador to Armenia has been delayed due to the absence of the
needed specialist. At the same time, the Georgian officials expressed
hope that this problem will be settled soon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pawtucket Times, RI
Aug 9 2004
City will host R.I. film fest

Joel Furfari 08/09/2004

PAWTUCKET — For the first time since its inception, the Rhode Island
International Film Festival is coming to Pawtucket.
The 100-seat theater inside the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center,
175 Main St., will host a series of screenings this week as the city
plays host to the festival for the first time.
Advertisement

Herb Weiss, the city’s cultural affairs officer, said officials want
to bring more films into the theater.
“It’s underutilized right now and we’re in discussion with some
groups to see if we can begin bringing in more screenings to the
theater,” he said.
Film buffs will be in for a treat this week: The theater will host
screenings on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. The film festival’s
gala opening is Tuesday.
At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, the film “Parallel Lines” will be screened in
Pawtucket. The documentary, directed by Nina Davenport, covers a road
trip across the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. There will also be a screening of Bruce Dellis’ short
filmLincoln: A Life Embellished,” a satirical take on the Civil War
president’s life.
On Thursday, the documentary “Germany and the Secret Genocide” will
be screened at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Providence Jewish Film
Festival. The film recounts the Armenian genocide and the complicity
of the German government in the abuses of the Ottoman Turkish
government.
The final screening will be Sunday at 2:30 p.m., when the festival
brings “First Israeli in Space: Ilan Ramon.” This documentary film,
directed by Neil Weisbrod of Israel’s Channel One, chronicles the
life of Israeli astronaut who died in last year’s space shuttle
Columbia disaster.
A short film called “Indecision,” directed by Mary DeBarry, will also
be screened. The comedy is about a young woman who can’t make up her
mind.
Weiss said the film festival is especially exciting because it serves
as a prelude to the upcoming Pawtucket Arts Festival.
“We’re very excited about this new relationship between the two
festivals,” he said.
The film festival, in its eight year, will feature screenings of 265
films from across the United States and more than 60 countries.
Organizers are expecting 20,000 movie fans to attend screenings.
Actor Andrew McCarthy, of “Pretty in Pink”fame, is making his
directorial debut at the festival, and actor Zach Braff, who plays a
doctor on NBC’s “Scrubs,” is receiving an award.
George Marshall, executive director and chief executive of the
festival, said the event attracts a lot of filmmakers because it’s
the only one in New England where a film can qualify for an Academy
Award. He said five films screened at the festival in the past seven
years have been nominated for Oscars, and two have won.
Eva Saks, a director from New York, will be showing three of her
films this year, including “Date.”Saks has attended the festival six
times, and hopes to shoot one of her upcoming films in the area. She
said she keeps returning to Rhode Island because she’s drawn to the
neighborhood feeling and loves the architecture.
“I’m kind of crazy into this festival, into this town,”she said. ” I
dig it.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE BEST WAY TO COMBAT SHADOWED ECONOMY IN ARMENIA IS AN INCREASE IN
DRAM CIRCULATION: CHAIRMAN ARMENIAN CB
YEREVAN, JULY 24. ARMINFO. The best way to combat shadowed economy in
Armenia is an increase in dram circulation, and strengthening of the
national currency observed during the recent days can become a crucial
point for solution to this important task of the country, Chairman of
the Armenian CB Tigran Sargsyan said in his interview to RFE/RL.
It is not a secret that shadowed economy turnover is considerable
enough in Armenia, and, it is mainly the spheres dealing with US
dollars in cash, Sargsyan said. According to estimations of the
Armenian Ministry for Finance and Economy, the share of shadowed
turnover in GDP is 30-35%.
The growth of dram circulation supposes an increase in the spheres of
economy dealing with national currency, AMD. Besides, the chief banker
of the country thinks that the public should overcome the
psychological barrier and keep their savings in the Armenian drams,
and not dollars.
Sargsyan said that the rates of AMD strengthening in the current month
necessitate adoption of a new currency legislation in order to toughen
the country demands to currency operations and to create more
favorable conditions for circulation of the Armenian dram.
The CB adheres a policy of the “floating rate,”which means that its
level is dictated by the market, Sargsyan reiterated. At the same
time, he pointed out that the CB cannot interfere and dictate the
market-participants the level of the exchange rate artificially. He
added, the CB is not committed to artificial strengthening of AMD or
USD.
He said that a sharp increase in the USD circulation during the last
two months in Armenia has led to speculations observed on the currency
market during the last two weeks. That is, some individuals occurred,
who tried to take advantage of the situation for their personal
benefit hereby making the CB to purchase US dollars from the
market. However, the CB kept a neural strategy. Otherwise, the
“cheap” dollars bought by these individuals would have been sold to
the CB on much higher rates in future. All the participants of the
market understood very quickly that the CB had no intention of
currency interventions which would result in further artifical
reduction of the USD exchange rate, and in this connection, they took
an expectant position. He said that after the sharp strengthening of
AMD in the current month by 7%, beginning from July 21 the exchage
rate began returning to its normal course, reaching 525-530 AMD/1USD
today.
Tigran Sargsyan said that the major goal of the CB is security of
stable prices, which was not influenced by the sharp reduction of USD
during the last two weeks, as it lasted a short period of time.
He stated that the citizens having AMD incomes in the period of the
reduction of USD suffered no losses, and these people make up majority
in Armenia. Taking into account the prior task for today i.e. poverty
reduction, it is necessary to secure stable prices, first of all, and
not to allow a devaluation of AMD incomes of economic entities and the
country’s citizens, and not to solve the exchage rate’s fluctuation
problem. Simultanously, it is impossible to prevent losses of the
citizens who have AMD and USD incomes.
As regards the private transfers to Armenia, they increase year by
year. According to the CB’s estimations, money transfers to natural
persons only through the banking system increased 46% in the first
half of 2004, and 31% in the first quarter, and 55% in the second
quarter as compared with the same period of 2003. It testifies to an
increase in USD incomes of the population. This factor also
contributes to strengthening of AMD, as the citizens receiving
transfers in terms of USD from abroad, “pay tax” during conversion in
case of USD’s devaluation. It is, naturally, within the interests of
our country, aiming no artificial strengthening of USD positions and
contribution to development of U.S. economy, Sargsyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LA Times
July 16 2004
3rd Defendant Convicted in Fatal Glendale Attack
Times Staff Reports
The last of three defendants was found guilty Thursday of aiding in
an attack that left a 17-year-old dead outside Hoover High School in
Glendale.
Rafael Gevorgyan, 19, faces up to 18 years in prison for voluntary
manslaughter.
Gevorgyan used a tire iron in the fight that broke out on May 5,
2000, between small groups of Armenians and Latinos. Raul Aguirre,
17, was fatally stabbed.
Karen Terteryan, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced
to almost 24 years.
Anait Msryan pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to
seven years in the California Youth Authority.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
June 24, 2003
MASS MEDIA – PART OF DEMOCRATIZATION
The topic of the training `Mass Media During Elections’ held in
Stepanakert last week (organized by Stepanakert Press Club with the
assistance of the international organization `Article 19′) was not
only the role of the mass media during elections but also in the
process of democratization of the society in general. The mass media,
as one of the conductors of the training noticed, is like litmus
paper indicating the level of democratization of the society. On the
topic of the role of the mass media in the democratization of the
society and the practical implementation of this role in Ukraine and
Armenia we talked to the conductors of the conference Alexey Koshel
and Elina Poghosbekian.
THE MARKET OF FREE MASS MEDIA IS NOT COMPLETELY FORMED IN UKRAINE.
Alexey Koshel, expert of the international organization `Article 19′,
deputy chairman ofthe non-governmental organization `Committee of
Voters of Ukraine’. – Mr. Koshel, what changes took place in the life
of your society after independence and to what extent are they
principal? – I should say that the transition to new market
relationships is painful not only in our country but in the entire
post-soviet territory. And this is natural. The old always yields
hardly. Principal changes, however, happened. This refers first of all
to the process of democratization of the process of elections. The
second is the publication of the work of the government agencies. Each
citizen has the opportunity to read in the mass media and online the
texts of the speeches in the parliament and government meetings, the
results of voting. The third is structuring of the political processes
in the country the evidence to which is the institute of the
elections, transition of the mass media to market relationships,
freedom of moving, freedom in economy, religion and other spheres. –
During the training you told that governmental mass media should not
exist. Why? And what is the situation of the mass media in Ukraine? –
Governmental mass media cost too expensive to the state budget. 1600
journalists work on the TV and radio of Ukraine. And the largest
private TV channel has 200 journalists even with a greater volume of
work. By the way, these companies are going to make their work more
optimal reducing the number of journalists to 80. I think the numbers
say everything. Today in our country the governmental mass media are
a TV and radio channel and two newspapers which mainly publish state
documents. Among these there are also regional mass media, usually
with too big staff and little circulation. 80 percent of the mass
media are private, the largest are `Facti’ (800 thousand copies),
`Selskie Vesti’ (514 copies), `Vechernie Vesti’ (430 thousand) and a
great number of newspapers with little circulation. In brief,
economically the governmental mass media are not optimal. These should
be replaced by the public mass media. – Closing the training you said
that independent mass media in fact do not exist and these are
considerably dependent on those on whose expense they exist. – If
there are no objective mass media, consequently there is no objective
monitoring? – Yes, independent, therefore objective mass media do not
exist but this does not mean that we should not fight for
accomplishment of at least relatively independent mass media. In
Ukraine this process lasted for 10 years. The Ukrainian private mass
media already know that by disrespectful attitude they may lose their
readers and thus their source of funding. I may state with all
responsibility that there is, nevertheless, relative independence of
the mass media in Ukraine.
SITUATION CHANGED LITTLE.
Elina Poghosbekian, editor of the bulletin of Yerevan Press Club. –
What is the situation of the mass media in Armenia in terms of the
past decade? – After the declaration of independence up today the
situation changed little. And this is conditioned by the fact that the
mass media in Armenia are in great dependence on the political
forces. – Will it go on like that? Which is the way out? – In the
Soviet period the situation was much worse, presently the situation is
better. The way out, in my opinion, is financial independence and
profitability as an economic entity. Today this is very difficult in
the conditions of Armenia. The circulation of the newspapers is
small. Most of the population lives in poverty and purchasing ability
is law, even the small circulation newspapers are sold with
difficulty. I think you are acquainted with this problem. It is
possible to acquire money from advertisement but this is not much for
the same reason that the society is not rich. As long as the mass
media cannot step on their own feet, as long as the legislative sphere
is not accomplished, it is easy to make pressure on the mass media, as
it happened with the 24 hour oppositionist channel A1+. – They say the
mass media are the reflection of the society. To what extent do the
mass media of Armenia reflect the process of democratization and how
can they affect that process? – This is a complicated process for the
progress of which first of all our willpower is important. The
European assistance to our society in democratization is little: we
must first set the aim to achieve it. If at the beginning of the 90’s
the mass media were entirely under the influence of political forces
in the result of which they lost all the best qualities, at the end of
the 90’s and the beginning of the next decade the situation got more
or less better. Among positive changes I would mention the cooperation
of Yerevan Press Club with the Union of Journalists of Armenia
(actually a half-governmental organization), as well as `Internews
Armenia’ and the committee for protection of journalists. This
cooperation enabled to smooth the decision of closing down the channel
A1+, organize protest meetings connected with the bill `On the mass
media’ worked out by the Ministry of Justice after which amendments
were made to the joint project. At the second reading it already
corresponded to the international standards. The work on the third
reading was pure editing and in December the parliament adopted the
bill. There were unhappy attempts to affect the parliament. The above
mentioned organizations tried to oppose to the introduction of
regressive changes in the law `On television and radio’ but in
vain. Today we are attempting to set forth an amendment which would
allow to move the punishment for libel and offence from the criminal
to the civil code (fine instead imprisonment). – During trainings much
was said about the code of ethics of journalists. Are the rules of
ethics kept by the journalists? – Unfortunately we have little in this
sphere to be proud of. The code of ethics of journalists was adopted
by certain mass media and public organizations working in this
sphere. The adoption of the code is actually one of the ways of
self-regulation. However the unwritten laws of the fourth branch of
power have greater force than the written ones. And this is the
reflection of the actual state of the society. The more the rights of
each individual of the society are honoured, the more the journalists
will honour the written laws.
SUSANNA BALAYAN
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress