Author: Babken Chilingarian

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT EARMARKS $100,000 FOR PURCHASE OF SHARES OF EURASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

ARKA
March 27, 2009
Aghveran

Armenian Government decided to allocate $100,000 for purchase of
shares of the Eurasian Development Bank in the second quarter of 2009
at its guest sitting in Kotayk region Thursday.

Armenian Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan reported that the agreement
about establishing the Eurasian Development Bank has been already
ratified by the Armenian Parliament Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsyan,
in his turn, said that the value of the Bank’s programs is expected
to total $500mln in Armenia.

The agreement on foundation of the Eurasian Development Bank was
signed between Russia and Kazakhstan on January 12, 2006. The Bank
started its activities as early as in June 2006.

Currently, the authorized stock of the Eurasian Development Bank
is $1.5bln: the Russian share is $1bln and the Kazakhtani part is
$0.5bln. The Bank’s headoffice is in Almati.

The Bank finances major mid- and long-term investments projects,
including industrial and innovation programs of member-countries and
interstate special-purpose programs, provides financial and credit
support to member-countries in their macroeconomic and structural
policy.

The Eurasian Development Bank takes also part in implementation of
projects of interregional importance and provides loans to industrial
enterprises.

Armenian Parliament ratified the agreement about foundat ion of the
Bank on February 3.

ARMENIA SHIFTS TO WINTER TIME ON OCTOBER 26

armradio.am
23.10.2008 16:19

According to Armenian legislation, Armenia will shift to winter time on
October 26. At 3 a.m. the pointers of the clock must be drawn an hour
back all over the republic, Information and Public Relations Department
of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia informed.

AN ARMENIAN KILLED BY TWO AZERBAIJANIS IN VOLQOQRAD, RUSSIA

Today.Az
45717.html
June 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Two Azerbaijanis, suspected of killing an Armenian, were arrested in
Staropoltavsk region of Volqoqrad, Russia.

The conflict is proposed to arise late on June 9 in the Voyage cafe of
Verkhni Yersultan settlement of Staropoltavsk region of Volqoqrad. The
fight involved two Armenian ethnic and two Azerbaijanis.

A source from the Investigation Department under the Russian
prosecutor’s office on Volqoqrad reported that the conflict is most
likely on the domestic issues. In the result, an Armenian was wounded
and died, the second has been hospitalized in a severe state.

The Pallas regional investigation department under Russia’s
Prosecutor’s Office instituted a criminal case under article 30, p.3,
article 105. p 2 "attempt of murder". Currently, both suspected are
under arrest.

As is reported, two young men (1985 and 1986) have no Russian or
Azerbaijani citizenship, but they had resided in the region for about
15 years and were engaged in agricultural works.

TURKEY PROMISES DIVERSITY AT FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR – FEATURE

Earthtimes (press release), UK
June 12 2008

Berlin – Turkey promised Thursday to bring its cultural diversity
this October to the Frankfurt Book Fair, where its literature will
have guest-of-honour status this year. Speaking from Frankfurt,
organizers said 350 authors and translators from Turkey will be at
the world’s principal book fair, presenting their work to publishers
from round the globe and touring Frankfurt and other German cities
to meet literature lovers.

Ethnic minorities will be included, said Muge Gursoy Sokmen, co-chair
of the organizing committee.

She said Kurdish authors Lal Lales and Seyhmus Diken, Armenian writers
Migirdic Margosyan and Jaklin Celik, and Jewish writer Mario Levi
would be making appearances in person.

At the October 15-19 fair, a special exhibition about Turkish
literature is to also highlight the little-known "layers" that are
woven in with Turkic origins in the country’s culture today.

"You’ll see how it includes Arab or Armenian or Byzantine roots too,"
she said.

"We have to treat the heritage of our cultural diversity with respect,"
said Sokmen, who is a leftist Istanbul publisher. "We see this as a
very rich resource."

Guest-of-honour shows over the past three decades at Frankfurt
sometimes focus on small, obscure nations, but there will be no
forgetting this year’s.

The cultural ferment in Turkey, where intellectuals are arguing about
whether and how political Islam can be reconciled with modernity, is
not just a literary topic, but also world news, with Turkish judges
now mulling a ban on Turkey’s AKP ruling party.

Debate about whether the AKP, which has Islamic roots, is moving Turkey
forwards or backwards arouses deep passions not only in Turkey itself,
but in the Islamic world and the West too.

Germans’ ambivalence about whether to accept Turkey as a European
Union member and their troubled relationship with Turks, the main
ethnic minority in the country, make Frankfurt an apt place to hear
Turkish intellectuals speak about their nation’s huge strides.

"At least 2.5 million people here are of Turkish origin and there
is a rich German Turkish literature. That’s one reason Turkey is
felt here to be very close, as if it were a next-door neighbour,"
said Juergen Boos, the book fair chief executive.

Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Literature Prize winner in 2006, will help
Turkish President Abdullah Gul open the fair.

Hundreds of performers, artists and other creative people will round
out the show.

Ahmet Ari, the coordinator of the Turkish presentation, said the show
would not just focus on the riches of Turkish literature awaiting
translation into other languages, but also provide room for political
controversy about a nation going through rapid change.

He said Turkey had greatly improved democracy in recent years and
there was no longer a single author in jail on account of political
views. Turkish state television had begun its first non-Turkish-
language broadcasts just a few days ago, he added.

He was referring to official Turkey’s decades-old policy of repressing
minority languages. The centre-right government of AKP Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has eased many restrictions in another move
being closely watched from around the world.

Turkey has 1,724 publishing houses with annual sales equivalent to
810 million dollars (516 million euros).

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the major opportunity in world book
publishing to boost exports. In the international pavilions, publishers
and literary agents negotiate on translation rights.

For a German audience, the fair celebrates the newest and best books
available at Christmas, the main sales season for German books.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY INTERRUPTS DISCUSSION OF DRAFT STATEMENT ON SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH PROBLEM

Noyan Tapan
April 10, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly on April 10
completed the work of its regular plenary session, interrputing the
discussion of the draft statement on settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem because of lack of time. The reason was the unprecedented
activity of MPs. Throughout the day, the National Assembly heard
the report of the draft’s author – NA speaker Tigran Torosian, his
explanations to questions of 16 deputies, as well as the speeches
of 13 out the 23 deputies who had previosly regeistered for making
a speech. T. Torosian expressed a willingness to amend the draft,
taking into account both the proposals presented and to presented
after resumption of the discussion – in order to have a "perfect
document in practice".

T. Torosian expressed a hope that an expert group (not subordinate
to the National Assembly) will be formed on the initiative of the NA
in late April or early May. In particular, the group will be engaged
in development of programs on providing the international community
with full information about the Nagorno Karabakh problem. Speaking
about work to be done, he also attached importance to publication of a
collection of materials and documents on the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

Press and Information Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Armenia
Tel. + 37410 544041. ext. 202
Fax. + 37410 565601
e-mail: [email protected]
web:

Vartan Oskanian’s Farewell Speech to MFA Staff

I asked that you all gather here today so I can say thank you – to all of
you: To the diplomats who have worked with me for these 10 years, and
longer. To the technical staff who have made our work here and abroad
possible. To our ambassadors who have worked hard, against great odds, to
maximally promote our interests.

We can all be proud of our work, and we can all feel satisfied that we are
performing a civic duty. We are all citizens of armenia – you by birth, I by
choice. For me, the decision to pack up and return to Armenia after
independence was a default decision, a non-decision, an obvious choice.
Having come, I’m not now preparing to go.

I’ve been here since almost the beginning, working with you, to create
something out of nothing, to build a new institution and a new kind of
institution. I have served as Foreign Minister since the beginning of
President Kocharian’s term. I had served as Deputy Minister and First Deputy
Minister under President Ter Petrossian. In other words, I have served not a
man, but a people and a country. Together, that’s what we have done since
independence — we have served the state, the Republic of Armenia. I am
proud of the work we have done together.

During these 10 years, I believe much has changed in the nature of our work.
Of course the Republic of Armenia has changed and progressed such that many
objective conditions have changed – we don’t wait 2, 3, sometimes 5 months
to get paid. We have paper on which to print treaties, conventions and
documents. We are not hostage to irregular flights into and out of Armenia.

There are other differences, too. Diplomats, and all staff, are accepted
solely on merit and not for any other reason. Diplomats are assigned
postings solely based on professional circumstances and not for any other
reason. This ministry has a reputation now for being the cleanest, the most
professional, the best regulated, and not corrupt. And that’s no small
reason to be proud.

This ministry is a place where people are treated with dignity, with respect
and with tolerance. I’m proud of that and I believe that that tradition,
once begun, cannot be easily undone. On the contrary, it becomes contagious.
I believe that to build a democratic society, we must begin, and we have
begun, by building a transparent, accountable ministry, and by treating each
other with dignity.

The world has changed too in these 10 years. Russia is no longer in retreat.
Europe is much closer than it used to be. The US is more insistent on having
partners who are democratic. Azerbaijan is looking to oil for solutions to
all problems. Turkey is living both in the past and in the future. Georgia
is walking a fine line between beleaguered and bold. Iran is caught between
the world’s perceptions and its own self-image.

And Armenia? Armenia has demonstrated that we understand that diplomacy and
defense do not replace each other, but work in tandem to secure a nation’s
future. Armenia has proven that economic growth is possible, even with the
absence of natural resources and open transportation corridors. Armenia is
living proof that one can be a respected member of the international
community and at the same time swim against the global tide to assure
self-determination and security for Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia has become a
trustworthy and I can say, full partner in international organizations with
a full agenda of reforms, insights and action items. Armenia has
established good relations with all major world centers – Russia, the
Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

But each of the successes I just mentioned have brought with it a set of new
challenges and new problems. And that’s our job – to make the best of each
opportunity and minimize all threats.

Now, we must perform our job in the changed environment of the last several
months. When we allowed the political tensions and emotions of the election
and post-election period to reign, they demonstrated that we sometimes
imagine that revolution can be an alternative to reforms, and that revenge
can take precedence over reconciliation. No one knows better than we in this
building that that is false. No one knows better than we that our domestic
strength, integrity, stability, morality and perseverance are our best –
actually our only – calling cards in the international arena.

If those were our assets, today we work with a deficit. The capital we had
accumulated internationally has been squandered. That means my successor,
each of you, and all of us who live in Armenia, must work even harder to
regain our respectability and our confidence in ourselves and our future.

I will continue to work with you. I don’t intend to terminate my public
engagement, but to enter a new phase. I don’t intend to be foreign minister
but I intend to work domestically to help the next minister to succeed
internationally.

The weeks after March 1 were the most difficult of my entire career. On the
one hand, I am part of an admininstration which, at the end of the day, is
responsible for what happens in this country. On the other hand, from the
beginning of their campaign, I disagreed, publicly and privately, with the
tactics, methods and goals of the opposition.

Just as it is not in my nature to follow blindly, it is also not in my
nature to be in bitter opposition. I believe in carrying out the
responsibilities I have undertaken. I believe I have done so these 10 years,
sometimes before the TV cameras but more often behind the scenes.

My commitment to Armenia and its future did not begin when I became foreign
minister. It will not cease now that I am no longer foreign minister.

Instead, it will change. I will undertake a new set of responsibilities that
will focus on fashioning a relevant, inclusive civic and political forum and
that will work with the public and with the existing political forces on
mending the torn fabric of our society, on finding genuine paths to
political concensus by reconciling our differences, not suppressing them. I
will partner with those who wish to create the mechanisms that replicate the
experience of other developed countries and offer serious, convincing
political alternatives that are not destructive, extreme and self-serving.
Most of all, or first of all, I will work to strengthen the institutions
which will decrease our people’s cynicism and readiness to believe the worst
about ourselves, that will empower people to say what they believe and
believe in what they say.

The work that you and I will do will be complementary. I feel a part of this
family. And that’s not going to change. I would like it to remain that way,
and I know it will be hard to pass by this building, or through Republic
Square in general.

Thank you.

Press and Information Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Armenia
Tel. + 37410 544041. ext. 202
Fax. + 37410 565601
e-mail: [email protected]
web:

ARF presidential candidate Vahan Hovanessian Discusses Military,
Foreign Policy with Military Diplomat Magazine

Horizon
2008-02-01

The Russian Military Diplomat Magazine recently interviewed Armenian
Presidential Candidate Vahan Hovannesian during which many issues were
explained and new ones were raised. Hovannesian is deputy Speaker of
the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, a member of the
Parliamentary faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and a
member of the ARF Bureau.

Military Diplomat: Due to the kick-off of the Armenian presidential
election campaign and the opposition supported by foreign players
becoming more active, do you think a so-called "colored revolution" is
possible in Armenia? Why, if it is?
Vahan Hovanessian: Firstly, let us see how ‘colored revolutions’ brew
up, since they are not a mere mechanical implementation of political
projects brought from without. In the post-Soviet environment, they are
mostly grounded in the population’s dissatisfaction with its social
standing and the lack of democratic rule in a particular country, in
the first place. I dare say the popular protests, owing to which
revolutions are carried out, are driven by the wish for justice and
wellbeing, rather than by a steadfast striving for NATO or the European
Union, of which the people certainly have a rather hazy idea. Leaders
of such revolutions, who use the popular disappointment to pursue their
own agendas and are supervised by foreign advisors, are quite another
kettle of fish. Democracy and improving the people’s life standards do
not top their agendas. All ‘colored revolutionaries’ in the former
Soviet Union have showed this graphically.
I guess Armenia is not looking at a ‘colored revolution’ and here is
why Firstly, this is because the first Armenian President, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan – a figure very vulnerable in many respects – is claiming
the role of the ‘colored revolution’ principal driving force. He will
fail to lure the people with promises of a better life nit because the
population of Armenia is happy with its current social status or
because justice and democracy reign in the country, not at all. The
Armenian people crave for a radical change in their life and in the
country but they do not want the country led by the president named
Levon Ter-Petrosyan. People have rightfully associated this name with
the upheaval, political instability, crippling economic and social
crises, mass emigration, etc.
Secondly, an important fact is the Armenian people’s historically
established attitude to Russia that is still regarded by most Armenians
as a true, reliable ally despite the seeds of dissatisfaction with the
current Russian policies, growing within the Armenian society and
encouraged by certain political forces. There are many reasons for
that, which are grounded in the people’s memory of generation, and the
instinct of self-preservation of the nation, and the spiritual kinship
of the two peoples, and good judgment grounded in consideration of a
whole range of geopolitical, historic and regional factors, national
security issues and matters of the state’s smooth development.
Therefore, ‘colored revolutions’ do not pose a threat to Armenia at
present, and time will tell what the sweeping change stoked by
onrushing global processes will bring about.

M.D.: The Dashnaktsutyun party, of which you are a member, has a
presidential nominee of its own. What are the party’s domestic and
foreign policies to be proposed during the election?
V.H.: As is known, Dashnaktsutyun is not the party in power, but it is
loyal to it. Its loyalty is not due to Dashnaktsutyun being pleased
with all of the policies pursued by the authorities. It cannot be
pleased because it is a party of the socialist trend, while the current
Armenian authorities continue the course of the first Armenian
president for unchecked liberalism that has substituted civilized
market relations and sacrificed competition for wild monopolism in all
sectors of economy, which led to pauperization, the mass exodus of
people from the country and lack of a real eradication of corruption
and crime that engulfed the society.
Our party is determined, once it assumes power, to pursue policies in
accordance with the socialist principles and mechanism of the state
having a true market economy, healthy competition, determined struggle
against corruption and strengthening of social justice. Dashnaktsutyun
is loyal to the current authorities in the first place because the
current foreign policy is generally in accordance with the party’s
policies. I mean the recognition of the genocide of the Armenians by
Ottoman Turkey – the issue vital to the Armenian nation, state and our
party, as well as a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and
setting foreign policy and national security priorities.
What is most important, Dashnaktsutyun, unlike newly fledged greenhorn
parties, understands well the scope of responsibility for any political
decision that could be fraught with unpredictable consequences for the
country and the people. Given the current volatile situation in the
Caucasus, coupled with the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh problem, rocking
the boat in the political life in the country would be most careless.
M.D.: Russia is the principal strategic partner of Armenia. How do you
envision the evolution of the bilateral relations, and how can it alter
with a new person assuming the top post in Armenia?
V.H.: Armenia is integrated in the political, economic and especially
defense cooperation with Russia. An abrupt change of its foreign policy
might result in the collapse of the armed services and the whole of
defense efforts of the country.
I am certain that the populists, who are proactive in trying to cash in
on all things Western for the time being, realize this as well. A good
case in point is Levon Ter-Petrosyan himself who can hardly be
suspected of pro-Russian sentiments but who, when president of Armenia,
signed the Treaty of friendship and cooperation with Russia and made
Armenia an active member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO).
Therefore, I am certain that any Armenian president to assume
responsibility for the future of his country will have to consider the
realities and follow the way ensuring the independence of his country
and security of his people. To date, such a way, no doubt, runs via the
cooperation with our tried ally, the Russian Federation.
M.D.: How do you see the ratio of proponents and opponents of Armenia’s
accession to NATO in the Armenian society and in the parliament?
V.H.: First off, the Armenians see NATO’s presence in the region not in
the shape of France, Belgium or Greece, but Turkey – the country
apparently hostile to Armenia and the Armenians. However, the situation
is not that simple. I think, the previous discourse have already
answered your question to a certain extent. According to polls, the
ratio between the NATO accession proponents and opponents among the
Armenians remains in favor of the opponents so far. However, one cannot
be dead sure that this will be the fact for along time, because shrewd
technologies to plant most unexpected intentions into peoples’ minds
have been used repeatedly in many countries, and Armenia is not an
exception here.
In this connection I would like to note the hazy position of Russia
that seems to believe that its former Soviet satellites are a given and
it has not to keep on doing its best to preserve alliance with them.
However, the events in the former Soviet Union in the recent years
should have signaled that the situation has changed radically and that
Russia has to do its utmost to prove to its formers comrades that they
will benefit immeasurably from an alliance with it. Russia should do it
in any effective manner.
Does Russia do it in a sufficient fashion? I do not think so. At least,
it does not do it with respect to Armenia. It is possible that this is
due to unfavorable geopolitical factors enabling some in Russia to
believe that they can deal shortly with Armenia because ‘it has nowhere
to go’. There is, however, an old rule: he who decides that his ally is
in the bag himself serves a reason for the ally to distrust him and
motivates the ally to weaken the relations. The rule is effective even
if oil revenues are on the rise.
Therefore, I am reluctant to say that the current upper hand the NATO
opponents have among the people and in the parliament will remain for a
long time.
M.D.: There is a trend towards the emergence of the Ankara-Baku-Tbilisi
geopolitical axis. How feasible, you think, is the
Tehran-Yerevan-Moscow axis to offset it? What part could SCTO play in
this?
V.H.: You are right, there is such a trend, I would even say it is not
just a trend, rather a looming outline and prospect of Ankara, Baku and
Tbilisi’s economic and political partnership.
Establishing the Tehran-Yerevan-Moscow axis is important not only as a
counterbalance: there is an obvious need for it, the need that is vital
to Armenia. Unless measures are taken to oppose the countries of the
former axis, the steps they make may well transform into cynical
efforts to put the lid on all those who is not with them.
I think the recent frequent meetings of and concrete steps by the
Russian, Armenian and Iranian heads of state, aimed at more close
economic cooperation among the countries will produce a positive effect
and will facilitate implementation of the projects conceived.
M.D.: On the one hand, Moscow strives for military-technical
cooperation with Armenia; on the other, its economic and especially
energy policies is too pragmatic with respect to its strategic ally,
i.e. an increase in the price of gas and assuming control of Armenian
industrial companies as an offset of the country’s national debt. Does
this approach play into the hands of Russia’s enemies? How can the
optimum combination of the national interests of the two countries be
achieved?
V.H.: I believe, such an attitude to Armenia is the reason to think
that Russia is its own enemy and that no other enemies can hurt it more
than it can hurt itself. Of course, it is not up to us to tell our
Russian colleagues what their interest and benefit lie in. it seems
that everybody has interests and benefit of his own.
I would like to reiterate that it looks like Russia is following the
way of countries, whose policies are derivatives of the goals of their
major trade and industrial corporations, and its economic interests are
beginning to prevail over political expediency. It seems that we have
to get used to the new character of Russia, in which Gazprom or UES
will determine its foreign policy, rather than the Kremlin, and we have
to draw a conclusion.
By the way, these issues have been touched upon in virtually all
sessions of the Interparliamentary Cooperation Commission set up by the
National Assembly of Armenia and the Federal Assembly of Russia, of
which I have the honour to be a cochairman. It is good that the Russian
members of parliament raise the same question and not always share the
position of their government with respect of their staunch allies.
Certainly, the optimum balance of economic and political interests can
be struck. I would rather not offer rush recipes, but a mutually
acceptable solution could be found by the politicians of the two
countries, if they really want to, but they have to want it first.
Maybe, they should learn, say, from the United States. In a word, they
have to be willing to roll up their sleeves.
M.D.: The Minsk Group on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
has been taking a lot of flak lately. What prospects do you think it is
facing, and are there the alternative to it at present?
V.H.: Until recently, OSCE’s Minsk Group has worked fruitfully and
given no rise to complaints on our part, until Azerbaijan started
behaving at the talks in an inadmissible aggressive manner. This is
explained by the fact that it is becoming ever more evident that
Azerbaijan is not acting on its own; rather, it is controlled by a
state that is not part of the Minsk Group de-jure but paralyzes
Azerbaijan’s independent decision-making process de-facto. Turkey tells
Azerbaijan to set up absolutely unacceptable claims; particularly,
Azerbaijan has started guising maintenance of peace in the region as a
concession on its part. Thus, hostile Turkey influencing the Minsk
Group by proxy of Azerbaijan violates the original principle of
involving neutral states in the Minsk Group.
This is happening with international organizations turning the blind
eye to the fact. There is also the need of getting Nagorno-Karabakh
back at the bargaining table. I think, if the two issues are settled,
nobody will have to look for an alternative to the Minsk Group, which
does not exist though.

Biography of Vahan E. Hovannesian
Born 16 August 1956 in Yerevan.
1978 – graduated from the Moscow Pedagogical University.
Historian, archaeologist, holder of an MA diploma.
1978-80 – serviceman of the Soviet Army.
1980-89 – researcher, Erebuni Museum section chief.
1989 – researcher of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of
the Armenian Academy of Sciences.
1990-92 – participant in the liberation fight in Nagorno-Karabakh.
1995-98 – imprisoned on charges that were proven groundless afterwards.
1998-99 – advisor to the president of the Republic of Armenia, Chairman
of the Local Government Commission.
1999-2003 – member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia,
Chairman of the Standing Committee for Defense, National Security and
Internal Affairs.
2003 to date – member of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia
Since 12 June 2003 to date – deputy Chairman of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia, member of ARF, member of the Bureau of ARF.
Presidential nominee from ARF for the 2008 election.
Married, two children.

Turkish Press, Turkey
Jan 27 2008

General, lawyer jailed for murder plots in Turkey: Anatolia
Published: 1/26/2008

ISTANBUL – A retired Turkish general and a high-profile lawyer were
jailed pending trial Saturday as part of a crackdown on an
ultra-nationalist group that reportedly plotted to kill Nobel
laureate novelist Orhan Pamuk and Kurdish activists, Anatolia news
agency reported.
It was not immediately known what charges the suspects face. The
probe is being carried out behind the shield of a secrecy law that
restricts media coverage.

Retired general Veli Kucuk has been accused of organising
extra-judicial killings of Kurds in the 1990s, but never stood trial.

Attorney Kemal Kerincsiz, meanwhile, is notorious for having
initiated legal proceedings against Pamuk and ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed last year, as well as other
intellectuals who contested the official line on the World War I
Ottoman era massacres of Armenians.

The two were arrested along with six other suspects, among them a
retired colonel and a well-known gangster, Anatolia reported.

The arrests bring to 13 the number of suspects remanded in custody
after the police rounded up more than 30 people this week as part of
a probe into the discovery of hand grenades and bomb detonators in a
house in Istanbul in June.

Media reports said the suspects planned to assassinate Pamuk, the
winner of the 2006 Nobel literature prize, prominent journalist Fehmi
Koru and Kurdish politicians Leyla Zana, Osman Baydemir and Ahmet
Turk.

Police are also reportedly investigating whether the suspects were
involved in several politically motivated attacks that shocked Turkey
over the past two years, including the murders of Dink, Italian
Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and a senior judge.

Dink’s family has raised vocal accusations that the journalist’s
self-confessed teenage assassin was incited by people who remain at
large and enjoyed the protection of some members of the security
forces.

The media have linked the suspects to the "deep state" — a term used
to describe members of the security forces who act outside the law
for subversive purposes or to preserve what they consider Turkey’s
best interests.

DAVID HARUTUNYAN: "GEORGIAN ELECTION RESULTS TRUE"

Panorama.am
20:33 25/01/2008

Winter meeting sessions continue in the Parliamentary Congress
of European Council. According to David Harutunyan, the head of
Armenian group in the Congress, the team is very active, and made
numerous speeches. According to the public relations department of the
National Assembly, yesterday David Harutunyan and Vahe Hovhannisyan
made speeches about "Protecting European Sport Model".

Mr. Harutunyan particularly mentioned that much attention is paid on
developing professional sport than amateur one. It was also notified
that the lack or the insufficiency of sport classes in schools bring
to regress of many types of sport. Thus there is a good deal of
improvements to be carried out in this field.

Vahe Hovhannisyan also made a speech and he particularly mentioned in
it that the variety of sport types in European countries is closely
connected with financial conditions of the member countries, as well
as with its habits set and qualities developed. The political side
of countries was also mentioned, as the forthcoming Armenian-Turkish
football teams’ meeting can solve several questions between the
neighbor countries.

Raffi Hovhannisyan made a speech about the role of opposition in
democratic parliament. According to him, the opposition is the keys
to the Council of Europe rights, democratic principles, and social
supervision of elections. Armenia has a long history of culture and
civilization, but those tragedies contribute to dismissing democracy
in the country.

Then David Harutunyan made another speech about carrying out duties
in Georgia. He said that since their independence it was the first
time the results of presidential elections were not known beforehand
in Georgia. He mentioned that the opposition came to a single opinion
for the first time.

TURKEY ARMENIANS WARY ONE YEAR AFTER EDITOR’S DEATH
By Thomas Grove

Reuters, UK
Jan 17 2008

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – One year after Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink
was shot dead, Turkey’s Armenian community is torn between hoping
for better days in the EU candidate nation and moving abroad out of
frustration and fear of more attacks.

Dink’s murder by an ultra-nationalist gunman outside his Istanbul
office on January 19, 2007 stunned Turkey, and his funeral turned
into a mass protest against nationalist violence.

But the mood among Istanbul’s ethnic Armenians remains jittery as
the grim anniversary looms, despite the pledges of solidarity and
government promises to fight intolerance.

"Most (Armenians) hesitate to go out and make themselves known …

This is not a time of great hope, it is still a time of danger,"
said Etyen Mahcupyan, Dink’s successor as editor of Agos, a small
Turkish and Armenian-language weekly based in Istanbul.

Optimists see violence against Christians as the last gasp of a
nationalism that feels threatened by globalization, Turkey’s rising
prosperity and closer ties with Europe.

Before his murder, Dink had received numerous death threats for
articles urging Turkey to accept responsibility for its part in the
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in 1915.

His writings also brought him a suspended 6-month jail sentence under
a law that makes it a crime to insult Turkish identity. Ankara has
failed to amend or scrap the law, condemned by the European Union as
a major obstacle to free speech.

Not far from the Agos office, Armenians congregate at a small tea
house in a back alley of what was once one of the city’s major
Armenian quarters. Turkey now has about 60,000 ethnic Armenians,
far fewer than in Ottoman times.

The owner of the tea house, who declined to give his name, said he
was horrified to learn Dink’s killer was an unemployed 17-year-old
who wanted to become a nationalist hero. The youth and his accomplices
are now on trial.

"This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I have seen the
darkest days of this country — military coups, economic crises and
earthquakes. Not once did I think about leaving. But this is too
much. I would emigrate if I could," he said.

CHRISTIANS ATTACKED

Dink’s murder was one in a series of violent attacks on Turkey’s
small Christian population, which also includes Roman Catholics,
Protestants and Greek Orthodox.

Last April three Christians — two Turks and a German — had their
throats slit at a Bible publishing house in the eastern town of
Malatya. Several clergymen have been attacked in recent months,
most recently an Italian priest in his church in Izmir.

For Turkish ultra-nationalists, Christians are sometimes seen as a
threat to national security and unity, acting as agents of European
powers which want to subvert Turkey’s national sovereignty and
religious values.

The suspected involvement of members of the security forces in Dink’s
murder also highlighted the enduring role of Turkey’s shadowy "deep
state", code for hardline nationalists in the state apparatus ready
to subvert the law for political ends.

The tea house owner said the nationalist view of Christians as
potential enemies had given rise to the violence against religious
targets that was now stifling his community.

"I can’t breathe in this country, everyone treats you like the enemy,"
he said.

For optimists, however, the attacks of 2007 were the death throes
of a nationalism that is being rendered increasingly obsolete by
globalization, Turkey’s rising prosperity and the government’s drive
to join the European Union.

"What we see on the surface is nationalist acts, but the reason we
have those is because nationalism is weakening in Turkey in terms of
controlling the politics, and that’s why 2007 was crucial," said Agos
editor Mahcupyan.

Sociologists say wrenching social, economic and demographic changes
have boosted the appeal of simplistic nationalist slogans among a
large, poorly educated segment of Turkish youth desperately seeking
an identity.

"Turkey is experiencing a period of intense change," said Fuat Keyman,
a professor at Koc University in Istanbul.

"Kurdish separatists pose a threat to the country’s southeast and
the European Union is putting pressure on the very idea of Turkishness.

These nationalist attacks are a knee-jerk reaction," he said.

For Armenians, the key question is whether the ruling centre-right
AK Party can make good on its promises of reforms in areas such as
minority rights and freedom of expression, said Mahcupyan.

"It is easy to be skeptical, but we have put our hopes in the AK Party
and we are waiting to see what the intention of the government is,
whether they are willing to change," he said.

(Editing by Gareth Jones and Tim Pearce)