Author: Badalian Vardan

SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT: WE ARE ABLE TO PROTECT OUR TWO NATIONAL IDENTITIES AND OUR PEOPLE

arminfo
2008-04-19 17:02:00

ArmInfo. "Unlike Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia doesn’t encroach
upon Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to self-determination", Speaker of
the Armenian National Assembly Tigran Torosyan said after the sitting
of the Commission for Karabakh-Armenia Inter-parliamentary Cooperation.

As ArmInfo own correspondent in Stepanakert reports, Torosyan said
that the declaration about the key principles of the international law
states that the self-determining people may choose one of the three
possible variants of self-determination: separating itself and joining
another country, separating itself and proclaiming its independence,
or some other political status that the people will choose of their
own free will.

"In this context, one of the big concessions to Azerbaijan made by the
Nagorno-Karabakh people is proclamation of independent statehood. And
we respect this concession", Torosyan said.

He added that the implementation of the right to self-determination
by Karabakh people was irreproachable, "and one can find no other
similar example in the world history, at least in the period when the
right to self-determination was proclaimed the international law’s
standard having the highest status".

Asked about recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by the
Republic of Armenia, Tigran Torosyan said: "The recognition of the
NKR by Armenia is not a problem. This can be done at any moment.

However, this shouldn’t become a one-time action. We’ll make the
relevant step at a well-chosen moment".

According to Torosyan, the present possibilities of Armenia "are
incommensurable with those the country had in the late 80s early
90s". "We are able to protect our two national identities and our
people", Torosyan said in conclusion.

REGULAR ACTION OF PROTEST WITH DEMAND TO RELEASE ARRESTED POLITICIANS HELD NEAR RA PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE

Noyan Tapan
April 18, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, NOYAN TAPAN. The wives and friends of opposition
activists and politicians arrested within the framework of the criminal
case instituted on the fact of March 1 events organized an action
of protest near the building of RA Prosecutor General’s Office on
April 18. The demonstrants demanded as soon as possible releasing
their relatives, who, according to them, were arrested purely for
their political views. Ruzan Khachatrian, the Spokesperson of the
People’s Party of Armenia, and Stepan Safarian, the Secretary of the
RA National Assembly Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction, had joined the
action participants. The latter in his interview to journalists said
that "no matter what grave mistakes the authorities have committed
by illegally imprisoning these people, nevertheless, they should
find strength in themselves and give up the strict position, which
is conditioned by their conviction about their own infallibility and
just the temptation to ground their actions."

After standing for about half an hour and voicing "Freedom!" some of
the demonstrants came up to the entrance of the Prosecutor’s Office
building, where Zhanna Ketikian, the Head of the Citizens Reception
Department, approached them. Handing her a letter containing
their demands the demonstrants asked when they will receive an
answer. Z. Ketikian said that she cannot say the exact term of the
answer and promised to give the letter to the Prosecutor General.

The demonstrants stated that unless they receive an answer they will
hold an action of protest near the Prosecutor’s Office building each
Friday. "I do not think that it can considerably assist problem’s
solution. In any case the judicial bodies work not under the influence
of compulsion, but within the law and it is not your making a noise
that should contribute to objective solution of this problem,"
Z. Ketikian stated.

INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS COMMITTEE DELEGATES VISITS AZERBAIJANI CAPTURED SOLDIER

Trend News Agency
April 18 2008
Azerbaijan

The delegate of International Red Cross Committee visited the
Azerbaijnai soldier, captured from the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Jacques Barberis, head of the delegation to Nagorno-Karabakh, reported
to the correspondent of ArmInfo that the members of the Committee met
with the soldier and monitored the conditions where the Azerbaijani
soldier is being kept.

However, the officials refused to give any detailed information
about the soldier, saying that they will inform the Authorities about
the soldier.

Vusal Eybatov, 19, was taken into custody by the Armenian Armed Forces
on 11 April.

‘GEORGETOWN BOYS’ COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
by Rosemary Ford

The Eagle-Tribune
April 17, 2008 Thursday
North Andover, Massachusetts

Apr. 17–It was the first genocide of the 20th century.

More than 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks between
1915 and 1923.

Thousands of children were orphaned. A group of 109 were sent to
Georgetown, Canada, to learn to be farmers.

What happened to that group will be explored in "The Georgetown Boys"
by renowned Armenian playwright Dr. Herand Markarian.

The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of the Merrimack Valley
will bring this original play to North Andover Sunday for its New
England premiere, before it heads on a tour of the United States.

"We heard it was excellent, excellent," said chairwoman Sossy
Jeknavorian of Chelmsford.

The committee honors survivors of the genocide every year — a dozen
still live in the Merrimack Valley. The group previously brought
another play by Markarian, "Mirrors," here to great acclaim.

"We never forget — we have to honor the survivors," Jeknavorian said.

Markarian’s bilingual (English and Armenian) play will be staged by the
24 children and adults of the Hamazkayin of New Jersey Youth Theater
Group. The Hamazkayin is a worldwide organization that bolsters the
Armenian culture among those who left the country after the genocide.

The story follows the boys — all between the ages of 8 and 12 —
who worked on farms in the suburb of Toronto and eventually became
farmers in their own right.

"We are very fortunate to be staging this production," said committee
member Tom Vartabedian of Haverhill, who is also a columnist for the
Haverhill Gazette, a sister publication of The Eagle-Tribune.

A service for the victims of the genocide will precede the play,
accompanied by the Armenian Choral Group of the Merrimack Valley.

If You Go

What: "The Georgetown Boys"

When: Sunday, April 20, at 3 p.m.

Where: North Andover Middle School

How: Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. For advance
tickets, please call either 978-373-1654 or 978-256-2538.

PROCLAMATION

AZG Armenian Daily
18/04/2008

GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE WEEK IN CALIFORNIA

Every April, we take time to commemorate the lives of those forever
devastated by the Armenian Genocide.

Between 1915 and 1923, more than one million Armenians were killed
in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and countless more lost
everything they owned.

Intellects and store owners, children and seniors, men and women,
people from all walks of life were victims of these horrific
acts. Often listed as the first genocide of the twentieth century,
these events had a life-altering impact on many, and stimulated an
Armenian Diaspora.

California has ensured that those lost and affected by this tragedy
will not be forgotten. In 2006, I signed Assembly Bill 1210, authored
by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, to allow construction of a memorial
for California’s survivors in Capitol Park. Additionally, in 2005,
I signed Senate Bill 424 authored by Senator Chuck Poochigian, which
designated in state law a specific time to observe the California
Days of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.

I ask all Californians to take time this week to reflect on
this tragedy and its consequences. In joining our friends in the
Armenian-American community in this observance, all of California helps
remember the lives that were lost or changed by these fateful events.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State
of California, do hereby proclaim April 20-27, 2008, as "Days of
Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide."

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great
Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 7th day of April
2008.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of California

COE SEC. GEN: KARABAKH CONFLICT SIDES CLOSE TO AGREEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.04.2008 17:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis
supposes that parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict are close to
an agreement.

"I met with Foreign Minister of Armenia and Azerbaijan and got an
impression that both sides are close to an agreement," Mr Davis told
a new conference in Strasbourg.

He regretted over protraction of the peaceful process.

"The OSCE Minsk Group is working for resolution of the conflict. But
their decisions can’t be imposed on the sides. The MG is only an
intermediary," Davis said, adding that he can comprehend official
Baku’s criticism of the Minsk Group activities.

"Peaceful settlement of the conflict is in the interests of the nations
living in the region. Warlike spirit has subsided recently. It will
help the sides to achieve peace," he said, Trend Azeri news agency
reported.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: KARABAKH FUTURE STATUS TO BE SETTLED THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.04.2008 15:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. Department of State issued a fact sheet
Tuesday reiterating that "the United States does not recognize Nagorno
Karabakh as an independent country, supports the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan, and holds that the future status of the region is to
be settled through negotiations."

It reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Minsk process and said
cooperation among the three co-chairs is excellent.

For her part, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on
Armenia and Azerbaijan to demonstrate political will for resolution
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"I am very much of the view that the Nagorno Karabakh issue is one
that could be resolved, and actually, with just a little bit of will,
could be resolved relatively quickly," she told the U.S.-Turkey
council in Washington.

RICE URGES POLITICAL WILL TO SETTLE NAGORNO-KARABAKH DISPUTE
By David Gollust

Voice of America
April 15 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday called on the Armenian
and Azerbaijani governments to summon up the political will to settle
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Rice said the long-running territorial
dispute is holding back both countries. VOA’s David Gollust reports
from the State Department.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice In comments reflecting
U.S. frustration over the continued impasse, Rice says the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is adversely affecting the interests of both
Armenia and Azerbaijan and could be resolved quickly, with a little
bit of political will by the two principals.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan,
declared independence in 1988, triggering a conflict between the two
countries that claimed some 35,000 lives.

The parties have generally observed a cease-fire agreement brokered
in 1994 by the Minsk Group, chaired by the United States, Russia
and France, but truce violations and cross-border sniping continue,
including an outbreak of fighting last month.

Asked about the conflict in an appearance before the American-Turkish
Council in Washington, Rice said Minsk Group diplomats have been
close to getting an agreement on several occasions, and that it is
time for the parties to make the hard choices needed to finally end
the conflict:

"It needs to be done. I have made the case to both the Armenian
government and the Azeri government that they are falling behind
the rest of the region because they will not resolve this conflict
between them. And frankly there is plenty of, if you wish to use the
word, blame to go around on both sides. This could be done if there
is political will, and it ought to. It ought to be done," he said.

In conjunction with the Rice remarks, the State Department issued
a fact sheet Tuesday reiterating that the United States does not
recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent country, supports the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and holds that the future status
of the region is to be settled through negotiations.

It reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Minsk process and said
cooperation among the three co-chairs is excellent.

In her remarks to the Turkish-American group, Rice also said there
is new momentum building toward a resolution of the Cyprus dispute,
four years after the collapse of the settlement effort of former U.N.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Rice noted that Turkey had supported the Annan plan, which was voted
down by Greek-Cypriots in a referendum, and that the United States
had later taken steps to ease the isolation of Turkish Cypriots,
whose self-proclaimed state is recognized only by Turkey.

The Secretary called it a more hopeful time for the two Cypriot
communities, who have resumed talks for the first time in two years
and opened a new crossing in Nicosia.

But as in Nagorno-Karabakh, Rice said the Cyprus parties will have to
make difficult choices and overcome political resistance if they are
to take advantage of what she termed a different spirit on the island.

ISRAEL: DISCUSSING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem

Los Angeles Times
April 15 2008
CA

A week before Israelis and Jews will mark Holocaust Remembrance Day
early May, Armenians throughout the world will be commemorating their
own tragedy.

Armenians say 1.5 million people, one third of the ethnic nation, were
massacred by the Turks in 1915-1916. Turkey maintains that between
250,000 and 500,000 Armenians were killed during the minority’s
struggle for independence, and a similar number of Turks.

The Armenians are relentless in their push for recognition of the
killings as genocide, while an uncomfortable Turkey counters these
efforts with international pressure.

In this bitter dispute, Israel finds itself in both a moral and
diplomatic hard spot.

For the first time, the Israeli parliament is going to discuss the
matter. Knesset member Haim Oron raised the issue, reminding that in
recent years the U.S. Congress and French parliament have passed laws
recognizing the Armenian genocide. "It is impossible that the Jewish
nation will not speak up," he said.

Turkey and Israel are more than geographically close. The two
countries share various strategic interests and the thought of a
public discussion of the sensitive issue makes both sides nervous.

One possibility is that the issue be discussed in the Knesset’s foreign
affairs and defense committee, whose sessions are closed to the press.

"The Armenian issue is very sensitive for Turkey," Hasan Murat Mercan,
chairman of the Turkish Foreign Affairs and Defense committee, told
Jerusalem officials during a visit last week. "We would prefer if
this discussion didn’t take place at this time …

because it may harm relations between the two countries." A senior
aide to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert replied that Israel believes the
issue needs to be settled between the two sides with the involvement of
historians, and has no interest in undermining its important strategic
relations with Turkey.

Aside from "not denying the occurrence of the terrible events" and
expressing understanding of the deep sensitivity, Israel has long
avoided a clear public position. Attempts to include the topic in
the school syllabus nearly a decade ago failed, authorities being
reluctant to anger Turkey and concerned it would detract from the
importance of the Holocaust.

In 2003, an Israeli nurse of Armenian descent was chosen as one of
the traditional 12 torch-lighters in the yearly memorial ceremony
preceding Independence Day. The text she wrote for the government
brochure had described her as a "third generation to survivors of the
Armenian holocaust in 1915." But protest from the Turkish embassy
led the reprinting of 2000 new brochures, stating instead that she
was the daughter of the long-suffering Armenian people and that her
grandparents were "survivors of historic Armenia."

Reuven Rivlin, a veteran legislator who was Knesset speaker at that
time, wrote last week that Israel is obliged to recognize the Armenian
genocide: "We cannot, in the name of political or diplomatic wisdom,
suppress such fundamental human values, which touch on the roots of
our tragic existence."

EDVARD NALBANDIAN APPOINTED AS RA FM

DeFacto Agency
April 15 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 15.04.08. DE FACTO. On April 14 the RA President Serge
Sargsian signed a decree, according to which Edvard Nalbandian has
been appointed the RA FM.

According to the RA President’s another decree Edvard Nalbandian has
been dismissed from the post of the RA Ambassador to France, Vatican,
Israel and Andorra, the RA President’s Press Office reports.