Author: Badalian Vardan

TURKEY’S SECULAR CONSTITUTION – SEE YOU IN COURT

Economist
rope/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881280
March 19 2008
UK

A state prosecutor wants to ban the ruling party

Hands off our mildly Islamist partyAUTOCRATIC regimes in the Muslim
world often ban religious parties, which then go underground and turn
violent. Turkey’s Islamists have taken a different path. Despite being
repeatedly outlawed and ejected from power, pious politicians have
shunned violence, embraced democracy and moved into the mainstream. No
Islamic party has been as moderate and pro-Western as the Justice
and Development (AK) party, which catapulted into government in 2002
promising to lead Turkey into the European Union.

Yet the country’s secular elite is still fighting to oust the
AK government, on thinly supported charges that it wants to wreck
Ataturk’s secular republic. A senior prosecutor has made the charges
official, by asking the constitutional court to shut AK down because
it has become "a centre for anti-secular activities". In a 162-page
indictment, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya argued that AK is using democracy
as a vehicle for imposing sharia law. He asked the court to slap
a five-year ban on more than 70 AK officials, including the prime
minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the president, Abdullah Gul.

The court, dominated by pro-secular judges, said it would decide by
April whether to proceed with the case. Already jittery financial
markets have taken fright. On March 17th the Istanbul Stock Exchange
plunged by 7.5% and the Turkish lira fell by 3.5% against the dollar.

Should the court decide to take up the case, the battle could last
for a year, pushing Turkey into a prolonged period of instability,
hampering reforms and jeopardising membership talks with the EU.

Mindful of all this, TUSIAD, the main business lobby, has denounced
the case. "Shutting down parties is not compatible with democracy,"
said its president, Arzuhan Yalcindag. America and the EU have also
rushed to AK’s defence. A combative Mr Erdogan has opined that AK’s
legal woes will only raise its popularity. He is probably right. The
most recent challenge to AK rule came a year ago when he nominated
Mr Gul for the presidency. The prospect of a president whose wife
wore the Islamic headscarf and who would not veto AK-inspired laws
galvanised the generals into threatening a coup. Many believe the
army’s meddling helped AK to a bigger share of the vote (47%) in
last July’s election. So why has the prosecutor chosen to act against
AK now?

Some see it as a last-ditch attempt by Turkey’s old guard to cling
to power. A new and pious class of Anatolian entrepreneurs, who
have thrived under AK, is challenging the elite. One such group,
Calik, which employs Mr Erdogan’s son-in-law, has acquired a media
conglomerate, whose assets include a television channel, ATV, and
the third-biggest daily, Sabah. "The reign of the Bosporus princes
is over," says a Western banker.

Ertugrul Gunay, the culture minister, has another explanation. He
believes the case is connected to the recent arrests of generals,
academics and journalists linked to a string of murders, including
that of an ethnic-Armenian editor, Hrant Dink. Proponents of this
theory note that Turkey’s first Islamist-led government was ejected
in 1997 after it began investigating links between the army and
organised crime. Another theory is that the case was prompted by AK’s
efforts to ease the strict secular ban on the Islamic headscarf in
universities. This move is cited in Mr Yalcinkaya’s indictment. Other
"evidence" is said to range from the AK-run Istanbul council’s
censoring of bikini ads to an AK official’s observation that "asking
a pious girl to remove her headscarf is akin to telling an uncovered
one to remove her underpants".

It is hardly the stuff of an Islamic revolution. Yet even AK’s closest
allies agree that Mr Erdogan should have done more to reach out to
secular opponents. On the headscarf, he might have worked harder to
protect the rights of women who choose not to cover their heads. He
might also have scrapped Article 301 of the penal code, which has
been used to prosecute scores of Turkish writers and academics for
"insulting Turkishness". With much of Mr Yalcinkaya’s case built
on things that the prime minister and his lieutenants have said, Mr
Erdogan should see the value of free speech. His secular opponents,
meanwhile, would do better if they left their ivory towers and spent
more time with the ordinary people of Turkey.

ACCORDING TO STEPAN SAFARIAN, AMENDED LAW ON HOLDING OF MASS EVENTS IS ANTI-POPULAR AND WILL RESULT IN MANY NEW ARRESTS

Noyan Tapan
March 19, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. When making amendments and addenda to
the law On Holding Meetings, Rallies, Processions, and Demonstrations
the parliament committed a number of procedure violations. Stepan
Safarian, the Secretary of the Zharangutiun (Heritage) party, a memer
of the RA National Assembly faction of the same name, stated at the
March 19 press conference.

In particular, according to him, the faction members have failed in
finding out the names of the authors of the above mentioned amendments
so far.

Besides, NA Speaker Tigran Torosian’s indications were not included
in the draft, and no co-reporters spoke during the discussion.

Reminding T. Torosian’s words that the draft authors are nearly 70
deputies, who spoke for convening a NA special sitting, S. Safarian
under the circumstance considered nonsense the fact that all 70
deputies asked questions to the reporter during the discussion. And
Zharangutiun’s proposals, as the faction member mentioned, have been
rejected, as they were against the amendments.

As S. Safarian evaluated, the amended law is anti-popular and
contradicts the international norms of human rights. As the deputy
is convinced, the amended law will not only fail to liquidate the
home political tension, but also "will result in many new arrests." "A
possibility of freedom of expression should be created, the information
obstacle should be removed.

Driving the people to the corner will never do good," S. Safarian
stated.

THE VOTING IN THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY DIDN’T BRING THE RESULTS AZERBAIJAN WAS EXPECTING

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2008 GMT+04:00

The fact, that the UNO has already expired itself as an organization
capable of making any reasonable decisions, was clear already when it
approved the resolutions on the Genocide of Rwanda and the Genocide
of Darfur. No less shameful did the organization act when it forbade
the exhibition dedicated to the Armenian Genocide.

As it was expected, the voting in the UN General Assembly of the
resolution on "the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan"
didn’t bring the results Baku was expecting. But the deputy of Milly
Mejlis of Azerbaijan Asim Molladze hurried to congratulate the Azeri
diplomacy with the big victory.

A recurrent maxim about the "dethronement of the Armenian powerful
lobby" wasn’t left aside either. As a matter of fact, Molladze didn’t
make any new discoveries.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ But if the voting of OIC and GUAM may be qualified
as a "big victory", then we don’t know how Armenia may define the
position of the OSCE Member Countries and other 100 countries, which
simply didn’t want to participate in the shameful event. The fact,
that the UNO has already expired itself as an organization capable of
making any reasonable decisions, was clear already when it approved the
resolutions on the Genocide of Rwanda and the Genocide of Darfur. No
less shameful did the organization act when it forbade the exhibition
dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. The last unsuccessful step of
the UN Security Council was passing the Ahtisaari plan.

Baku has already started to speak against the countries, having voted
against the resolution. "The Embassy of Azerbaijan has carried out
many works with the Indian party, so that the latter would at least
abstain from voting in the UN regarding the Karabakh issue," said the
Ambassador of Azerbaijan in India Tamerlan Karaev. However, according
to him, Baku failed. "We had very big plans regarding the two-sided
relations, but unfortunately with the step that India took yesterday
crossed out all the possibilities. Now the Embassy of Azerbaijan in
Deli is waiting for certain instructions from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, after which we will officially declare our position to the
Indian party. Undoubtedly, the position of India in the UNO was a
great disappointment to us, and certainly all this will seriously
effect on further relations between the two countries," said Karaev.

Araz Azimov didn’t keep aside from the issue either.

"The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabakh (the USA,
Russia and France) must take into consideration the resolution of
the UN General Assembly in all their actions. The co-chairs have out
themselves in an impartial situation; have put shame on themselves
by acting against the Azeri viewpoint.

We will not forget the hostility they feel fro us. We have always tried
to create an atmosphere of trust between us. But after this trust was
destroyed, perhaps it will not be possible to mend this situation any
more," he declared. For some reasons, none of the Azeri diplomats
mentions that this resolution doesn’t have any legal effect. They
think that the Azeri nation doesn’t have to worry about such trifles.

According to RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanyan, the
resolution is very hypocritical. "On the one hand this is an attempt to
misinform the UN Member States and that is why the document contains
an article supporting the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group. The Member
Countries have clearly declared that they are not going to support the
resolution and that they are going to vote against it," he emphasized.

Vartan Oskanyan mentioned that Armenia is curious about the next step
that Azerbaijan is going to take.

"The question is how this resolution will effect on the process of
negotiations or whether Azerbaijan will really receive a clear note
and will get back to negotiations," said the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Armenia. In his turn Armen Martirosyan mentioned that the
resolution of the UN General Assembly with the demand of immediate
withdrawal of the Armenian forces from "the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan" will interrupt the peaceful process of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Conflict regulation. According to him this document contradicts to
the fundamental international norms.

It is quite understandable that it was not difficult for Azerbaijan
to gain the support of the GUAM Countries and OIC. Serbia’s position
is also quite understandable; the country is very upset with the UNO
for its decision on the Kosovo issue. But it is hard to understand
what Columbia and unknown countries like Tuvalu or Myanmar have to do
with this issue. By the way, it is worth mentioning that Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which are OIK member countries, abstained
from voting being very well aware of the state of affairs. So it is
quite untimely to speak about victory. But there is no doubt that this
has served as a very good lesson for the Armenian diplomacy. It is
natural that Baku will not content itself with the UNO, and will try
to promote this kind of resolutions in all competent international
organizations. And only the truth about the situation in Nagorno
Karabakh may fight all these lies. However, it’s very unlikely that
the 39 countries having participated in the voting are not aware of
the real state of affairs. Simply the Islamic solidarity, which is
unfortunately much stronger than the Christian solidarity, worked
out well.

ACCORDING TO LATEST DATA, 31 DETAINED AND 59 ARRESTED AMONG PEOPLE BROUGHT TO POLICE DEPARTMENTS

Noyan Tapan
March 13, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, NOYAN TAPAN. 764 people have been brought to police
departments on suspicions of having taken part in mass disorders in
Yerevan on March 1-2 night, according to March 12 15:30 data, 568
out of whom in regions, 1496 in the capital, 59 people have been put
under arrest, 31 have been detained and 513 set free. This statement
was made by Sayat Shirinian, the Head of the Public Relations and
Information Department of the RA Police, at the press conference,
which was held on March 12. Within the frameworks of the filed case,
the materials concerning 62 people have been sent to the prosecutor’s
office, 4 to the National Security Service, and those of 14 people
to the Administrative Court for settling the issue on submitting
to administrative responsibility. 19 people have been sent to
narcological dispensaries, the decisions of medical commission of
experts have not been received yet, the data concerning 72 people
are still being checked.

As of this moment, on March 1-2, in general, 203 police collaborators,
including 162 servicemen of the Police forces, received body injuries
of different degrees. 54 received grave body injuries and 43 fire-arms
splinter injuries. As of this moment, 47 people are continuing to
receive treatment.

FOOTBALL FEDERATION OF ARMENIA APPROVES SCHEDULES OF HIGHER AND FIRST LEAGUES CHAMPIONSHIPS

Noyan Tapan
March 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Football Federation of Armenia has
approved the schedules of the Higher and First Leagues Championships.

Country’s champion Pyunik will receive its competitors in the Nairi
sports ground, Banants in its club’s playground, Ulus in Voskehat,
Mika in Ararat, Ararat in Abovian, Kilikia in the Hrazdan playing
field, Shirak in Gyumri, Gandzasar in Kapan.

The RA Football Cup Tournament will start on March 21, the Higher
League Championship on April 6, and the First League Championship on
April 5.

CLIENTS PRAISE WESTWOOD LAWYER
Erin Prawoko

Daily News Transcript
page/x701183715
March 12 2008
MA

Immigration Lawyer Samia Chandraker, right, meets with her clients,
dance instructor Gayane Ghazaryan, left, and soccer coach Karen
Babayan.

By Jeb Bobseine/Daily News staff Daily News Transcript

————————————– ——————————————
WESTWOO D – In 2003, Karen Babayan was stopping international soccer
stars like France’s Zinedine Zidane from scoring goals.

Five years later, the Armenian-born Babayan coaches at the New England
Sports Academy on University Avenue and lives nearby with his family.

That new life, Babayan says, is possible because local lawyer Samia
Chandraker took his immigration case.

Chandraker, a Scotland native, opened her first office in Cambridge
11 years ago – after studying at Harvard Law School – before moving
to the Westwood area in 2000.

Her clients include New England Sports Academy, Computer Arithmetic,
as well as physicians, academics, scientists and others.

One client, Henry Shterenberg, says he couldn’t manage without her
expertise.

Shterenberg opened the New England Sports Academy in 2003 to offer
youth athletic instruction.

Coaches from all over the world make up the staff, said Shterenberg,
a refugee from the former Soviet Union. Many are former high-level
athletes who he said are extraordinary assets to the United States.

"They’re the best in their field," Shterenberg said.

Chandraker helps foreign citizens enter the U.S., get their green
card and citizenship papers, he said.

"She’s done a phenomenal job. She’s never failed."

In 2007, Chandraker took on Babayan’s application for a green card.

She made his case as an alien of "extraordinary ability," as he played
professional soccer in Europe, and for the Armenian national team.

Unlike a professor or researcher seeking permanent status – aliens in
the medical field make up half of Chandraker’s practice – there is less
tangible supporting data for an athlete like Babayan, she explained.

As a result, she loaded the case with statistics, colleague
testimonials, and explanations of the nuances of European soccer.

She called the case an "incredible challenge."

Instead of documents and publications, Chandraker said she relied to
newspaper articles describing Babayan’s athletic prowess; photographs
with famous players, including French superstar Zidane; even a National
Geographic article arguing for the importance of soccer as a way to
"change dialogue between nations."

Babayan, who received his green card in five months, was pleased with
the outcome, as well as Chandraker’s work.

It took such a short time, he said. "She’s very, very smart … a
nice person … (and she) knows everything," he said.

Gayane Ghazaryan, another Academy instructor, echoed Babayan.

Ghazaryan has taught dance and gymnastics at the Sports Academy for
two years. Before that she choreographed performances for a dance
troupe she started in her native Armenia.

Ghazaryan is waiting for her green card. Chandraker helped prepare
her application.

Her case is a bit tougher than Babayan’s because it is hard to
quantify ones excellence in dance, according to Chandraker. It has
fewer international structures and no overarching organizing body,
as soccer does, she said.

One of the ways she made the case was to test the market for
Ghazaryan’s skills by placing ads, through the Sports Academy, to
see if any similarly qualified U.S. workers were available.

None were.

Ghazaryan’s case highlights one of Chandraker’s self-proclaimed
strengths. "Transparency of communication" makes her law office
different from others, Chandraker wrote in a press release.

To achieve this she, or her associate Meghna Shah, provides detailed
one-page monthly case status reports for each client showing how the
case is progressing and what the next step will be.

There are these traditional stereotypes in the legal profession, she
said. People think of lawyers as arrogant, too busy and inaccessible.

Even with her office handling around 100 cases each year, the hope
is her clients don’t feel that way, she added.

"She’s a great tool for us to improve people’s lives," Shterenberg
said. She not only helps the coaches whose cases she handles, but
the hundreds of kids they are then able to teach, he added.

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

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
March 12, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

KNOLLENBERG AND SCHIFF PRESS SEC. RICE ON WHITE HOUSE
PROPOSAL TO BREAK ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN MILITARY AID PARITY

— Knollenberg Seeks to Cut all Military Aid to Azerbaijan
in response to Aliev’s threats of Renewed Aggression

— Rice: Some U.S. Aid Programs in Armenia "Suspended" due to Domestic Turmoil

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI) and Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) pressed
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today on the Administration’s
proposal to break an agreement to maintain military aid parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, citing Baku’s threats of renewed
aggression and its recent cross-border attacks against Nagorno
Karabagh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).

Calling the recent Azerbaijani attacks against Nagorno Karabagh’s
Mardakert region as the "the worst breach [of the cease fire] in
over 10 years", Rep. Knollenberg asked Secretary Rice how the
Administration intends to respond to Azerbaijan’s aggression and
war rhetoric. She replied that, "we are very concerned about the
heating up rhetoric but I think the way to deal with this is to
open channels to both sides and to try to bring them to a
solution."

Rep. Knollenberg followed up noting that, "I wasn’t the least bit
kidding about removing their military funding because if Azerbaijan
is building up to a point, that they have also said that they would
move into Armenia and challenge them whenever they want to because
they have an economic situation that is far stronger than Armenia,
and in time they probably could put together a military
organization that would march in and take over. Now that’s not the
outcome any of us want, but I am really concerned about that. That
is why I am suggesting that we take away their military funding or
at least threaten it – because they are threatening Armenia."

In response to Rep. Schiff’s concerns that the President’s budget
called for a break in military aid parity to Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Secretary Rice cited concerns about the current state
of emergency in Armenia. Rep. Schiff interjected that no state of
emergency existed when the President’s budget was announced in
early February, prompting Secretary Rice to state that Armenia
received Millennium Challenge Account funding and is the highest
recipient of per capita aid in the Caucasus.

Noting Armenia’s recent domestic turmoil surrounding the Armenian
elections, and specifically the state of emergency declared by the
government, Sec. Rice twice referenced the suspension of
implementation of some U.S. assistance programs to Armenia and
stated that they continue to work with the authorities to bring
stability to the region.

The budget proposed by the White House last month sought to
dramatically slash aid to Armenia by 59%, and, once again, proposed
tipping the military aid balance in favor of Azerbaijan, despite
Baku’s threats to use it growing military arsenal to restart its
war against Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.

Congressman Knollenberg and his Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-
Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) are currently collecting signatures
>From their House colleagues on a letter urging the leaders of the
U.S. State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee to
support provisions in the FY09 foreign aid bill that advance U.S.
interests and American values in Armenia and the surrounding
region. Citizens seeking to reverse the President’s proposed cut
in aid to Armenia and to support the other aid priorities in the
Armenian Caucus letter, can send a free ANCA WebFax to their
elected officials in Washington today:
d=11011351&type=CO

HEY LOOK, MORE PROTESTS!

Registan.net
dex.php/2008/03/10/hey-look-more-protests/
March 11 2008
WA

Sigh. This time in Georgia. 7,000 in Tibilisi against Saakashvili
for allegedly stealing the presidental election back in January. The
protestors are mostly supporters of Levan Gachechiladze, who was
the runner-up in the election. The election was very similar to the
Armenian election last month, in that I don’t think anyone really
disputes that Saakashvili got more votes, but there were enough
reports of irregularities that one could make a case that he didn’t
really clear the 50% mark necessary to avoid a run-off (the official
results were Saakashivili 53%, Gachechildaze 27%).

It really seems like the trend now in post-Soviet countries is that
any time you lose an election, you stage protests and claim that the
incumbent used illegal and undemocratic means to steal the election,
and that you’re the true representative of the people. If, like
Saakashvili and Yuschchenko, you actually manage to get into office,
the roles quickly reverse. I don’t mean to trivialize the situation,
as free and fair elections are of course fundamental to a democracy,
but at some point I think these protests start to lose their impact and
just become part of the ritual. I remember reading once that one of
the biggest tests of a democracy is whether the losers of elections,
or those whose terms have expired, can accept that they’re not in
power and step aside. Clearly, most of the post-Soviet countries
haven’t gotten there yet.

On the other hand, it’s certainly a positive sign that so many
people feel so emboldened that they join these protests, often at
risk to themselves.

Tomorrow, I promise a post with nothing at all to do with protests
or disputed elections.

STUDENT ON SHORT LIST OF ART CONTEST
By Angela Hokanson

Glendale News Press
08/03/11/education/gnp-visual11.txt
March 11 2008
CA

Competition seeks to cultivate, inspire youngsters through education
and scholarships.

Artist Caroline Sirounian with her painting "Misterious" at Glendale
High School Monday. (Alex Collins/News-Press)

Caroline Sirounian’s favorite thing to paint is an interesting
personality. Not a person or a figure, necessarily, but the character
behind that person, the qualities that make up who they are.

The results of her efforts are often surrealistic scenes, with
humanlike figures morphing into animals and other creatures.

"I’ve always been interested in drawing people and capturing their
personalities," explained Caroline, a 17-year-old senior at Glendale
High School.

Her artistic talents have been recognized by the Music Center of
Los Angeles, which in late February named Caroline as one of 30
semifinalists in the 2008 Music Center Spotlight Awards Visual Arts
competition.

The competition seeks to cultivate young artists through arts education
and arts scholarships. Nearly 1,000 high school students from around
Southern California submitted two-dimensional artwork to this year’s
visual arts competition, according to the Music Center.

This weekend, Caroline’s work, and that of each of the semifinalists,
will be on display at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.

And the top two winners from among the semifinalists will be announced
in late April at an awards gala in Los Angeles.

Caroline has been drawing as long as she can remember. advertisement

As a child, she would watch television and then re-create images she
saw on paper using pencil and markers.

As she got older, she tried to imitate works of art she saw in history
books. When she was 11, she started taking twice-weekly art classes
at Magic Brush Art Studio in Glendale, lessons that helped her develop
her evolving artistic talents, she said.

There, under the guidance of art instructor Edward Manukyan, she was
encouraged to create whatever came to her. Today, it’s her imagination
that reigns when she is doing a painting or a drawing, Caroline said.

"I have a really big imagination and that’s about 99% of what I do,"
she said. She enjoys drawing with pencil, because with that tool,
the artist has to be precise and every error shows, she said.

"With a pencil you have a really fine tip, and every stroke makes a
difference," she said.

She also enjoys working with oil paints, for the way that the paint
feels on the brush, she said.

The painting that Caroline submitted to the first round of the Music
Center’s competition was one called "Enigma," which she did in Scarlett
Lowe’s commercial/multimedia design class at Glendale High.

That painting shows Caroline’s face, with overlapping images of
dragons, unicorns, lions and trees.

The symbols are supposed to be enigmatic, Caroline said, and represent
different facets of her identity.

The background of the portrait, which consists of brightly colored
circles, represents her changing moods, Caroline said.

Caroline has the technical skill to execute her ideas and the
creativity to develop unique works, said Lowe, who encouraged her to
apply to the Music Center’s competition.

"She has the skill to express what she wants to express," Lowe said.

Lowe has taught art for 15 years, and said Caroline may be the most
talented student she’s had in all that time.

"She’s able to take what she feels inside and express it," Lowe said.

Caroline plans to study art in college; she is applying to the Florence
Academy of Art, which has campuses in Italy and Sweden.

DAWNS ON FREEDOM SQUARE ARE PEACEFUL
by Anna Chakharyan

Haykakan Zhamanak
Feb 26 2008
Armenia

[Yerevan’s] Freedom Square has been full for the past six days: people
are spending there not only days but also nights. It is already the
sixth day participants in the pan-national movement, led by the first
Armenian president [Levon Ter-Petrosyan], have been welcoming sunrise
on Freedom Square. It is worth mentioning that nothing can make people
leave the square: neither the obstructions created by the authorities
nor the cold weather.

[Passage omitted: reported arrests of opposition supporters;
Ter-Petrosyan criticizes the authorities]

Silent position of international community, praise for Karabakh leader

As for the almost silent position of the international community
regarding our domestic political situation, the first president
noted in this connection: "I don’t want to say anything bad about
foreigners, but as a sound, reasonable personality, I can come to a
conclusion today: the West doesn’t care about our democracy, the West
is not sincere in its intentions to establish democracy in Armenia,
it needs a weak, illegal, oppressive regime in order to always have
control over it, it doesn’t need democratic, intelligent authorities
which will speak to them on equal terms.

"I apologize to both the observers and the organizations they
represent, but I have the right, as a politician, as a political
official, as the first Armenian president, as a sound and rational
personality to make such a conclusion, and those who praise freedom
of speech have to respect my opinion."

Levon Ter-Petrosyan also spoke about the role of the authorities of the
[unrecognized] Nagornyy Karabakh republic [NKR] in the presidential
election. "I want to compliment the newly-elected NKR president Bako
Sahakyan’s position. He took an extremely dignified position, he did
not allow Karabakh people to interfere in our domestic affairs, and
unlike in 2003 and 2004, when during Arkadiy Ghukasyan’s presidency
special troops and criminal elements were brought from Karabakh here,
who were mostly responsible for the 12 April events in 2004. To
the honour of Bako Sahakyan I should say that he has displayed the
position of a distinguished state official."

War veterans’ position

During the Sunday [24 February] rally, the vice-president of the
Yerkrapah Union (Union of Land Defending Volunteers), [MP] Myasnik
Malkhasyan, made a statement about the recently spread news that they
had allegedly quit the pan-national movement.

"The news is circulating that some members have left the Yerkapah
Union. Indeed, there are some members serving in the army, generals
and colonels, who, I am positive, signed the text of the statement
without reading, but who are with us in their hearts and minds. I
know them all: they simply put those generals and colonels in a
difficult situation and obliged them to sign a document which they
haven’t even read.

"I must read a line from there and you will be assured what the matter
is. It says – In the 19 February presidential election some members
of the Yerkrapah Union, violating the union’s regulations and without
an appropriate administrative decision, started the activities that
are not admissible for land defenders, which are unacceptable and
a disgrace for the union’s essence and authority, which hinder
the further consolidation and development of our newly-created
independent state. They are using dishonest political goals, whereas
the administration of the Yerkrapah Union does not take measures to
prevent this.

"So, who is a disgrace: those who are standing next to the people
who want to establish justice and truth in our country or those who
want to oppose people’s will? All the warriors who have a soul and
love their fatherland must be next to their people," Malkhasyan said.

[Passage omitted: Ter-Petrosyan said they will file a suit with
Constitutional Court on the outcome of the election; former Prime
Minister Hrant Bagratyan’s speech at the rally]

Appeal for nation-wide demo

Leader of the [opposition] Republic party Aram Sargsyan told the
demonstrators that during [Prime Minister and President-elect] Serzh
Sargsyan’s rally in Ashtarak the previous day, some of the people who
were brought to the rally using known methods, at the end of the rally
put the white flags of the [ruling] Republican party on the ground
and started chanting "Le-von, Le-von [Ter-Petrosyan]". And today
Serzh Sargsyan again plans to organize a rally on Republic Square,
obviously bringing people to the rally using the same methods. Aram
Sargsyan stated: "Serzh Sargsyan wants to show to the world that he
has supporters too. Consequently, we tomorrow (editorial comment –
today) declare a nation-wide rally".

Aram Sargsyan appealed to everybody to come to Freedom Square today
and everybody bring one more person. "If they want to show something
to the world, we have more things to show." [Passage omitted: other
speakers’ speeches; Ter-Petrosyan recalls people’s movement in 1988;
anticipates victory of the opposition]