Author: Badalian Vardan

A1plus
| 20:38:49 | 06-07-2005 | Social |
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES RENOUNCE ALTERNATIVE MILITARY SERVICE
In contrast to the previous mobilization, this year no member of the
organization `Jehovah’s Witnesses’ went to the Gyumri mental hospital for
alternative military service. And the two believers, who had gone there in
spring of 2004, left the hospital without finishing their service, `Tsayg’
TV Company reports.
Witnesses of Jehovah Taron from Vanadzor and Sargis from Yerevan were
mobilized last year. At the beginning of their service they did not have any
complaints of the hospital. Nevertheless, according to the head of the
hospital Nadia Vardanyan, about a month ago they applied to them and said
that although they are pleased with the work and with the attitude of the
doctors towards them, they do not want to continue their service. The reason
was that they were against the control of the military police.
According to Nadia Vardanyan, a criminal case has been aroused and the boys
will probably be tried.

AZG Armenian Daily #124, 07/07/2005
Cinema
‘ATOMIC TRUTH’ IN KARLOVI VARI
At the 40th international film festival in Czech health resort of Karlovi
Vari Armenian-American film director Atom Egoyan represented his “Where the
Truth Lies” new film. In his speech that followed featuring, Egoyan said
that his film has been already shown at the Cannes Festival but only to
journalists. In fact, this was the first public featuring. “I was deeply
touched to see through the window of Termal Hotel young men running into the
hall”, Egoyan said to a press conference the next day. The scenario of the
film is based on the novel by Nero Wolf, which received best American novel
prize in 2004. The film is the story of Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and
Vincent Collins (Colin Firth), the hottest showbiz duo of America in 1950s.
It is built on the contrast of private and public lives and discloses wicked
sides of show business, explores the dark, beguiling, and inevitably
destructive side of fame and fortune. The film was shown on the sidelines of
Horizons program separately from the festival agenda. It received the
spectators’ wild applause, and the daily newspaper of the festival dubbed it
and “atomic truth”.
By Hakob Asatrian in Karlovi Vari

AMENDMENTS TO BE INSERTED INTO LAW ON SOCIAL CARDS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT
INTERESTS OF CITIZENS NOT WISHING TO GET THEM
YEREVAN, JULY 6. ARMINFO. Some amendments will be inserted into
Armenia’s law on social cards, taking into account interests of those
citizens not wishing to get them. The agreement was reached during a
meeting of Armenia’s Minister for Labor and Social Affairs Aghvan
Vardanyan with Kh. Stamboltsyan and A. Grigoryan.
As ARMINFO was informed in Ministry’s press-service, the law should
specify that the individual data of citizens collected in the
information data-base of social cards will be limited enough. The law
also supposes to register the absence of connection between the social
cards system and citizens’ religious views, as well as to register a
provision according to which the figure printed on the social card
will be its number. According to Ministry’s representatives, all the
reasons for discontent will be eliminated as a result of the mentioned
amendments.

AZG Armenian Daily #123, 06/07/2005
Armenian Genocide
IF TITLED ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’, THE RESOLUTION WOULD NOT PASS
Christoph Bergner Claims
On June 16, the April 24 Group organized by the Central Board of Germany’s
Armenians held a dispute in Berlin to exchange thoughts on why the German
Federal Parliament avoided the word “genocide” in its resolution. The
lawmakers — Christoph Bergner from CDU/CSU, Markus Meckel from SPD,
representative of Green Party Weishuhn — were to express their opinions.
Views of the participants rather varied: Prof. Otto Luchterhandt, for one,
called Bundestag’s resolution “schizophrenia”, pointing out at the
difference of words “massacres” and “genocide” in the title and in the
confirmatory part. Opposing professor, the lawmakers said that Luchterhandt
bears no political responsibility and that makes it easy for him to
criticize. Bergner reminded of the appeal on Armenian Genocide submitted to
Bundestag back in 2000 and said that the main reason why it was voted down
was due to the “genocide recognition” expression. If the resolution bore the
heading “genocide recognition”, it would not be also accepted even by
CDU/CSU. We could pass a law condemning the Genocide but that would be of no
avail, representative of Christian Democratic Union said adding that we aim
at establishing mutual trust between the two states and launching a dialogue
to improve their relations.
The lawmakers stated that they understand that Turkey is simply gaining time
and that they rely more on far-outer Turkish historians either in or out of
the country. Asked whether the reason of eschewing the word “genocide” came
because of the fear to lose votes of the Turkish electorate, deputies Meckel
and Weishuhn gave no answer. Explaining why the Armenian Genocide issue
appeared in the spotlight only a year ago, Christoph Bergner, head of the
South Caucasian Faction of the Bundestag, said that he felt that a
resolution should be adopted while visiting the region.
Allegedly, this step was directed firstly at establishing relations with
Armenia, secondly, many EU states have already adopted resolutions on
Armenian Genocide and avoiding would set Germany apart. Not less important
was the fact that the Genocide issue can be a precondition for Turkey’s EU
accession.
If the resolution of Bundestag has no force of law what can it provide? The
vital thing, the German side thinks, is that it opens doors for Genocide to
enter history textbooks of German Federative Republic. It must be noted
though that the education ministries of 16 German regions are independent in
setting their curriculums. Journalist Raffi Kandian thinks that all federal
states will include the Armenian genocide in their history textbooks
following the example of the State of Brandenburg. Kandian also said that
Germany’s self-condemnation in the resolution, being somewhat reserved,
sends an appeal to its former ally Turkey to follow its example.
Turkey is, certainly, very far from following in Germany’s footsteps. In
April of 2005, a khachkar (cross-stone) was erected in Bremen in memory of
the victims of Armenian Genocide. Giving in to Turkish resistance, mayor of
the town, Henning Scherf (SDU), promised to organize an Armenian-Turkish
dialogue. On June 30, an Armenian-Turkish dispute took place at the
initiative of the mayor with the participation of Turkish consul-general to
Hanover, Emine Birgen Kesoglu, Ali Syoylemezoglu, Mustafa Colak and from the
Armenian side — Raffi Kandian and Otto Luchterhandt. The dispute proved
that the Turks of Germany are far from revising their history. Mayor Scherf
said in his turn that the Germans occupied their place in civilized world
after having criticized their history.
By Anahit Hovsepian in Germany

RA STATE BUDGET REVENUES IN JANUARY-MAY EXCEED INDEX OF SAME PERIOD OF
2004 BY 27.2%
YEREVAN, JULY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. In Janury-May, 2005, the RA state budget
revenues grew by 27.2% on the same period of last year and made 131.5
bln drams (about 297.7 mln USD), with tax revenues increasing by 24.2%
to 111.3 bln drams and nontax revenues – by 71.3% to 11 bln 860.1 mln
drams. State duty revenues fell by 4.8% to 5.8 bln drams in the period
under review. According to the RA National Statistical Service, in the
first five months of 2005, the state budget expenditures made 122 bln
762.9 mln drams, which exceeded the respective index of last year by
22.5%. The surplus of the budget made 11 bln 676.2 mln drams in the
same months.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS MEETS WITH PATRIARCH SFEIR
His Holiness Aram I held a meeting with Patriarch Sfeir on July 2 in
Bekerki. The personal visit became an opportunity for the two spiritual
leaders to discuss the internal situation of Lebanon and the challenges it
faces particularly after the parliamentary elections.
Aram I and Sfeir emphasized the importance of devising a new election law,
forming a national unity government and strengthening the cooperation
between the different confessions in Lebanon.
His Holiness Aram I also had a meeting with the president of the Republic of
Lebanon, HE General Emile Lahoud.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

A1plus
| 17:23:14 | 01-07-2005 | Social |
`ALO’ INSTEAD OF `EASY’
Today if someone calls you asking his own telephone number do not be
surprised.
`Viva Cell’, a.k.a. `K Telecom’ has started the sale of its `Alo’ cards in
different parts of the city. Buying the card the subscribers do not know
their telephone number and they can find it out only phoning someone.
In the central office of the company in Argishti 4/1 there was a crowd of
people buying cards. According to the workers, in the morning there were
still more people.
We met Laura Avetisyan from Yerevan buying the card and then trying to call
someone. At that moment the Armentel connection was very bad and the
subscribers were out of the coverage. According to her, she has been waiting
for the possibility to buy an Easy card for two years.
By the way, from now on there are new problems fro the RA citizens. The
costs of cell phones have risen abruptly in the market. If previously a used
phone could be brought for even $20, now they cost 2-3 times more.

The abyss of JITEM making history bleed (1) – RESEARCH
Kurdish Info, Germany
June 30 2005
HABER MERKEZI (DIHA) – Turkey waiting on the door of the European
Union, which emphasizes justice, freedom and fraternity, for 46 years
has been witnessed to be convicted on ECHR. While the missing people
have always been told about, not doing anything to the people who
lost them caused a deep wound in society.
Although these incidents and responsible of them, like Turkish
Gendarmerie Intelligence Service (JITEM), are mentioned in The
Parliament’s Susurluk Report, not to deal with near history made
non-governmental organizations to organize demonstrations. We start
research series which undertake the determining of unknown graves
of offender unknown victims by the means of JITEM sketches and which
explores their missing processes. You will find sketches, witnesses,
grief of families, striking photos and documents and drams of orphan
children in this series.
Many countries took different steps to clean the bloody pages of
major military operations and suppression actions in international and
civil wars. We are in a period in which Germany apologizes for Jewish
Holocaust, USA apologizes for Vietnam and recently Germany reveals its
shame for their share in Armenian matter. While Serbia ex-president
Slobodan Miloseviç is tried in the Tribunal of The Hague because of
Srebrenica massacre, while General Agusto Pinochet of Chile is kept
under surveillance, Croatia is stipulated to give General Ante Gotovina
to UN Court of War Crimes as a war criminal to be a member of EU.
Saddam Huseyin, responsible of Hallabja and Enfal massacres in Iraq,
is sentenced in whole world’s eye and tried nowadays.
Turkey Reality and Agreement Commission and a comprehensive research
is offered, as in South Africa which had problems such as excluding
black people from social life, economy and politics, torture, offender
unknown murders and missing, to decipher dirty panorama in Turkey
which has been talked in international arena with bloody coup d’etat
of March 12th and September 12th and the clashes longing many years.
While the “dirty war” which is composed of offender unknown murders,
mass graves, tortures, isolation in prisons and which was formerly
supported by GLADIO style local elements in Latin America, Africa
and southwest Asia became a book by Reality and Agreement Commission
Vice President Alex Boraine, we revealed that how the bloody wheels
of a certain period turned with the formations like JITEM.
We will present offender unknown murders in a geography, which is
far away of EU’s democracy norms and mentioned with discreditable
practices such as torture, offender unknown murders, burning down
villages, forcing people to eat feces, as a serial.
When the curtain is lifted!
We will proclaim the families’ cries to enlighten that dark period
which started to enlighten with the publishing of JITEM assassin
Abdulkadir Aygan’s, who showed the JITEM pay roll, confessions in
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem Newspaper with efforts of Halime Akyol and Ugur
Balik and with Ugur balik and Timýr Sahan’s book which consists of
these confessions. The discover of the remains of Murat Aslan, who was
murdered by JITEM, 11 years later drew a great attention and increase
the efforts to find out the other dreadful crimes. Slogans of “damned
kontraguerilla” and “Contraguerilla will have to give explanation”
were shouted on the streets.
Death sketches of JITEM
We reached the missing people, who have not had grave stone until
now, after long researches. They were amongst thousand of missing
people. The victims were not ordinary randomly chosen people. Some
actions of people becoming gangs in the practices against Kurd
organizations, which have no place in together lives on the same land,
desired peace, friendship and fraternity feelings and even in the
law of war, are described here.
With the indifferent practices of 1990s, the people were wanted to
be suppressed with fear, attacks, grave houses and death. Although it
was talked that these elements were JITEM and HIZBULLAH and although
the parliament prepared a report on Susurluk no one was trying to
enlighten the darkness.
Assassins and methods
“The State’s Permanent Executioner Tells” series, which was an
important journalism, had a great role in lifting the curtain and
JITEM’s organization scheme, personnels, supporters and list of
“victims” were revealed. Cem Ersever, General V.K., Yeþil code named
Mahmut Yýldýrým, Abdulkadir Aygan, Abdulhakim Guven, Fethi Çetin,
Abdulkerim Kýrca, Yüksel U., Abdulkadir U., Kema Emluk, Nuri A., Cini
Acet and Muhsin Gul were practicing JITEM’s methods such as choking,
executing by shooting and burning.
Who is next?
You were not able to reach a friend whom you drank a cup of tea
together, talked on the phone the day. You would not forget that face
and that voice again. Each day was starting with “Who is next?”
question. The process which became more severe with the murder People’s
Labor Party (HEP) Diyarbakýr Office chairman Vedat Aydýn turned into
the story of thousands of offender unknown and “end unknown” people.
Violence Lists
JITEM assassins were interrogating the people in “cross regions”
and killing many people as Harbi Arman, Fethi Yýldýrým, Hakký Kaya,
Ýdris Yýldýrým, Necati Aydýn and Ýzzettin Acet. The funerals of the
victims were thrown to lakes, roadsides, fuel tanks and fields in
sacks or buried at most 1 meter deep. People were taken from Silopi and
thrown to Lake Hazar in Elazýð just as people thrown to sea in Chile,
taken from Diyarbakýr and executed by shooting in Silopi, taken from
Cizre and burned in Siverek, taken from Muþ and executed in Diyarbakýr
and taken from DGM buildings and buried in death fields. The funerals
were found by hunters, villagers and shepherds and buried in homeless’
graveyard. Saturday mothers, people who want a graveyard to cry on
want justice to stop their pain and not to experience the same things
again: Realities to be researched and the Justice to be done
Answers to questions
Families of lost people say: “We want to find at least their remains.
We make a call to our people, non-govermental organizations, political
party representatives, and intellectuals…Unless they are found we
experience the incident like it just happened yesterday” and want
their voices to be heard.
And they ask:
“Why were they chosen as victims by death machines? Why were they
grasped and killed? Who killed them? Which crime they committed? What
were the life ideals of the murderers? How they impressed people? How
were the incidents covered? What did their relatives tell about them?
What did their parents experience? What do the relatives of people,
whose funerals were found and whose funerals were not found, want?
Traces from Mersin to Þýrnak
We know that we cannot write down their cries. We saw them strolling
rom door to door to search for their relatives. No one has knocked
these families’ doors for years. No one listened their problems and
told their demands. We were the first knocking on their doors. We
had to go to Mersin, Adana, Diyarbakýr, Þanlýurfa, Þýrnak and Muþ to
reach these families, who had to migrate to other cities. We faced
a cruel reality in those houses. We reached families with the help
of many people. We found them through old addresses. We sometimes
could not even have found a phone number. We looked for them in every
single street. We listened to their sorrows. We have visited several
families in several city in last two months. The common point of these
families was sorrow and tears and the common points of missing people
were their destinies. We saw that their pain will not decrease. They
seemed that they have just lost them. They are still afraid. Therefore
some of them did not tell their and some of them did not tell their
children’s names. They had a fear of “The other child has gone and
what if happens something to my other children”.
Some of them tried to forget all the details about heir children.
They were not remembering details when they were telling. They just
say “Everybody loved them”.
All of them were modest, tolerant, helpful and loved people according
to their families and friends.
Albums
Families gave children the names of their “offender unknown” fathers.
The families gave their children “Jiyan” (life) name and raised
children with three names such Vedat Necati Jiyan.
They were all remembering the last day best. Some of families kept
the photograph albums of their children. Some of them gave the last
photograph to us. Computers of victims are in their original places
of 11 years ago with the hope of maybe someday he comes back…Some
of the mothers were bedridden. We met children who saw their fathers
when they were being kidnapped. We learned that the witnesses still
do not know after 11 years who the victim or killer was. Some of them
were identified with the ring on the fingers. This is a never ending
story in which children look for their fathers and fathers look for
their children. All the families ask the same, short question: “Why?”
;file=article&sid=2832
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SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT, CANADIAN AMBASSADOR DISCUSS PROSPECTS
OF DEVELOPING BILATERAL RELATIONS
ARKA News Agency
June 29 2005
YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. Speaker of the Armenian Parliament
Artur Baghdasaryan and Canadian Ambassador to Armenia Christopher
Westdal discussed prospects of developing bilateral interstate and
Interparliamentary relations. During the meeting, Speaker Baghdasaryan
informed the Canadian side of the constitutional and legislative
reforms in Armenia, as well as of democratization.In his turn,
Ambassador Westdal pointed out the Armenian Parliament’s important
role in the ongoing processes and stated political achievements and
economic growth open up new prospects for Armenia’s development. He
also stressed his country’s willingness to contribute to Armenia’s
economic development as well as to Armenian-Canadian scientific,
educational and cultural cooperation.
During the meeting the Canadian Ambassador re-affirmed the invitation
to pay an official visit to Canada extended to Speaker Artur
Baghdasaryan. P.T. -0–

Kars, Akhalkalaki open trade links
The Messenger, Georgia
June 28 2005
Two of the poorest regions in Georgia and Turkey hope to create jobs
and stimulate economic growth through cooperation By Burcu Gültekin
and Mikael Hertoft*
Turkish and Georgian businessmen and political figures are considering
ways to improve economic relations in the border regions of the
two countries.
With this in mind, businessmen met in early June in Kars to collaborate
on opening the border between Karzakhi and Cildir/Aktas in an effort to
increase the importance of two remote regions in Georgia and Turkey –
Akhalkalaki and Kars.
The issue has been on the agenda of the Turkish and Georgian
governments for several years, and was addressed at the last
Turkish-Georgian Joint Economic Commission.
During the two-day visit a delegation from Samtskhe-Javakheti met
with Mayor of Kars Naif Alibeyoglu, President of the Kars Chamber of
Commerce and Industry Ali Guvensoy and private Turkish businessmen.
The issues of attracting new sources of income, increasing the
amount of workplaces based on cross-border trade, joint investment
and marketing projects, and development of regional tourism were
discussed at the meetings.
It is hoped that through this cross-border cooperation, economic
growth will be stimulated in both regions.
While Kars has suffered in recent years owing to the loss of its
status as a border town after direct land communications between
Turkey and Armenia were severed in 1993, Akhalkalaki today suffers
from its remoteness and very poor infrastructure, and is one of the
poorest regions in Georgia.
The opening of the Karzakhi-Cildir/Aktas border crossing will
place Akhalkalaki at one-hour distance from Kars and should lead to
increased cross-border trade, although for this to happen the road
between Akhalkalaki and the Georgian border town of Karzakhi must
first be rehabilitated.
Local actors on both sides of the border are placing great hope in the
Millennium Challenge Georgia project to renovate the road connection
between the Turkish border and Tbilisi via Akhalkalaki.
Samtskhe-Javakheti region and Eastern Anatolia can be as integrated
as Adjara and the Turkish Black Sea region, they believe, adding that
the Karzakhi border crossing will, as Sarpi did, open a transit trade
route to Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The members of the Samtskhe-Javakheti delegation and their Turkish
counterparts expressed strong support for the Georgian and Turkish
governments in their efforts to open the border post and improve
infrastructure.
The businessmen and political representatives from Kars and
Samtskhe-Javakheti agreed to meet again in Akhalkalaki in the nearest
future to discuss further cooperation.
* Dr. Burcu Gültekin is Europe Coordinator for the Turkish-Armenian
Business Development Council (TABDC); Mikael Hertoft is Program
Manager in Javakheti for the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
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